6x6

glou glou: TYWKIWDBI regales us with an overview of new wine terminology

города́-при́зраки: a visually stunning gallery of abandoned places in Russia, via Things Magazine

voluntarily generated pilomotor reflex: studying goosebumps produced at will is a lot more intriguing than it first appears

i’ve got to break free: Freddie Mercury trains with the Royal Ballet in 1979

der phantashische film: German animator Heinz Edelmann, best known for his work on Yellow Submarine, created a psychedelic opening sequence for broadcaster ZDF

south street squidport: as sort of a reverse trap-street, one online mapping service is creating neighbourhoods and districts according to the branding of advertising agencies

seal of approval

Via Kottke’s Quick Links, we learn that the Trump regime is poised to relax regulations that restricts the use of the carcinogenic construction material asbestos—banned in over sixty countries.
The Environmental Protection Agency (which is not supposed to be ironically named) issued a so-called “SNUR”—a significant new use rule, that states that the presence of this substance will no longer be considered a factor in risk assessments. Trump, who in part cited the lack of fire-retardant asbestos as the reason that the World Trade Centre’s Twin Towers were consumed in flames, harbours scepticism that runs counter to the consensus of science and medical professionals but has garnered the endorsement of a Russian asbestos mining operation that’s using his image (unauthorised I guess but who knows?) on its toxic product. Learn more at the link above.

3ème bataille de picardie

A century ago on this day, the Allied forces, shifting from trench battles to armoured warfare, staged the Battle of Amiens, advancing over eleven kilometers in a single, decisive thrust. This first victory marked the beginning of what later became known as the Hundred Days Offensive, which signaled the end phase for the Great War, boosting the morale of French and British forces and dispiriting the Germans with thousands surrendering and taken captive.

something about the ratio of dishwashers to bathrooms seems off to me, but what would i, a mere wretch, too dumb and poor to avoid being exploited by the predatory cost of higher education, know?

Having followed the aesthetic criticism of Kate Wagner’s McMansion Hell for some time, we appreciated the alert from Things Magazine on her epic, unrelenting and much deserved takedown on the US Secretary of Education’s hedious seaside summer home.
Infamously inimical to the department that she is in charge of managing so as to be a moustache-twirling caricature of a villain that would be laughable except for the tragic fact that she is dismantling public schools and assaulting teaching as a vocation, Wagner—burdened with student loan debt herself—is dedicating her critique to all those hard working and dedicated public school teachers that taught her how to write.