沢登り

Via tmn, we learn about a particular subset of mountaineering called sawanobori—literally stream-climbing that involves ascending a tributary to its source be that up and over ravines and waterfalls and always against the current. Although speciality gear is usually now employed—as the video advertises—traditionally climbers wore straw-rope shoes called waraji (草鞋), differentiated from other sandals by how the toes protruded over the edge to help one gain a purchase whilst hiking up an incline.

bless this mess

Writing for Neatorama fellow internet caretaker Miss Cellania directs our attention to this malediction suitable for framing in this cross-stich embroidery and its Live, Laugh, Love antecedents while not quite mockingly do somewhat undermine the concerted efforts of many wise people devoted to the problem of long term storage of our radioactive waste and how to dissuade far future generations from exploration. 
Whilst considering everything from a spiky metal forest and an atomic priesthood to endure the ages, the Human Interference Task Force—and of course the verdict is still out there and no optimal solution has presented itself—aimed to communicate the message, non-linguistically: This is not a place of honour... no highly esteemed deed is commemorated here... nothing is valued here... This place is best shunned and left uninhabited.

to rub minds

Via TYWKIWDBI, we learn that lexicographers at the Oxford English Dictionary (see previously) have added—not without controversy as some question what qualifies for proper English and possibly a misguided push for inclusivity that netted street slang along with useful and unique turns of phrases—twenty nine terms to acknowledge the contributions that Nigeria has made to English as a global language and not the exclusive domain of any single authority as well as taking a survey of the some five hundred native languages spoken there, like the above example meaning to brain storm and collaborate, including senior wife, okada—a motorcycle taxi service, a send-forth—a farewell celebration, a mama put—a food vendor and ember months, the last third of the year. A few Nigerian English coinages have already come into common-parlance, such as to come of age, free and fair and a no-go area.

super tuesday

Ahead of the first national primary to secure the candidacy of the Democratic Party, the field of contenders has thinned significantly with former South Bend, Indiana mayor Pete Buttigieg, Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar and former hedge-fund manager Tom Steyer—after spending a quarter of a billion dollars of his personal fortune—have dropped out of the race. Klobuchar and Buttigieg (whom polls consistently showed him roundly unseating Trump in a one-to-one race) have yielded the party’s central constituency and endorsed former vice president Joe Biden for the high office.

dallas, patrie du dollar du pétrol

I knew that the long-running 1978 US prime-time soap opera with its spinoffs that followed the feuding of the oil tycoons the Ewings with its cliffhangers and long story-arcs enjoyed more than a cult following in Germany but did not realise that the theme tune had been modified for francophone television markets to include expository lyrics. Continuing with the second verse and refrain:

Dallas, tu ne connais pas la pitié
Dallas, le revolver est ton idole
Dallas, tut e raccroches à ton passé

Find all the lyrics and translation plus various performances at Boing Boing at the link above.

matrix

We’re familiar with Plato’s Allegory of the Cave but our thanks to Fancy Notions for referring us to this 1973 animated short illustrated by Dick Oden and narrated by Orson Welles that we had not encountered beforehand. The dialogue of Socrates and his interlocutor, portrayed as Plato’s brother Glaucon, that puts forth this archetypal thought-experiment contrasts the power of education and enlightenment and wilful ignorance and how shadows can limn our reality.

k-briq

A Edinburgh firm called Kenoteq in collaboration with the city’s university is taking on the dirty business of construction by reclaiming materials that would otherwise end up in landfills and reconstituting the building blocks (see previously) without firing them in a kiln—making the process even more sustainable and environmentally friendly. Moreover the basic units can be created in situ from the salvaged material—saving on pollution caused by transportation.