Recently updated blogs

A couple of months ago, I posted this on the sociality: Every once in a while I listen to “Hog-Eye Man”, a fine sea shanty. Lots of versions online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfMhy-Er-_Y [Martin Carthy] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCIM_shahkI [The Longest Johns] But... it’s noted as one of the filthiest shanties ever collected. Of course, every published and recorded version is cleaned up! Ass-cheeks and bit of double entendre are all that remain. (Maybe the N-word …

It’s been a fun three days in Ljubljana, it’s on to Budapest tomorrow for potentially more flooding. The trains are still running so who knows. For now, it’s sweet dreams of Slovenia, a beautiful country full of warm, friendly people. I’m very much looking forward to returning next week for the original two days we had planned. Note tags: travel, europe, slovenia, adventure, architecture

William Jennings Bryan (left, seated) being questioned by Clarence Darrow at the Scopes Trial in Dayton, Tennessee. Image from the Smithsonian Archives via Wikimedia. Reprinted with permission from Worst. Book about the Scopes Trial. Ever!, published on September 10, 2024, by Righting America, a forum for scholarly conversation about Christianity, culture, and politics in the US. Glenn Branch is deputy director of the National Center for Science Education, a nonprofit …

The next time we meet it will be autumn. Who submitted the requistion for that? Thanks. A lot. At least we get one more Saturday in. We’ve had a good run of weather to see us out, picking a couple of pounds of tomatoes a day. I’ll need a new hobby once the garden slows down. Maybe I could join a men’s pie making groups or something. The American Association …

Our review of Tracks on the Ocean: A History of Trailblazing, Maps and Maritime Travel, by Sara Caputo, first published in August 2024. Tracing a history of ships track on maps from their inception about five hundred years ago to modern times, Tracks on the Ocean, untangles what else they can tell us beyond how to get from A to B.I‘m only a minor map buff, and I don‘t know …

I think turning everyday gadgets into bombs is a bad idea. However, recent news coverage has been framing the weaponization of pagers and radios in the Middle East as something we do not need to concern ourselves with because “we” are safe. I respectfully disagree. Our militaries wear uniforms, and our weapons of war are clearly marked as such because our societies operate on trust. As long as we don’t …

An article I wrote for The Conversation on the second REAIM Summit held in Seoul, Korea in September. The article provides some additional context on the key theme of REAIM - Responsible AI - and explores what this might look like in practice in military contexts. Read here

1 Ani DiFranco– The Million You Never Made2 Ashley MacIsaac– Ashley's Reels3 Mae Moore– Deep Water4 Spirit Of The West– Kiss & Tell5 Jane Siberry– When Spring Comes6 Holly Cole– Petals In A Stream7 The Rankin Family– Sir James Baird8 Meryn Cadell With Mary Margaret O'Hara– Wash Down9 Mary Jane Lamond– Ba Ba Mo Leanabh10 Lori Yates– The Future Is Here11 Deb Montgomery– The Tale12 Aether – Half Light13 Laurel …

Cowboys and cans, oh my!This silver Tomorrowland trash can adorns the entrance for Rocket to the Moon (1955-1975). Let’s head to the “Space Port Waiting Room” and read the sign explaining the adventure that awaits!The initial blast-off, phenomenal acceleration, sounds and visual sensations are all realistically simulated aboard a rocket.This venture into space is under conditions as calculated for the year 1986 by Willy Ley and Dr. Wernher Von Braun, …

Pegah Ouji’s flash “In the Name of Those Optimist Iranian Fools” leaves the moon behind for love of a twin sister and Iran. Here she shares just one thing about the piece:“I’ve been so blessed to know and love a few of these real-life, optimist Iranian fools- Anisa and Naghmeh to name two. I want to let them know here how much I appreciate them, how much I draw continual …

Riccardo Mori responding to John Gruber’s post about Apple’s “It’s Glowtime” event: Selective memory is amazing. Shall we talk about a few duds that happened under Tim Cook’s Apple? Like the 2013 ‘trash can’ Mac Pro? Like the impregnable 2014 Mac mini? Like the 2015 12-inch single-port retina MacBook? — A dud in itself containing yet another dud in the form of the infamous keyboard with butterfly mechanism, one of …

Check out As in guillotine... for more. This is my bi-weekly “newsletter” delivered straight to your inbox, with at least one guaranteed typo I’ll catch after hitting send! If email’s not your thing, don’t hesitate to switch to the RSS feed. I encourage you to click through the main links (there’s only five and they’re all interesting!), and if you enjoy something — send me (or them) an email, leave …

Engravings based on watercolour images made at the first British colony in North America.

Black Panther (1998) #28 [2001] W: Christopher Priest. A: Sal Velluto. Lots of regal guest stars–Velluto has a great time with Namor, even giving him a splash page. Has Wakanda really gone to war with both the United States and Atlantis or is someone conspiring against its king? Priest does a fantastic job with the 616 global politics. It’s a packed, busy issue and quite good comics. Black Panther (1998) …

I first read about Jerry Rayson in the book Enjoy the Experience, a survey of private press LPs in the United States. Supercollector Paul Major of New York wrote about Rayson's record The Weird Thing in Town:It's incredibly scarce, and Major's description of it naturally drove up demand, which is why Craig Moerer (RecordsByMail) wants $1500 for a copy on eBay, and Bananas Records wants $1200 for a copy on …