Recently updated blogs

What can philosophical preoccupations such as dialectics offer a world in the grip of a existential environmental crisis? For most commentators, indeed for most people concerned about the environment, the crisis is a technological one. Humans, the argument goes, use the wrong technologies, the wrong energy sources or use too much natural resources leading to depletion, exhaustion and pollution.

Earlier this month I had a few minutes to spare downtown so I decided to take a walk around Gold Medal Park. It’s a beautiful park on the east side of downtown. Not too long ago it used to be a large parking lot. Come to think of it, I’m pretty sure I saw Cirque du Soleil in this very spot back in the early 2000s when it was just …

Saturday morning at Moorewood Colliery. And down at the coal canal, Pete & Dud are chatting to Boatman Brian about his new unsinkable narrowboat which is made almost entirely from balsa wood by a company called Craftline. The same company also produced the pithead, that too is also made of balsa wood and is also unsinkable. Driver Stavros the Steam is pottering about the sidings pushing wagons from here to …

I’ve been using Structured for more than 150 days, and I’m delighted to say that it has significantly increased my productivity. My ability to plan out my days efficiently has greatly improved thanks to the app, and I now have much better time management. The visual timeline feature really shines. Watching my day unfold visually has reshaped how I tackle my tasks. It’s like having a personal compass for the …

What caught my eye this week. Some good news for investment trust fans this week, as the Financial Times reports: The UK government has exempted investment trusts from onerous cost disclosures in a move analysts believe will boost the £260bn industry and could support trusts’ share prices. In a joint statement this week, the government and Financial Conduct Authority said investment trusts will be excluded from European regulation that affects …

I first learned of bonnets and hats being made of luffa sponge only a couple years ago. I found the idea of a bonnet made from a squash to be both fantastical and completely practical. I figured I would be lucky to ever see one behind glass in a display. I never imagined I would […]

I meet so many aspiring designers who proudly assert that they’re really good at “ideas”. The world does not need more idea people, at least until it catches up on the inspiring backlog of Matt Webb’s ideas. We need to make home-defragging robots before dreaming up new things to buy.

DC has posted several preview pages from next week’s issue of The Flash, and you can see them at Adventures In Poor Taste. The preview features Wally’s last-ditch effort to save the Speed Force — and consequently all of time and reality — from the poison injected by the Arc Angles. Check it out at the link! THE FLASH #13 Written by SIMON SPURRIER Art and cover by RAMÓN PÉREZ …

There have been hundreds of (two, actually) complaints about an art work by one Poppy Baynham in a gallery in Hay-on-Wye which includes a black triangle with pink wool on top and those of you who recall (however vaguely) my past posts about Gustave Courbet and Deborah de Robertis and Egon Schiele and Leena McCall will realise that, yes, he’s talking about ladyparts again or, more specifically, images of ladyparts, …

A question from Tumblr user baddywronglegs: I’ve asked this question before and been surprised by the results, now I have access to more weirdos it’s your problem:It is the middle of a Sunday afternoon. You have nothing on, and aren’t expecting visitors, deliveries or post.Unexpectedly, there is a knock at the door.Which of these would surprise you more to find on the doorstep? Fairy or Walrus? Apparently 80% of the …

Note: This article is based on updated research and is intended to replace my old article on Melchizedek, written several years ago. It has also been produced as a documentary at the MythVision YouTube channel. Melchizedek. You’ve probably heard that name before, but many Christians would be hard-pressed to tell you who he was or […]

An end of week recap “No one who loves life can ignore literature, and no one who loves literature can ignore life.” – Laura Esquivel This is a post in which I summarise books read, reviewed and currently on my TBR shelf. In addition to a variety of literary titbits, I look ahead to forthcoming features, see what’s on the nightstand and keep readers abreast of various book-related happenings. CHATTERBOOKS …

Albrecht Dürer’s print “The Witch” from around 1500. Metropolitan Museum of Art, Accession Number 17.37.31 https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/391138 I visited Dürer’s house, it was saved from bombing by being built next to the city wall. About sixty years ago, L. Sprague de Camp discovered a list of ancient magic tricks and stagecraft. Most of the tricks employed by the witch Saphanbaal to awe her clients (in my novel) are described by Bishop …

Here’s all the writing about beer that grabbed our attention in the past week, from Old Puke to Moons Under Water. First, in the news, an academic study has found that people drink less when they’re offered only the choice of ⅔-of-a-pint glasses, and not full pints. Yes, we know this sounds obvious, but the really interesting bit is this: “Researchers found drinkers tend to stick to a specific number …

Credit: By the author A Joyful Return of Old Web Techniques 2024-09-19T00:00:00+00:00, by Emma Humphries, from Infinite Wishes 🏳️‍⚧️🚀 I’m happy to see folks who had accounts on Cohost set up their own web sites (which is a wonderful response to see in response to the beloved site’s demise.) People are creating blogs, web rings, and OPML files with the feeds of ex-Cohost users. Some are making tools such as …