Social Media

Powerful bit of short-form documentary work from the NYT on suicide among returning Iraq veterans, including self-documentation from the victim, showing just how saturated we all are in recording technology.

On Language

Ben Schott has a nice little tidbit in the NYT on language -- as has been much lamented by many as Twitter increases its presence -- as it changes when limited. Rather than abbreviating with acronyms, maybe we should return to this code of telegraphy, no?

Thunderstormy Sunday

Becca & I went down to the Mill this morning for some coffee and rainwatching on the dock.


The streetlights kept coming on and off as the sky darkened and lightened. Very subtly, though, making me wish I'd had my proper video camera for a longer timelapse.

Yum, creole lait & a honey peanut muffin. Before we left, I indulged in the last copy they had of the NYT. I'm about 2/3 through the Sunday crossword, and missing Sunday Club.

Look at that Fine German Engineering!

You're going to want to click the link for the wider view...

from the NYTimes Pictures of the Day.

Speaking of Video...

My college classmate and good friend Molly Lambert got herself in the New York Times Magazine, writing and videoblogging about her favorite Screen Gem of 2008. Nice work, Moll•E.

easily one of the goofiest political photos

from the New York Times

Proud Roommate!

I'm so proud of Marika!

Rwanda: Hospital’s Design Keeps Fresh Air in Mind

In the dark corridors and congested waiting rooms of rural hospitals in sub-Saharan Africa, tuberculosis can spread like a rumor in a small town. A patient who comes in with a broken leg might leave with a deadly disease.
...

The hospital’s construction is being overseen by Rwanda’s Ministry of Health; Partners in Health, a nonprofit group based in Massachusetts; and the Clinton Foundation. It was designed by graduate students at Harvard’s design school.

from The New York Times

Film and Other Diversions

Films I've seen recently that I need to review at length:

Manufactured Landscapes



Sans Soleil



Films from the TIE Exhibition, particularly Vom Innen, Von Aussen




or not so recently:

Paprika




Into Great Silence




And lastly, a film I just might not see, unless the right person twists my arm...

The Darjeeling Limited

From the NY Times style section (emphasis mine):

Slightly offbeat in a laid-back way — the Wes Anderson of the accessory world — the youthful tie is giving the old dress code a much-needed shot in the neck.

Sorry, I think the fashion holiday just might be over for me, Wes, even though I do like the look of a man in a nice tie.

Palm Pilot

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales has finally done something important to advance the cause of justice. He has resigned. (NY Times, 8-28-07)

Today's Science Times has a nice bit of research on non-verbal communication, a linguistic bridge of sorts between the human world and our relatives. Palms up, the universal sign for a handout, is apparently easily understood by chimpanzees, and we've simply added a layer of complexity, the shrug, to say "sorry, dude." The inverse of palms up, a strong palms down, is therefore used to imply authority, like public speakers and those in charge use to shush the crowd and display their control.

Exhibit A:

Alberto Gonzalez: "It's OK, I've got this under control."

The downturned palms are meant to reassure the Senate committee that things are all right, things are OK. You are being told. There is no ask for help here.







Exhibit B:

Alberto Gonzalez: "Uhhh...sorry?"

Still a bit dismissive, but there is a slight shrug, a palm showing up and out. Not quite the asking for a handout palms up, but I wouldn't be surprised if we find one of those in the coming days.

Friday Cat Post

Robbie's back stateside, and in honor of that, one amazing Friday cat.



Science Times examines the first domestication of wild cats. Those smarty-pants meowsers went ahead and domesticated themselves when they figured out that humans were beginning to store grain, which in turn was beginning to make mice available.

Meow!

As if I weren't already afraid enough...

First thing this morning, I read about parasites that make rats and possibly humans do really crazy things to get nearer to cats. Thanks for the creep-fest, Science Times.

If that was not enough, I later found this site, thanks to another link from ...this recording. Their link led to finger-sized animals, in one of those so-cute-you-might-cry kind of ways. Another post, however, was of funny painted cats. Only one of the very weird below.

My Suggestions to the Frugal Traveler

The New York Times has sent its Frugal Traveler on an American Road Trip. Oh, swoon! He's going to be in SD and Nebraska next. Here are my suggestions:

Nebraska! Check out the Art Deco masterpiece that is the Nebraska State Capitol in Lincoln. Beautiful mosaics and light fixtures, allegedly Hitler's choice for his North American headquarters, and lovingly referred to as the Penis of the Plains for its form. (Plus, the tip of this structure features a statue of The Sower, a man sowing seeds across the prairie!)
After touring the capitol, walk over a few blocks to Yia-Yia's Pizza at 14th and "O" Streets for the best selection of beers in the Midwest. You'll also be on the longest main street without a curve (40 some miles, stretching out of town in either direction) and in one of the densest bar strips in the country.
You can also check out the Tractor Test Track and Museum (located on East Campus of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln), where this Land Grant school takes consumer testing into its own hands. You get to see tractors racing around a banked track, pulling stuff! Plus, there is an excellent collection of tractors throughout the years.
Head west, and hop onto Highway 2 at Grand Island, where you can drive through the beautiful Sandhills, artifacts of a more sea-like past. This is ranch-and-rodeo country, and you'll also be passing through a few of the country's poorest counties. Gives you something to think about. Eat some locally grown steak in Broken Bow. Make it to Alliance for the 20th Anniversary Celebration of Carhenge, the ultimate in weird art and roadside attractions. Yes, it's like Stonehenge, but out of old cars. Great at sunset, for all your photo needs.

Weekly S(ex)cience Times Update

This week in Science, a Nebraskan female bonnethead shark has given a virgin birth. This is the shark-christ-child, in photographic form.

Science Times: NYT's Excuse for Raunch?

I have become convinced that the New York Times Science section, featured on Tuesdays, is the paper's outlet for all-out raunchiness, albeit generally of the animal variety.

From yesterday's "A Lonesome Tortoise, and a Search for a Mate":

By coating her hands in the genital secretions of female tortoises and gently stroking him, she managed to demonstrate a couple of times (in the course of several months’ work) that George was capable of an erection. But whereas her touch could induce other male tortoises to reach orgasm within a few minutes, with George she never managed to collect any sperm...

Dr. Nicholls even raises the possibility of showing instructive videos to George — and if tortoise porn is what it takes, I say go for it.

This is merely the latest in a series of articles (see also duck phalli, chimeric marmosets) in which the Times uses cute, flippant, yet decidedly campy high-brow going low-brow language to describe scientists getting all sexy.