RIP, Chana Bloch.
Bequest
The Golden Record aboard Voyager, 1977
We wanted to make a good impression. Maybe even to launch a conversation.
Bonjour in fifty-five languages—some, like Sumerian and Akkadian, long dead.
Bach, Beethoven, Chuck Berry, the tap-tap of Morse code, birdsong and whale song.
The silhouette of a naked man and woman made the final cut, but no nude photographs. Taxpayers were adamant. Not even a naked baby.
And no photos of war or nuclear explosions. They might get ideas.
A billion years from now, when the earth is a charred cinder, our Voyager may land on some friendly galactic shore. And with it, the Golden Record, our calling card.
To Whom It May Concern: We just wanted to drop by and say, Hello, how are you? We were fine.
—Chana Bloch
—from Swimming in the Rain: New and Selected Poems 1980–2015
coriaceous /kor-ee-AY-shəs/. adjective. Leather-like. Resembling leather. From Latin coriaceus (same meaning), from Latin corium (hide, leather, skin) + -aceus (of the nature of). See also scoriaceous (having the nature of scoria (masses, slag, dross)) and cuirass (originally a body armor made of leather).
“Swallowing fear he tried again but the slick, coriaceous walls held him fast.” (Anthony Huso)
“Christie showcased a capacious personality and a coriaceous hide (‘If you’re going to do it, at least man up and say I’m fat’) but presented mainly platitudes and no clear agenda.” (Mark Halperin)
“The genus, or rather family, of Epeira, is here characterized by many singular forms; some species have pointed coriaceous shells, others enlarged and spiny tibiae.” (Charles Darwin)
“Vex not thou the poick’s mind, With thy coriaceous ingratitude.” (Robert Louis Stevenson)
“…a collection of “persuasive” cartography: more than 800 maps intended primarily to influence opinions or beliefs — to send a message — rather than to communicate geographic information. The collection reflects a variety of persuasive tools, including allegorical, satirical and pictorial mapping; selective inclusion; unusual use of projections, color, graphics and text; and intentional deception.” [Thanks, Reader K.]
Keeping Track of Every Book You’ve Ever Read: A New York Times editor on the coffee-stained list she’s kept for almost three decades
A hoax paper [PDF] was published by some hoaxers. I don’t think the publication means what they think it means. Neither does Hank Reichman.
Philographics is a series of posters that “explain big ideas in simple shapes.” Effectively, in some cases, icons.
The new paint colors invented by neural network story has been going around. I share here because: 1) funny, 2) this is the original story and 3) lost in the laughter is how amazed we should be at what is essentially the early infancy of AI. It’s like judging how the adult version of a two-week old will think and what he or she will come up with.
This guy going around a museum and using FaceApp to add smiles to classical art has finally found a good use for FaceApp
The always awesome Strong Language blog has some decidedly NSFW annotations of James Joyce’s erotic letters to his wife, Nora Barnacle :: pairs with Waywords and Meansigns Opendoor Edition, in which over 100 musicians and readers from 15 countries have put Joyce’s Finnegans Wake to music.
How The Whitest Singer Of The ’70s Became An Icon In The Philippines
I’m about as prescriptivist as one gets, but The “Jane Austen” fallacy is a sound idea and coinage…though I am confused by the quotation marks in the name.
Today in 1936, Geisha and prostitute Sada Abe is arrested after walking around Tokyo for several days with her lover’s severed penis and testicles hidden in her kimono. The multi-day search for Abe caused panic, a near-stampede and traffic jams throughout Tokyo. Abe’s actions and trial not only caused a sensation and spawned a multitude of books and movies (most famously In the Realm of the Senses) but the transcript of her interrogation and confession was widely circulated, greatly amplifying an already strong tradition of fiction and essays by dokufu or “poison women.” After her release from prison in 1941, Abe toured as an actress in small stage productions before becoming a waitress (and showpiece) in a Tokyo pub. Abe was last seen in a Japanese nunnery in the mid–70s.
“The School of Life is both a You Tube channel and a real-life school (for adults) in 10 locations around the world devoted to emotional education. We address the questions we’re never taught enough about at regular school or college: How can relationships go well? What is meaningful work? How can love last? How can one find calm? What’s gone wrong (and right) with capitalism?”
One of two visualizations of Every Color Of Cardigan Mister Rogers Wore From 1979–2001. Some surprises lie therein, including a possible secret behind the popularity of the red and green cardigans.
Reader J.: “Thank you for the ‘everydays’. I think I’ll get lost in it for awhile. ¶ I need to breathe in dedication and inspiration.”
Reader C.: “Some of the 7x7 creations are incredible. Some, not so much. But I love the collaborative spirit and look forward to more. Thank you.”
Reader V.: “[Malcolm] Gladwell drives me crazier than a soup sandwich, but this time I think he’s really on to something.” — Crazier than a soup sandwich!?
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