In collaboration with local artists, Banksy has introduced a line of keepsakes, we learn via Colossal, available at the gift-shop of his Bethlehem hotel (previously here and here) that are inversions of the normal tourist tchotchkes of famous landmarks with the West Bank barrier wall depicted in various stages of crumbling. The hotel has also recently released an album by several Palestinian and international performers and has hosted several other events that you can read more about at the links up top.
Wednesday 18 April 2018
the worst view in the world
imagine a man of my stature being given away as a prize
Though semi-retired from the programme since 2014 and leaving a legacy that goes beyond the some two-thousand answering-machine and voicemail greetings recorded (I wonder what kind of exclusive club those lucky recipients have formed, the format only recently changed to expand to give winners the choice of any of the panelists’ or hosts’ voices), the passing of veteran National Public Radio reporter, anchor and score-keeper emeritus Carl Kasell is hard to reconcile, as he’s been a familiar voice that’s accompanied us for a long time.
Beginning as a news announcer for the weekend edition of All Thing’s Considered in 1975, Kasell hosted Morning Edition since its inception in 1979 until 2009. For nearly a decade, there was overlap for the radio personality as news presenter and his role as judge and arbiter on the weekly news quiz show Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!—a move which some might question given Kasell’s newscaster’s bearing and the comedic playfulness of the show but his deadpan humour not only worked but was sustaining for the long-running show, entering its third decade this year. Thanks for delivering developments of events great and small and thanks for all the laughs. Rest in peace, Mr Kasell.
Tuesday 17 April 2018
6x6
the long way home: in the wake of the attack on Pearl Harbour, an American seaplane in New Zealand had to find an alternative route across the Pacific
a map of the world that does not include utopia is not worth even glancing at: a trailer for the documentary trailer for the Minnesota Experimental City (previously) and its founder Athelstan Spilhaus
transiting exoplanet survey satellite: a nice primer on NASA’s TESS mission that’s expected to sweep the skies for potentially planets
il fuori salone: highlights from Milan Design Week
funkloch: in contravention of the Rural Call Completion Task Force, a telecom provider is being punished for phantom ring tones
if you don’t love me at my worst: this 1921 comic strip foreshadows those expectation versus reality memes pretty spot-on
ordinance survey
Our thanks to the Londonist for introducing us to an rather stunning and absorbing project called Britain from Above that drew on the extensive archives of the Aerofilms Collection to present to the public and elicit feedback (2010-2014) nearly one hundred thousand aerial photographs and films from between 1919 to 1953.
The varied collection includes urban, industrial and rural scenery and was begun when two veteran flying aces from World War I were granted a charter to launch the first comprehensive land survey by air. Aerofilms also pioneered the discipline known as photogrammetry—the term for producing maps from aerial photography. These vintage images are not only visually captivating but also provide important insights for understanding growth and development and management, conservation of both built and natural environments.
