Links I dig sharing with friends and onlookers.
Jennifer Viegas of Discover News pens an utterly delightful story on a theory that the world’s first cannibals did so merely for nutritional purposes. Can you imagine a caveman looking at a fellow caveman saying, “Hmm. I’m in dire need of bone marrow. You’ll do.”?
HT: Arts & Letters Daily.
Cross-posted at Steinblóm.
John Carpenter is originally from New Jersey, but has become a breath of fresh air to the sometimes stagnant Los Angeles indie music scene. He performs frequently, and has been seen at Spaceland and The Las Vegas Shakedown Festival in (where else?) Las Vegas, Nevada. His music is a combination of Scott Walker, The Velvet Underground, hints of The Gun Club and Joy Division, and perhaps a dash of early Roxy Music. The man, and the band, are a record collection compressed into a tight performance troupe.
Cross-posted at A Miscellany of Tasteful Music.
The first thought that popped into my head after reading this article was, “Meh, heard it before.” I had to stop and re-evaluate Nicholas Negroponte’s article, however, as it is not my demographic his words will ring true for. People 40 and up love books. I’m in the class now. I’m not about to give up the textures, the binding and the smell of my books. It’s too much of a tactile pleasure for me! This is not the case for the whippersnappers, however, who are more than content to download an object for a mere utilitarian purpose. The young ones are more than happy to read the book, have access to it via a host of nice apps (iPad, Kindle, Nook, et al.), carry around what could conceivably amount to the Library of Alexandria in a hand-held gadget, and be on their merry way. Their perspective is far different from those of us who would be devastated at the loss of our collections should a fire rip through our homes and rob us of our little pleasures in mere moments. Perhaps the kids have the right idea with downloads. I handle it well with music. Books will take a bit more time to adjust to.
Cross-posted at Steinblóm.
Oh, good God, we’re doomed! Well… no. Not quite. This was supposed to have happened Tuesday. We may have dodged a big bullet, so you may want to read up on said ‘solar tsunami’.
Cross-posted at RudyCarrera.com.
It’s true that the 1960s was the richest decade for music. A dear friend of mine, Kathy, gave me a rather stunning reminder of this when posting this video by The Equals, a mixed-race group who managed to pull together roots music, R&B and reggae into one mighty delicious soup. This track is perhaps best known as a song the Clash covered to great effect, but the original is nothing to sneeze at!
Cross-posted at A Miscellany of Tasteful Music.
Our Scottish bard is at it again. It’s been too long since I’ve last posted his words onto my blog, and this entry is as majestic as his last few.
(Kopanina, Czech Republic)
Great rock that spreads among the trees
Face cloven in the display of nature
Crevices everywhere on your sheer face
Granite that speaks of the coming of new life
And old life
Where the trees stand immobile
At the base a cave stands
small crevice in the giant of rock
small place under so many tons of rocks
where a sight can be seen
in the power and the glory of the forest
rock eroded and sculpted
by the water of so many generations
signatures of th almighty
the rock stands
structure of the hills
with sides but bare and dull
presence of the ages
so old and trees grow out of its crevices
they stand finding soil in unlikely places
life about and in the mind a recess
life in its extremes
on the great big block of rock
that stands to dwarf all around
row upon row of cracks and recesses
among the great sculpted picture of nature stand
and mosses climb the cracks
dark and light green presences
among the blue of lichens
and gee and there a fern
to show that plants are active here
lesser celandine in its incarnations
that in summer will throw up yellow flowers
all speak of the flowing force of the rock
where the water flows
and so much plant life grows
and in their force one day
they will break it down
broken by the hand of nature again
as one day it will merge with the hill
to be no more such a vast place
only for now the gentle chipping away of the millennia
and now it stands
huge structure of the glory of nature
and of our Maker glorified
presence of the eternal forest
This gentleman, Jean Gregoire Sagbo, has become the first black man to hold office in Russia’s history, winning the seat on the municipal council. He has also won the respect and admiration from his fellow Russians in the town of Novozavidovo, where he is, admirably, treated as a fellow Russian rather than an outsider. My only quibble of the man is that he came to Russia as follower of Communism. Hopefully his years in Russia have wakened him up to the failures of that rotten system.
Cross-posted at RudyCarrera.com.
Sometimes, dear friends, we need a good laugh. I spend a good deal of time griping about politics elsewhere, but prefer to delve into matters cultural here. Since we could all use a smile, I present to you Historic LOLs, brought to you by the silly folks as Cheez Burger.
Veronique de Rugy of National Review Online points out the stupidity of some estates abusing copyright law to the detriment of those who wish to learn more about their subjects, or at least to have better access to their works. Cross-posted at Steinblóm.
Michael Rubin asks. I answer. “No.” Recep Tayyip Erdoğan is a fellow traveler with the Iranian psychopath Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Until the Turks vote their cretinous leader out, they will have to sit under Erdoğan’s Islamist thumb and prepare for their country to turn into Iran one day. Cross-posted at RudyCarrera.com.