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I have this sort of pop primal scene to do with seeing T. Rex on T. Vee. A personal creation-myth based on Marc Bolan's audio-visual impact on my fragile eggshell child-mind. I first referred to this memory scar as early as the introduction to Blissed Out - where it is described as an early encounter with the Pop Sublime, a sensation that scared and spooked me as much as astonished …

I’ve put up a new Austin Philips story over on Dark Tales Sleuth: “A Dead Letter” is a ghost story about a moaning ghost—and a ghost envelope! On the way, the reader learns a little British Post Office history, too. It’s also set on Christmas Eve, so this story may make a return at Winter Tales season. But in the meantime, enjoy!

IN WESTERN PHILOSOPHY AND AESTHETICS a contrast is sometimes made between the Dionysian and the Apollonian. Made famous by Nietzsche, this schema was first used to describe the thought and art of Ancient Greece. On the Apollonian end we have all that is rational, intentional, structured, abstract, or well ordered; on the Dionysian side we find all that is passionate, instinctual, chaotic, sensual or protean. The Apollonian strain of western …

Isolating sensitive data and operations is a fundamental issue in computing. Ideally, we want to minimize the possibility of a software defect compromising the security of a device. However, in order for the software we write to be useful, it typically needs to interact with that sensitive data in some form or fashion. So how do we interact with sensitive data without being able to access it? The answer is …

Fereshteh: Sometimes I want to put on make-up, or wear beautiful dresses, or fall in love. I don’t know why, but I feel like I’m living in a small can,[...] The post Revolutionary Women in Two Iranian Films: On <em>The Hidden Half</em> (2001) and <em>The House Is Black</em> (1963) appeared first on Bright Lights Film Journal.

What’s up this month, muchachos? What’s goin’ down at Chaos Manor South? Well, I thought I’d get out and “do” one of the late-summer chapters from The Urban Astronomer’s Guide, maybe one of my favorites, “The Friendly Stars.” Yeah…no. I’ve revisited that one more than once in the years since the book was published. What then? Howsabout a chapter from somebody else’s observing book? One far more famous than my …

It’s been properly raining for the first time in ages. Colder days, darker evenings, leaves scattered across the grass. It was a very busy week at work with three teammates visiting simultaneously, and therefore many more face-to-face conversations, pairing sessions and group meals than usual. I found it incredibly productive and therapeutic to be able to work together in the same room, although of course the intensity was also exhausting …

Two short articles in Shanghai Daily‘s SHINE news site describe historical hermits of China. The first article describes the book collecting work of the 14th-century hermit Sun Daoming.URL: https://www.shine.cn/feature/district/2309138605/. The second article is titled “Chen Jiru: the hermit scholar of Ming Dynasty,” Chen Jiru abandoned the imperial court of his era to live as a … Continue reading "Two Chinese historical hermits"

The Necessary Tools for Sashiko The Right Needle for Sashiko The Right Thread for Sashiko The Right Fabric for Sashiko The Right Thimble for Sashiko The Best Sashiko Patterns for Beginners The Technique Basic Sashiko Rules How to Start Sashiko Stitches How to End Sashiko Stitches How to Connect Threads in Sashiko How to Carry Threads in Sashiko Corners and Crossings in Sashiko Final Advice for Your First Sashiko Project …

New York City songwriter and producer Common Air is taking his combination of folk rock and melodic pop-rock to new heights with new single ‘Sweet Time’. The artist behind the name is Nick Reichheld, a multi-talented individual who began his journey under Common Air in 2022 with singles ‘Worth’ and ‘Control’. Whilst these were folk rock focused, Nick has amped up his production skills on ‘Sweet Time’. The song is …

While crossing the Ponte Vecchio in Florence I stopped to change the battery in my camera. This street seller approached and asked if I would like to buy something from him. I said no thanks, so he started in with his background story. I told him I was from Canada so he asked if I spoke French, to which I replied un petit peu. Anyway we exchanged a few words …

Another Monday Message Board. Post comments on any topic. Civil discussion and no coarse language please. Side discussions and idees fixes to the sandpits, please. I’m now using Substack as a blogging platform, and for my monthly email newsletter. For the moment, I’ll post both at this blog and on Substack. You can also follow me on Mastodon here.

Back in 2011, when I purchased the Golding Jobber № 8 from Bill and Gertie Campbell, I spent a morning with Bill, in their shop in Tryon, learning the ins and outs of it. It was, in essence, a very compressed course in running a job shop with a workhorse letterpress at the centre, taught by someone who'd forged a close relationship with the press.One of the things Bill showed …

Artist: Thirteen Goats Album: Capricorn Rising Year: 2024 Genre: Death Metal / Thrash Metal Web: https://thirteengoats.com/ / https://thirteengoats.bandcamp.com/ Country: Canada Quality: 320 Kbps Tracklist: 1. Sign of the Goat 2. Murder Lives in the Heart 3. A Wolf in Shepherd’s Clothing 4. Global Fuckup 5. Beheading Zoo 6. Permission to Die 7. Beating the Disease 8. Goats of War 9. Animal Kingdom Witness: -[*]- Wow, here is a band that …

This is a mild movie with mild thrills doing it’s best to trade on George Clooney and Brad Pitts movie star charisma and shared cinema past instead of doing the work. What work? You know the part where you create interesting characters, put them in increasingly dire situations and watch them scramble and bump off each other? Yeah, there’s not much of that here. Instead, it’s Clooney and Pitt playing …