unfriended

The post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and associated co-morbidities suffered by social media moderators paid very little to weed and tend a walled-garden that represents and manipulates one of the largest polities on Earth has been ruled compensable with the rather lenient ruling of a judge that results in a class-action settlement rather than the social media giant providing for job retraining, therapy, counselling or long-term treatment. Current and former moderators are to receive a thousand dollars—which could balloon up to six-thousand should the plaintiff be able to demonstrate more serious mental distress—which comes as a significant bargain to one of the richest and most disruptive companies in the world.

ranch style

We are enjoying these inspiring Mid-Century Modern backyard and balcony roosts for our avian friends crafted by Douglas Barnhard (see also here and here). Besides the standard accoutrements of feed, seed, pitch, perch and shelter there are water elements and landscaped succulent gardens for some models. See more at the link up top and at Barnhard’s shop.

ferenginar

Ahead of the United States Armed Forces Day, falling on the third Saturday in May, Trump used the occasion to unveil the standard for their new branch, the Space Force (previously here and here) with calls to bring him a super-duper rocket, presumably to position the country first for the land grab and claims jumping when it comes to prospecting in space.
This flagging ceremony occurs with approaching ninety thousand deaths in America from COVID-19, many of which can be attributed directly to his negligence and mismanagement with some forty million jobless for a country that can budget for a knock-off Star Fleet that’s an anathema to everything Star Trek stands for but can’t deliver healthcare or job security nor foster the imagination.  We truly are in the dumbest timeline.

it happened on the way to baker street

Though he’s not quite yet there and it’s all I can do to not play the song back to him and encourage him in the right direction, our neighbour’s rooster wails throughout the day with a crow that close awfully close to the timeless opening saxophone riff from Gerry Rafferty’s 1977 recording which anyone in the horn section should cut their chops on. I’ll update you if his pitch and timing improve or at least manage to capture a recording of this very audible but demurring bird.

6x6

förtress: IKEA issues instructions for building furniture forts

blooper reel: outtakes from classic Hollywood
when a problem comes along, you must whip it: DEVO face shields

college of grievance studies: a satirical illustration of a liberal arts campus is received as triggering by some as it circulates

subscribe to our newsletter: indoors zines for the home-stuck

haute couture: make Zhijun Wang’s iconic IKEA shopping bag mask from 2014 as a statement on air-quality in Beijing

i loved that waiter—jean luc!

Enjoying a quite delightful concluding post-script to a podcast miniseries on I, CLAVDIVS recently, there was an interesting panel discussion about what artefact of culture one might be willing to impose on others to reveal either a shared-experience or a telling shibboleth that landed on the idea of swapping familiarity with television commercials. The below Pure Moods really struck a chord, as did memories of another vintage ad for Stovetop Stuffing suggested independently by another fine show and could probably merit a podcast on its own. What are some of your strongest advertising reminiscences? Re-watching have you found that you misremembered them?

a book by its cover

Appreciating the inherent, joyful weirdness that can adorn paperback novels—especially the of the science fiction and fantasy genre—the Seattle Public Library system has challenged readers to stage recreations of their favourites (see also) using items that they can find around the house. Check out the full thread and get inspired to stage your own.

maulwurf

After more than a year of inactivity due to the unexpected impacted character of the soil where it landed and deployed, NASA and DLR (previously) can report that one of the instruments included on the Heat Flow and Physical Properties Package (HP3) payload on the lander InSight is slowly, carefully making progress, burrowing below the surface.
Nicknamed “the mole,” the probe has the technical designation of a mobile penetrometer, a sort of self-hammering nail—will dig to a depth of up to five metres and generate (albeit miniscule, truly a mountain out of a mole hill) seismic activity that can be used to determine the composition of the core and study heat flows from the planet’s centre through the substrate and to the surface.