Jozef Imrich, name worthy of Kafka, has his finger on the pulse of any irony of interest and shares his findings to keep you in-the-know with the savviest trend setters and infomaniacs.
''I want to stay as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out on the edge you see all kinds of things you can't see from the center.''
-Kurt Vonnegut
The deck is a vintage beauty. It sits on high struts, yellow and blue boards like jolly flags waving in the sunshine. There’s very much something of the old-fashioned pier about it, with the lovely old changing huts and kiosk helping to further transport you back in time. Wiley Baths Friends
Dotted all along the Sydney coastline, from Palm Beach in the north to Cronulla in the south, are about 35 ocean pools — but not a single one has been carved out since the 1960s.
When you can’t choose between the beach and a swimming pool, these rocky swimming spots have the best of both worlds. Dive in as the sun rises and you’ll have the salty baths to yourself, or wade in at hightide for a thrilling swell as waves crash against the walls. If you want more of a wave-fighting challenge, head to the city's best beaches or combine a swim with a one of our favourite walks around Sydney. Prefer to stay (relatively) dry? Here are the best places to go kayaking.
This is the beginning of the Millennium Shakespeare edition. (The initial letter T is beautifully illuminated in gold.) :
There comes a time in every man’s life when he feels he has achieved all he can. That moment arrives even for great men, including those who were once mighty kings and rulers of ancient and powerful nations. King Lear was just such a man, with a white beard and a steadfast gaze, the lines of his face counting the years. He was proud and majestic, satisfied with all he had done, and what he wanted most of all was a simple and peaceful end to his reign.
King Lear felt that the time had come to cast off the burden of his responsibilities and to pass them on to the next generation. Having devoted his whole life to the affairs of state, it was time to step aside and allow others with more energy and desire to rule his kingdom. It was time to divide up his land so that he could spend his final years on earth in peace.
Proud father to three beautiful and worthy daughters, King Lear had decided to bestow his kingdom and fortune upon them. So that they could rule as queens with an equal share, he would give a third to each of his trusted and much-loved daughters. Thus the old King summoned his lords, ladies, courtiers, attendants and followers so that he could make known his intentions. (pp.1-2)
The New York Times – Wanted: A Home for Three Million Records:”…Housed in a nondescript building in TriBeCa is the Archive of Contemporary Music, a nonprofit founded in 1985. It is one of the world’s largest collections of popular music, with more than three million recordings, as well as music books, vintage memorabilia and press kits. For point of comparison, the Library of Congress estimates that it also holds nearly three million sound recordings. Inside its space on White Street, there are shelves upon shelves upon shelves of vinyl records and CDs. Signed Johnny Cash records hang close to nearly 1,800 other signed albums. There are boxes of big band recordings, world music and jazz and original soundtracks. Most of the inventory is stored in the basement below. Notably, the archive, which still receives about 250,000 recordings a year, is home to a majority of Keith Richards’s extensive blues collection. (Mr. Richards, of the Rolling Stones, sits on the board of advisers.) And now it all has to go, somewhere. Rent in the neighborhood has continued to rise, challenging the organization to stay on budget, said Bob George, the founder and director of the archive. Recently, Mr. George reached an agreement with his landlord to get out of his lease early. He has until June to find another space…” MIT Technology Review – Cash is gradually dying out. Will we ever have a digital alternative that offers the same mix of convenience and freedom? – “This is a feature of physical cash that payment cards and apps do not have: freedom. Called “bearer instruments,” banknotes and coins are presumed to be owned by whoever holds them. We can use them to transact with another person without a third party getting in the way. Companies cannot build advertising profiles or credit ratings out of our data, and governments cannot track our spending or our movements. And while a credit card can be declined and a check mislaid, handing over money works every time, instantly. We shouldn’t take this freedom for granted. Much of our commerce now happens online. It relies on banks and financial technology companies to serve as middlemen. Transactions are going digital in the physical world, too: electronic payment tools, from debit cards to Apple Pay to Alipay, are increasingly replacing cash. While notes and coins remain popular in many countries, including the US, Japan, and Germany, in others they are nearing obsolescence. This trend has civil liberties groups worried. Without cash, there is “no chance for the kind of dignity-preserving privacy that undergirds an open society,” writes Jerry Brito, executive director of Coin Center, a policy advocacy group based in Washington, DC. In a recent report, Brito contends that we must “develop and foster electronic cash” that is as private as physical cash and doesn’t require permission to use…”
