Sunday 11 February 2018


aeroplanette

Though popularity and thus signalled acceptance for the concept of heavier than air propulsion as a viable and reliable form of conveyance took some time to cement itself in the minds’ of the public—as told through product tie-ins—was more gradual than, say, the appetite for all things space related. Nonetheless by 1912, there was a parlour game, a version of roulette, which in this variation had a tethered propeller-powered plane that was wound up and stayed aloft for around thirty circuits. The winner of the wager was the player who choose the correct world capital that the craft would touch down in. In the illustration, it looks to me like a dispute is about to ensue with the plane landing exactly on the line between Berlin and Wien.

persistence of vision

Professor and lecturer at the Chinese Academy of Art in Hangzhou, Cao Shu, has produced a visually captivating short animation comprised of a few disposable motions that typify what we do in those moments when we’re waiting for what’s next—taking a sip of a drink, glancing at one’s watch rotoscoped to take in the entire sweeping survey of art history from the Ancient Egyptians to the Post Modern era all in less than a minute. Visit the link up top to learn more about the styles and movements and to watch the entire video.

Saturday 10 February 2018

how to adult

When the Grateful Dead lyricist and founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation (previously) passed away earlier this week, John Perry Barlow’s legacy came into sharper focus, which aside from his concerns about shifting paradigms for privacy and building the organisational framework to articulate that trend, also included a succinct and circumspect set of mature principles to aspire to live by.

• Be patient. No matter what. • Don’t badmouth: Assign responsibility, not blame. Say nothing of another you wouldn’t say to him. • Never assume the motives of others are, to them, less noble than yours are to you. • Expand your sense of the possible. • Don’t trouble yourself with matters you truly cannot change.
• Expect no more of anyone than you can deliver yourself. • Tolerate ambiguity. • Laugh at yourself frequently. • Concern yourself with what is right rather than who is right. • Never forget that, no matter how certain, you might be wrong. • Give up blood sports. • Remember that your life belongs to others as well. Don’t risk it frivolously. • Never lie to anyone for any reason. (Lies of omission are sometimes exempt.) • Learn the needs of those around you and respect them. • Avoid the pursuit of happiness. Seek to define your mission and pursue that. • Reduce your use of the first personal pronoun. • Praise at least as often as you disparage. • Admit your errors freely and soon. • Become less suspicious of joy. • Understand humility. • Remember that love forgives everything. • Foster dignity. • Live memorably. • Love yourself. • Endure.

Does Barlow leave anything out? What else would you add? The reminder is of course important and when Barlow originally complied his guidelines over forty years ago, he included the provision for any of his peers to point out his shortcomings when failing to uphold his ideal deportment.

process of bioremediation

Via the ever estimable Kottke, we learn about the enduring landscaping of ecological Finnish artist Agnes Denes, whose Tree Mountain was dedicated in 1996 atop the gravel pits of Pinziรถ near Ylรถjรคrvi, Finland.
This monumental earthworks is meant to last for four hundred years at minimum or until its artificial nature is forgot and whose eleven thousand trees are carefully planted along an upwards spiral that follows the Golden Ratio will repair the scars left by human mining and restore the habitat for native species. The article on Kottke at the link up top also explains a rather pleasantly incongruous sight that I can remember seeing in the distance when coming into New York City’s Port Authority by bus from points south, a wheat field in Manhattan that Denes also sewed in 1982 and remains undisturbed.

Friday 9 February 2018

unmarked white vans

Though not the first time while scavenging for a free-wifi connection I’ve perhaps innocently blundered through a covert operation and not potentially as damaging as the disclosure of seemingly innocuous and anodyne exercise routines, it does nonetheless to me seem rather uncreative to advertise one’s hotspot for all and sundry, even if password protected.