Gentle readers, I could not even begin to reconstruct the daisy-chain of thoughts that made me think of the tale of Johnny Fedora and Alice Blue-Bonnet, a short animated musical from 1946 produced by Disney animators, but suddenly the lilting and wistful tune was in my head.
Friday 28 February 2014
carriage-and-four
Wednesday 26 February 2014
jai alai
The European Union and Brazil will sink a submarine fibre-optic cable beneath the waters of the Atlantic to link Portugal and Latin America directly and provide a relief artery for more of the world's population to avoid using American infrastructure for communications.
catagories: ๐ต๐น, ๐บ๐ธ, ๐ฅธ, ๐ง , foreign policy, networking and blogging
Monday 24 February 2014
three is a magic number
The fantastically thoughtful aggregate of boot-strapping and interesting things, Brain-Pickings, shares a new collection of self-improvement reflections and exercises from Martin Seligman, the founder of positive psychology in the States—though popular in Europe for years, that seem to certainly fulfill their promises of more joy and less angst.
the commons
Revolutions have shifted from seasons and colours it seems towards something more in situ and the world is receiving a lesson, no less, in foreign terms for square or plaza where the protests are taking place and public politics are fomenting.
In recent memory, before the press was allowed to name and tidily adjudge such things, there was Tiananmen Square (ๅคฉๅฎ้ๅปฃๅ ด, named for the Gate of Heavenly Peace which separates the area from the Forbidden City) in Beijing in 1989. Not as if everything was quiet, peaceable or simmering in the meantime, there was Tarhir Square in Cairo (Mฤซdฤn at-Taแธฅrฤซr, Liberation Place) in 2011. In 2013 and on-going is Taksim (meaning division or distribution from an Ottoman era reservoir originally on this site where the plumbing of the city was managed) Meydanฤฑ in Istanbul whose Gezi Park has become a symbol for government oppression and autocracy. Presently, the Maidan Nezalezhnosti (ะะฐะนะดะฐะฝ ะะตะทะฐะปะตะถะฝะพััั, Independence) in Kiev has seen its square component of its name become shorthand for public uprising itself—the Euromaidan (ะะฒัะพะผะฐะนะดะฐะฝ) demonstrations seeking to realign Ukraine with Western Europe. Of course, there were countless rallies, marches, movements and occupations before they could be widely reported to the outside and degrees in coordination and spontaneity, and myriad in between. Overthrows and positive reform do not end with these pivotal moments, and possibly a public more educated and connected can appreciate the difficulty in managing the aftermath and transition.
Sunday 23 February 2014
verso-recto
The unique and enigmatic Voynich Manuscript, a six century old pharmacopoeia, which supposedly only returned into the world's stacks after its purchase by a Polish antiquarian in 1912 when the papal college in Rome was forced to auction off some of its collection, may have at least been demonstrated as something other than a hoax, according to one British researcher.
cosine or god bless you, mister vonnegut
Never discounting the classic novels Kurt Vonnegut Jr. gave the world with Galapagos, Slaughterhouse Five, Mother Night and a dozen more, one of the story-teller's simple gifts, long overlooked, may have been in the form of an anthropology thesis—rejected at the time for appearing too unsophisticated, which theorized every arch-of-story, all archetypes, can be represented in eight shapes. Luckily, Mr. Vonnegut later revisited his “man-in-the-hole” and other hypotheses and his lectures and conjectures have caught the interest of others, like the brilliant graphic artist Maya Eilam, who presents these ideas as a beautiful infographic.
devolution or shelbyville-adjacent
The suggestion of one of Silicon Valley's resident tycoons that California governance has become untenable and the state ought to be splintered into six separate republics has picked up some momentum for the populace too impatient for the great quake and letting Mother Earth sort it all out.
catagories: ๐ฌ๐ง, ๐บ๐ธ, ๐ช️, ๐ด๓ ง๓ ข๓ ณ๓ ฃ๓ ด๓ ฟ, ๐, ๐บ, foreign policy, labour
Saturday 22 February 2014
synchronicity
Via the peripatetic Kottke, purveyor of fine hypertext products, cites some stunning pairings of historic events that took place on roughly the same date but to grapple with this coincidence presents some real cognitive dissonance. The growing indices solicited on Reddit point out, for instance:
1971: Astronauts drove a rover on the Moon and Switzerland attained universal suffrage
1977: The last execution in France via guillotine and the premiere of the Star Wars franchise
catagories: ๐, ๐ฌ, ๐ก, ๐บ, networking and blogging, revolution
minitrue oder volksaufklรคrung
Though stalled for now over insider outcry, the US government's Federal Communications Commission plans to charge the agency with the onerous task of evaluating news rooms of different media outlets to assess their ability to deliver on “critical information needs” for the public was a rather chilling prospect.
Thursday 20 February 2014
bread and circuses
From Mother Jones magazine, comes a fascinating profile of an academic research facility in Washington state and the bakers who are striving to reverse the trend in production that have made bread instead of what has been regarded “as the staff of life,” symbolically and historically, into “the spirit of disease.”
There are legitimate cases of course of celiac disease of individuals who cannot tolerate gluten, but impatience in the industry—white bread and some seemingly whole wheat cognates (fortunately, for now, this is not a problem in Germany, though I understand there is an increasing amount of baked goods prepared in China and elsewhere that employ the same short-cuts) does not allow the yeast to fully digest the gluten and the preservatives added and has a knock-on effect up the food-chain and may yield false-positives, in addition to such dietary fads that revile processing but not necessarily the process. In the facility's experimental kitchen, bakers are returning to traditional methods, yielding a far superior and better tasting product.
catagories: ⚕️, ๐ฉ๐ช, ๐, ๐, food and drink
Wednesday 19 February 2014
you don't say?
Tuesday 18 February 2014
speed-trap oder blitz-schnell
Thanks to Tom Tom and habitual caution, I have never been ticketed for exceeding the speed-limit. Navigation devices of course are good at plotting out established obstacles, as I catch myself sometimes accelerating unconsciously to keep up, and the traffic report on the radio is reliable snitch for temporary installations that the police have set up—while this practise is tolerated in the European Union, I've learned that in Switzerland, issuing such fore-warnings are illegal, sort of like the interstate black-market for dashboard radar-detectors in the States (I admit that I only know about such debates from watching the home-shopping network and have no idea if this is still the case, and I guess it shows my age and detachment, as if I were to entitle this post, 'Smile, you're on Candid-Camera,' whose descendents are nonetheless wildly popular too).
Speeders generally receive a citation with a grainy black and white photograph that memoralises the moment, Blitzers (Starenkasten) these devices are called because of the blinding flash they emit when triggered. I learned, however, that the traffic cameras in Germany are not the property of the municipalities that they guard but are rather rented to towns and villages by a company based near Cottbus who earn a commission, like asking to install a vending-machine in a high-traffic areas, complete with terms and an end-user agreement. I am astounded that the same racket has not blocked all such warnings for speed-cameras, as it is a synchronised slow-down by those in the wise. The company that provides this service is not exactly in the business of public safety, as the firm dictates their placement in order to maximise profit. Thus, aberrations in the road could sometimes be created for the sake of the franchise rather than in response to some place that was truly accident prone, though with little potential as a speed-trap.
Monday 17 February 2014
electric avenue
Plans to construct an electric corridor within the next decade, some four-hundred fifty kilometers north to south through Saxony-Anhalt through Hof and the Oberpfalz along the Czech border to just north of the Augsburg-Mรผnchen, to deliver wind-generated power from the North and Baltic Seas to insatiable metropolises in the southern part of the country is not be greeted with optimism by all.
Sunday 16 February 2014
survey sez or keeping up appearances
The discouraging results of a 2012 survey of American's acumen and performance on a battery of basic science questions were revealed just recently and show that a dumbfounding 26% believe that the Sun transits the Earth, rather than the other way around. These sort of things that the pollsters asked where not just matters of trivia but rather established facts and necessary for the most elementary of further inquiries.
I do, however, wonder why the National Science Foundation delayed releasing the news of the abysmal state of education, having lost a couple years to help correct the matter, and why draw parallels to an even more outdated, yet equally symptomatic and depressing round of questions from European and Asian demographics that fares worse. Having such non-compartmenalised knowledge or disengaged guardians is not what a vengeful Church was to Galileo. Maybe it was due to all the negative and anti-academic that has mounted against environmentalists over climate change—or perhaps, hopefully (statistics being what they are), these respondents, schooled aright, realised the nature of these trick-questions, though the Earth is not the pivot point of the Sun, that neither does our planet orbits a point negotiated between our star and the rest of the universe. Far fewer still could correctly locate Atlantis on a map. Such optimistic thinking is probably out of line, however, and the outcome is never that skewed.
catagories: ๐บ๐ธ, ๐, ๐ญ, environment
at the star wars, star wars cantina or non-canonical
Saturday 15 February 2014
preterite or palabra jot
The German language is adaptive one, which irks many purists to no end—and most languages adopt certain prevailing styles from commerce and other engendering and endangering factors, as well, and one of the more irresonate constructions one commonly hears (though there are many others) is the German congegation of the English infinitive to google—googeln.
Language | Infinitive: to google | Gerund: googling | Past-Perfect: have googled |
Dutch | googelen | googelde | gegoogeld |
Norwegian | รฅ google | googly | har googla |
Spanish | googlear | googleando | haber googleado |
French | googler | googliser |
googolisai
|
Most other European languages (and these certainly are not the sole representatives) that I could identify either had similar conjugations or did not bother to incorporate in greater detail, but I would like to learn more and see the list expanded. I am no polyglot and think that the pervasiveness of English does harm to lingual diversity in many cases but was very pleased to learn that come-lately words and concepts still have to stick to established rules.
catagories: ๐, ๐ฌ, networking and blogging, ⓦ
media matters or upright citizens' brigade
In 1971 an activist group, after thorough planning and casing the facility burgled the Federal Bureau of Investigation's office in a small Pennsylvania town and obtained more than one thousand documents of a sensitive nature.
The Citizens' Commission to Investigate the FBI submitted the pilfered material, which revealed the extent of the Bureau's focus on the profiling and surveillance of pacifist organisation's and willingness to target petty crimes and inconsequential conduct and overlook larger, systemic damage done by groups with power and influence, to many press outlets but most of it went unpublished until (for fear of reprisal or doing damage to on-going operations) until a journal advocating non-violent resistance disclosed the entire cache. Ultimately, the revelations led to congressional investigations, which caused the Bureau to abandon its most controversial and politically motivated programmes, although the efforts were just splintered and buried with more secrecy and overtaken by more inscrutable agencies. The FBI let the case go after the expiration of the statue of limitations and the perpetrators went unknown until just now, with the release of a memoir and documentary on the break-in and players. Just after the get-away, one member recalls, they called a journalist from a phone-booth and delivered a powerful statement, challenging the members of the media who have demonstrated integrity and concern for the truth to help bring about reform and justice by broadcasting their modus operandi that prosecuted the war in Vietnam against the will of the America's to appease a few masters in politics and industry.
catagories: ๐ฅธ, ๐ง , foreign policy
Friday 14 February 2014
nakkaลhane
bertillonage or unfortunate incarceration
Forensic science and data-collection began in response to reforms in French law in 1832, which prevented the branding of criminals (like cattle). First-time offenders were given an indelible mark heretofore and the practise was followed in much of the world (a scarlet letter or compare the punishment of dismembering of some parts of the world).
Thursday 13 February 2014
billy-goat's gruff oder when there's trouble, you call d-w
Wednesday 12 February 2014
seismograph or triple-witching
A certain breed of a meme has been circulating the internet since around last November, superimposing the contemporary US stock-market erratic-pulse with those of 1928 and 1929 in the period that led up to the crash and following world-wide Great Depression.
Tuesday 11 February 2014
study-hall oder archetype
One forgets, sometimes, how Wikipedia, and earlier with bibliomancy at the library or with encyclopedia articles, can be a digest for the curious.
Recently, one of its featured entries invited visitors to learn more about an auditorium, an art deco masterpiece, and research centre called the Atlantis House (Atlantis Haus, more historical photographs hier) in Bremen built during the interbellum years by an accomplished architect at the behest of a wealthy coffee-magnate. The businessman was himself entranced by the theories of the ethnographer who would go on to found the Ahnenerbe Society. This group conducted expeditions, sponsored by the Nazi regime, to explore mythological and ideological links, mostly constructing specious and affirming connections. The function of this institution was to promote the theory that the Germanic race issued from a now sunken continent in the North Sea and were responsible for creating the continuum of civilisation that we've inherited from Mesopotamia. I wonder what sort of lectures were delivered there. I still recall vividly the feeling on learning that Hollywood treatments like the sagas of Indiana Jones and Hellboy were not without some basis in reality. That's a strange sort of legitimising to assume for one's posture.
Monday 10 February 2014
grenzwache or crowd-sourcing
Sunday, the citizens of Switzerland went to polling stations to cast a plebiscite, whose assent is casting a chilling pall over the Confederation's relationship with the European Union and towards foreigners living there and prospectives as well. The matter of immigration reform and limits on the numbers of cross-border workers from neighbouring countries was put to a popular vote—which ironically has many crying foul of direct-democracy and those making the most clamor is the Germans who compromise the biggest single class of migrants and also wryly are facing, potentially the same kind of discrimination and quotas that immigrants from Turkey, Eastern Europe and beyond have to deal with when they come to Germany. French and Italian commuters are also concerned. The move, seen in part to protect native workers from outside competition and curb over-crowding—primarily of Auslรคnder, I suppose, suggesting a type of xenophobia that's just been codified, could see negative, punitive repercussions, as EU leadership question whether neutral Switzerland can continue its special tax-treaties with the bloc if they choose to reject their values and the thinning of boundaries. I wonder what forms sanctions could take. More tariffs could be levied against trade as a result. Politicians are also afraid, I think, of what kind of precedence such a decision—put into the hands of the majority without necessarily minority protection, might bode, what with such movements and closing of borders established throughout the union.
catagories: ๐จ๐ญ, ๐, foreign policy, labour
Sunday 9 February 2014
bishop of bling, sultans of swing
As the Vatican is dealing with how to respond to a very frank and confessional survey, which was solicited at the highest levels, of members' attitudes towards sex and loving relationships that reveal in many ways an urgent need to reform, the Church is also dealing with the unresolved investigation, the verdict still out, into the deportment of Francis-Peter Tebartz-van Elst, the suspended senior leader of the diocese of Limburg and also known as the Bishop of Bling for his extravagance.
The Church could probably do without this sort of publicity, and not for the sake of its image and whatever feedback such misguided behaviour or a polling brings but rather I think the Pope would not want the distraction of what's the stuff of headlines and relatively coherent scandals. These detract from real and substantial changes, which in many important ways ought not to be surprising since they are in their job descriptions, and already some quite significant shifts towards to humility, service and inclusion have been accomplished and indiscretions addressed by example, which I suppose might have been tolerated or even culturally encouraged under past regimes. Still, I do wonder—as I suppose I belong to that pastoral-zone, whether he calls himself T-Bartz as his behaviour does seem pretty gangster, not only ignoring run-away cost overruns for his apostolic seat but also taking vacations and maintaining a secret apartment at parishioners' expense.
a bird in the hand
Here is a clever and thoughtful review of the new book, The Antidote: Happiness for People Who Can't Stand Positive Thinking by British reporter Oliver Burkeman, that also presents a brilliant and worthwhile exploration into the recesses and reaches of plans, contingencies and preparedness — the sort of responsible behaviours that are supposed to be key to success in any venture.
catagories: ๐, ๐, ๐ง , lifestyle, philosophy
red kuri squash soup with ginger and coconut milk
We tried a really simple but savoury and delicious recipe for a soup with Hokkaido Squash (also known as Red Kuri Squash or the Onion Squash, cultivated in Northern Japan) that's got a fusion of ingredients that one could vary and substitute infinitely.
For three to four servings, one will need:
- One small Red Kuri Squash, about 500 grams (18 ounces)
- One medium onion
- 3 medium sized carrots
- One one inch length of ginger root
- Veget- able bullion to make ½ a litre of broth (2 cups)
- 200 ml of coconut milk (about one cup)
- The juice of one lemon
- Butter (about two tablespoons)
- Salt, pepper, soy sauce and coriander leaves for garnishing and seasoning
Hokkaido pumpkins do not need to be peeled—just slice and remove the seeds, and dice up the sections of the squash, onion, carrots and ginger root (removing the outer dry layer) in a food processor. Meanwhile bring the bouillon to a low boil. In a separate, large pot add the butter and transfer the diced vegetables to saute them for about three minutes, folding over the mixture so nothing gets overcooked. Pour in the vegetable broth and allow to simmer for about twenty minutes. Now that the vegetables are soft, puree the soup thoroughly with a hand-mixer directly in the pot and add the coconut milk and lemon juice. Stirring, introduce about two tablespoons of soy sauce and the other spices. Serve with a garnish of soy sauce and coriander leaves and a port or sherry.
catagories: ๐ฏ๐ต, food and drink, lifestyle
Saturday 8 February 2014
confectionery
The Presurfer pointed to this research project, that is certainly worth revisiting, concerning a group from the University of Tokyo study into creating an efficient battery out of more common substances that are in no short supply, sodium (salt) and sucrose (sugar). Traditional Lithium-ion batteries are very good at energy storage and have a relatively long lifetime, but extracting the metal, whose deposits are limited, is a dirty process and the disposal and repurposing usually is not very effective.
catagories: ๐ฏ๐ต, ๐ฑ, ๐ก, environment
cornucopia or avon calling
With the support of two major constituencies within the Duma and farming cooperatives, a politician in Russia is championing the near total ban of importation and production of genetically modified foodstuff. Perhaps there is more to the story than is revealed in the top-level motivations, but I do nonetheless wish that other governments had the backbone to question the pratises and sloppy assurances given by the biotech industry, who as the bill's author says, are conducting a grand experiment on humanity and none of us are certain about neither immediate safety nor the long-term consequences.
Already, there are examples of unnatural organisms escaping into the food chain, flashy, patented designations like Aqua-Bounty® —a breed of salmon that has the genes of a fast growing eel spliced into its DNA, or the pollen of GM crops that mixes and mingles in neighbouring fields or the persistent mystery concerning the honey bee population all over the world. Aside from these uncharted risks, there is moreover the manner in which the companies sow their seeds: farmers who subscribe are not just getting a plant without an historic context but are also committing to a licensing agreement, a franchise sort of deal (like DRM or software-bundling for corn or hosts that demand one signs away ones content) as the crops only thrive if one douses them with pesticides (made by the same companies) and farmers agree to grow the same crops year after year and cannot get out of the contract, leading to distress and hopelessness for small farming operations.
catagories: ⚕️, ๐ท๐บ, ๐ช️, ๐ฑ, environment, food and drink, labour
spear-phishing
catagories: ๐บ๐ธ, ๐, labour, networking and blogging, revolution
Friday 7 February 2014
plying ones trade
I still don't know what to make of the situation and protest in (the country asked that the article the be dropped, as in the Netherlands, the Philippines and the Gambia in English as they are not in thrall to the Soviet Union) Ukraine, which seems equally divided between the status quo and the revolutionaries led by a professional boxer (who's also a twin and a PhD-holder) from Germany, but the stakes are certainly high.
US foreign relations, domestically at least, usually fails to grab much attention lately, unless in the form of secret-sharing and a frank discussion leaked has the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, in a conservation with the US ambassador to Ukraine, disdaining the champion for the opposition and westward leaning candidate in the running, favouring someone more experienced to safeguard American interests, neatly summarised by “Fuck the E.U.” This statement has had some coverage, but the difference is notable, whereas the release has enraged Europe, in the States, reporting focuses rather on the fact that the sound-bite, undisputed, originated from a Russian posting before circulating world wide, and in a classic example of the pot calling the kettle black, America is accusing Russia of spying, despite all the recursive news of US snooping, within and without. Perhaps America will say that the fugitive, Edward Snowden, holed up in Russia, was behind this leak, or she, the diplomat, earnestly meant that the European Union should not interfere with Ukraine's best interests... The other noteworthy nuance in the reporting is how American journalism must censor the expletive, while the rest of the world is mature enough to do without the bleeps and peep-tones.
Thursday 6 February 2014
game-face or fortress olympiad
As the opening ceremonies for the Winter Games are about to commence the competition and camaraderie is certainly being over-shadowed by a side-show, which is graver by degrees, of official snubs, boycotts, poor labour conditions, negative civic and environmental impact, hastily built accommodations, the lockdown of the nation of Abkhazia for the duration of the event whose borders are just a few kilometres from the venue, and the rest of the security theatre.
catagories: ๐ท๐บ, ๐บ๐ธ, foreign policy, sport and games
sede vacante
catagories: ๐ฎ๐น, ๐ป๐ฆ, ✝️, ๐, ๐ณ️๐, foreign policy
Wednesday 5 February 2014
caveat lector or recently improved content
monumenta germaniae historica
Coinciding with the star-studded premiere of the feature film on this courageous profiles in conservatorship, the Smithsonian is exhibiting many photographs and artefacts from its archives to enhance the portrayal of the so-called “Monuments Men.”
Tuesday 4 February 2014
personae, pandora
Conceived as sort of an electronic annual, a year book ten years ago for an elite university in a dorm room, the reigning social network has matured and seems to have come of age, established and hard-wired.
I cannot say whether the lure of the instantaneous and easy and convenient is taking away from native creativity (rather than enhancing it) or more artistic, meaningful or fulfilling pursuit—but if that is the case, I think people are still quick (mostly, at least as quick as they would be otherwise) to realise that that chance is not easily retaken, but there is more than just a change in our vocabularies or ways of coddling our own sense of indolence or procrastination in the simple fact that the Internet does not forget and reminders are lightly stirred. I believe, if used correctly, that could be a supplement rather than a liability too, but considering the current climate, telecommunication providers being prosecuted for complicity and governments being held liable for their abidance, it seems that we are not very good at self-censorship and temperance.
catagories: ๐ฅธ, ๐ง , holidays and observances, networking and blogging, revolution
Monday 3 February 2014
hors d'oeuver or hors taxes
There is an apparently flourishing business for pizza and for others in the meals on wheels service on the German side of Swiss borderlands.
catagories: ๐จ๐ญ, ๐ฉ๐ช, ๐, foreign policy
Sunday 2 February 2014
black hole or all light is mute amid the gloom
There were a lot of singular influences, like the anime feature Galaxy Express 999 (1978), where an orphaned little boy shuns technology promising immortality by having ones memories but not emotions transferred to robotic vessels, plus also other Disney productions, which discounting all fairy tales, were not really made for young audiences, like the Witch Mountain (1975) series, about telekinetic extra-terrestrial children on the lamb from the government, or Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971, compare to the Narnia or the Middle Earth sagas) which is a story about coping with evacuation during the Blitz of London during WWII and a sorceress defeats the Nazi invasion. Formative, I am grateful that kids' entertainment was not handled with kid-gloves and subject to censor and psychologists.
pastiche
We tried something new in the kitchen with a vegetarian pastitsio (Pastizio)--sort of the Greek equivalent of a lasagne or macaroni casserole. It was pretty fun to prepare and tasted very good.
For four servings, you will need:
- Approximately 360 grams (13 ounces) of macaroni noodles
- 200 millilitres (7 fluid ounces) of soy-based cream or milk
- 200 grams (7 ounces) of sour cream (Schmand)
- 200 grams (7 ounces) of tofu as the base for the bolognese sauce—one could also substitute ground beef
- A 200 gram (7 ounce) lump of fresh mozzarella
- 1 cube of vegetable stock
- 1 medium onion
- 1 carrot
- 2 garlic cloves
- 200 grams (7 ounces) of tomato puree (passierte Tomaten, sonst Tomatenmark)
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- Oregano, thyme, basil, salt, pepper, red pepper power and cinnamon to season
Bring to boil the noodles in water with a bit of salt and then drain and set aside—about four minutes and not thoroughly cooked. Preheat the oven to 220ยบC (425ยบF).
For the filling (where the metaphorical meaning of pastiche comes from and you can try your own mix of ingredients), finely chop up the carrot, onion and garlic in a food-processor and fry in olive oil and then puree about four tomatoes (or use puree from a can) and add that and the tofu to the pan.
Introduce the bullion cube and season with salt, pepper, oregano, thyme and basil. Allow the sauce to continue to cook until it really thickens up. Transfer the bolognese and noodles to a large casserole dish and mix together while pouring in the cream or milk. Next spread the top of the dish with a thick layer of the sour cream.
Tear the lump of mozzarella into large, flat pieces and cover the surface and season with the red chili power and a bit of salt and pepper. Lastly, sprinkle the entire surface liberally with cinnamon. Bake for around 45 minutes. The cinnamon seems like an unusual ingredient but really enhances the medley of tastes and no one notices the meatless bolognese.
catagories: food and drink, lifestyle
the wedding planner
Here's a fun gallery of wedding photographs from Russia, which are anything but traditional—I think, and a lot of them employ image-manipulation tools to superimpose the happy couple—or render themselves as centaurs.
catagories: ๐ท๐บ
boreal, austral
catagories: ๐ก️, ๐, ๐ข, environment, networking and blogging, travel
Saturday 1 February 2014
continuum or billions and billions
Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson will be hosting an updated version of the television programme Cosmos: A Personal Journey, Carl Sagan's seminal series on astronomy and space exploration, with the support of another fan and curator, animator Seth MacFarlane, whom has endowed the US Library of Congress with a collection of lectures, papers and correspondence from the renowned scientist and his wife (Kottle shares an interesting artefact and more news about the upcoming show—I received a letter from the late Dr. Sagan in response to a physics question I posed, as well), Ann Druyan, who selected the musical compositions etched into the golden records carried by the Voyager space probes. The series will be called Cosmos: A Space-Time Odyssey and will be produced for the National Geographic Channel and syndicated by the Fox Network.
sistine candles or in the room, the women come and go, talking of michelangelo
In exchange, the group had exclusive rights to reproducing high-quality images of the interior and documented each stage of the restoration work. Their rights have since expired but the ban—more or less, still remains in effect. It is really a sight to behold in person, as Goethe said after visiting in 1797, “Without having seen the Sistine Chapel one can form no appreciable idea of what one man is capable of achieving.” No photographs can do it justice and if you must take mementos, please tread lightly.
god didn't make the little green apples
Who knew that trees could be so apparently anti-social? One of the most poisonous trees in the world—I am not sure what others are in this category—is native to Florida and the Bahamas and Caribbean and are called Manchineel—from the epithet that early Spanish explorers gave to their poison fruit manzanita de le muerte, little apples of death.
catagories: ๐ฑ, environment, the Caribbean