Every now and then my stats jump inexplicably, this time due to this tweet about Van Gogh, I think.
Links
Still sounding good
I almost forgot to wish Mozart happy 265th birthday.
Some things never change
Hip to be the Sandman
It’s great to see Metallica dueting with Huey Lewis and The News thanks, once again, to the amazing video editing skills of Bill McClintock.
Nothing is harder to do than nothing
Waterstones has uploaded a lengthy, introductory extract from Jenny Odell’s excellent book, How to Do Nothing: Resisting the Attention Economy. Vital reading.
Warhol’s Monroe, but wooden
Timur Zagirov has converted another famous face, Marilyn’s this time, into a 3D, pixellated sculpture painting thing. An interesting partner to his re-worked Van Gogh, and much nicer to look at than that sculpture of her in Palm Springs.
Not going anywhere #2
In the UK, the word of the year is obviously ‘lockdown’. Over in China, neijuan or ‘involution’ might be the key word.
It’s a sign
Noah Kalina puts up a Biden/Harris yard sign … with possibly predictable results. A concise illustration of how polarising politics has become.
Reasons why women shouldn’t vote
You know those suffrage posters? Turns out there was a book, too.
Screensaver dreams since 1999
I can’t believe Electric Sheep is still going. This distributed computing project for animating and evolving fractal flames has been going on for about 20 years now. One of the first things I put on my iMac.
Keeping an eye on them
Sleep on it
You can now get bedding complete with side pockets for your phones/tv remotes/fags. Something tells me that keeping these things so close might not be promoting a positive attitude to sleep.
Is three weeks enough?
So there’s to be a three-week delay for ‘most’ GCSE and A-level exams in England next summer. The main set of exams will start on 7 June and run until 2 July, apart from the English and Maths GCSEs, which will be held before the May half-term. Here’s the press release from the government.
Keep calm
Learn to live like a Stoic by enrolling on Stoic Week 2020, starting 19 October. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed these in the past, just got to make these concepts and techniques ‘sticky’ once the week is through…
Buyer beware #2
Here’s an infographic of 29 psychological tricks and tactics used to make people buy more. Some obvious, some less so. I’ve mentioned some of these before, but reducing syllables? Removing commas?
Hidden costs of streaming music
The New Yorker’s Alex Ross on Kyle Devine’s new book, ‘Decomposed: The Political Ecology of Music’. “The ostensibly frictionless nature of online listening has other hidden or overlooked costs.”
Scenes that shaped animation
Animation professionals, historians, and other experts have compiled a list of 100 of the most influential sequences in animation history. So much to love here, from George Méliès, Norman McLaren and Popeye, to Akira, Luxo Jr and Jack Skellington.
About time, too
What’s in a name? #6
More nominative determinism, this time from the Bulletin of the Royal College of Surgeons of England, via Futility Closet.
Student numbers
Universities should be two-thirds empty to avoid “almost inevitable” Covid spikes. As if I wasn’t worried enough about my son just starting university…
