pillow-talk or mack the knife

Until reading the disclosure of a tryst by Trump with a porn star (imagine what it would be like trying to convince ourselves a year ago that we would be confronted with such headlines as these) that Trump is obsessed with sharks and wishes them all to die, we had forgotten that then citizen Trump was steered away from portraying the US president in a bad movie about a plague of the shark variety out of fear that it might reflect badly on his upcoming candidacy to be the actual president.

heightened suggestibility

Serial candidate and one-time presidential contender Nick Belluso, whilst in a gubernatorial run-off for the state of Georgia in 1978 (incumbent George Busbee and Atlanta alderman Rodney Mims Cook Senior had secured the backing of the major political parties), had the notion to employ a hypnotist to secure his votes. Despite the claim his candidacy was endorsed by the Force, Belluso’s plot was stymied when all television stations except one outlet refused to air his mesmerising advertisement for fear it might work and the resulting culpability. Learn more and see the campaign ad at the link above.

felis silvestris

Scheduled to be bringing a cat into our lives soon, our gratitude goes to the always brilliant Nag on the Lake for bringing us word of Baloo the feline who retrieves outstanding leaves for his human. We don’t wish to countermand Nature or the instincts of our future companion but I did harbour worries, living at the edge of a forest, about the detrimental effect that introducing a domestic hunter might have on local wildlife but seeing that a cat can curb and re-direct their energies towards being a leaf-peeper or even  a rock-hound is a pretty exciting prospect.

o grave new world

A collective of guerrilla artists, Hyperallergic reports, under cover of darkness over the weekend consecrated the casualties of the Trump regime’s first year in office on the property of Trump’s own New Jersey golf course—a place where he expressed the wish to be ultimately laid to rest—with tombstones marking the demise of things like Decency and the Last Snowman, over his decision to go against the rest of the world’s commitment to combat climate change, with fitting epitaphs. No one condones trespassing but the mayor of Bedminster did not seem too concerned, saying the act was more mischief than vandalism.

they call me mellow-yellow (quite rightly)

The Atlantic showcases the latest episode of Gastropod which explores the hidden history behind the prized spice saffron. Attaining the reputation of a panacea and versatile staple cosmetic—and taking on tranquillising, addictive properties in large enough quantities, most of the world’s supply comes from Iran but for a period in the sixteenth century England was sourcing its own and the episode goes on report on one individual’s efforts to revive saffron cultivation in the country.

6x6

kommandozentrale 5001: Berlin’s newest techno music fest to be held in a Cold War-era bunker

concrete jungle: a tour of the photogenic Quarry Bay residential compound of Hong Kong

a bridge too far: Northern Ireland proposes a crossing to Scotland in response to the UK Foreign Minister’s suggest spanning the English Channel and linking England to Normandy

overclock: sounds can be passively recovered from video footage of subtle vibrations

humanity star: a private rocketry company secretly launches a temporary piece of art to inspire us to keep looking up

green blood, green women: in anticipation of his possible directorial take on the film franchise, Boing Boing shares a trailer of the original series cut in the style of Quentin Tarantino