Milton was totally blind for the last twenty years of his life, yet he managed to produce a steady stream of writing, including his magnum opus, the ten-thousand-line epic poem “Paradise Lost,” composed between 1658 and 1664. Milton devoted the morning to solitary contemplation in bed, beginning at 4:00 A.M. (5:00 A.M. in the winter). First he had an aide read to him from the Bible for half an hour. Then Milton was left alone to compose as many lines as his memory could retain. At 7:00, Milton’s aide returned to take dictation—and if the aide happened to be running late, one early biographer noted, Milton “would complain, saying he wanted to be milked.” After dictation, the aide would read to him until lunch was served at noon. Then Milton walked up and down his garden for three or four hours. In the late afternoon and evening he received visitors, ate a light supper, smoked a pipe, and went to bed at about 9:00.
—Mason Currey
—found in Daily Rituals: How Artists Work
megachiropteran /meg-ə-kər-OPT-ər-ən/. noun or adjective. Of or pertaining to the suborder Megachiroptera, which includes herbivorous fruit bats and flying foxes. Despite the “mega” in the name, this order includes some microbats as small as 2.4 inches long! These bats are distinguished by smooth-crowned molars and a claw on the index finger.
Thanks to Reader S. for suggesting the word and sending a link to the page discussing why this is the best anagram in English (with “cinematographer”) and how it was found (scroll past the tech stuff) and listing some other awesome anagrams. :: Also, the full list of anagrams by score and real soapstone teaspoons.
“Moles and shrews still feed almost exclusively on insects, while various bat species (especially among the Megachiroptera, that other suborder) have attained much larger sizes and diverged into diets of fruit, nectar and pollen, fish, other bats, small birds and rodents, lizards, and blood.” (David Quammen)
Such a great idea, art rifling and rummaging through the everyday. → Shawn Huckins - Paint Chips series
Ever wondered “How many giraffe’s necks equal the length of the Weinermobile” or “How many kegs of beer could the New York City sewer system carry per day?” Then the Weird Converter is for you.
MIT claims to have found a “language universal” that ties all languages together :: Also: the original paper on which the article is based (PDF).
Wow! This could be where consciousness is formed? → A giant neuron has been found wrapped around the entire circumference of the brain
Love this site collecting examples of the (dying art of) movie/cinema/play tickets. → Tickets Please!
I’d heard a bit about his early racist cartoons, but this piece lays out the history and asks a reasonable question → Can We Forgive Dr. Seuss?
Eight days a week? → The Case for Eating Weed at Work
Today in 1946 at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, USA, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivers his “iron curtain” speech (which he had titled “The Sinews of Peace”), essentially inaugurating the Cold War. “From Stettin in the Baltic to Trieste in the Adriatic, an iron curtain has descended across the continent,” Churchill proclaimed, noting the importance of “a special relationship between the British Commonwealth and Empire and the United States” to fighting the “fifth columns” that “constitute a growing challenge and peril to Christian civilisation.” :: Also, read or listen (mp3) to the full speech. :: Also, I feel compelled to note that today in 1979 Voyager I made its closest approach to Jupiter and it is National Tree Planting day in Iran. In my head these are all connected.
Jeremy Irons Reads (a whole bunch of) TS Eliot. Thanks, Reader B.
10 years in the making, Thoreau’s pond has finally been made into a video game. → Walden, a game.
I wonder if anyone else had the same experience (of bemused frustration) with Every Noise at Once that I had. Just sticking with musics I’ve lived with for decades, I found the Spotify-selected examples to be bizarre. The “Jazz Bass” example had some nice bass in the background, but it was far in the background. Out front was a guitar solo. The example of “Deep Jazz Guitar” was a trombone solo. The example of “Jazz Brass” was a drum solo. The example of “Traditional Folk” was a Newgrassy version of Tim Hardin’s “If I Were a Carpenter.” The example of “British Blues” was Small Faces’ “Itchycoo Park.” “Traditional Blues” was T-Bone Walker’s electric “T-Bone Blues.” Country Gospel was Marty Robbins’s “Big Iron” (I’m not kidding). There’s no entry for “Chanty” or “Chantey,” and under “Shanty” they list the Sheringham Shantymen singing “High Germany,” which is like listing “Hey Ba-Ba-Re-Bop” as Romanian Folk.
It was neat to see the display (which no doubt would make excellent sense to people who can properly appreciate that kind of thing) of all the genres, sub-genres, sub-sub-genres, etc. of music. And I suspect there’s a machinic-assemblage problem built into the selection system. I have little doubt that “Polish Reggae,” “Swiss Hip Hop,” “Symphonic Black Metal,” “Chinese Indie Rock,” and “Discofox” (example: Nico Gemba, “Der letzte Fox.” Who knew?), I suspect the machine does a better job of hitting those on the nose. And rest assured that they’ve caught the very essence of the instrument in their Accordion entry, and not once, but twice: once under “Accordion” and once under “Accordeon.” Double the fun!
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