A garden isn't meant to be useful. It's for joy.
— Rumer Godden, who died in 1998
WOW: Man saves drowning 400lb black bear. Rescuing drowning people is dangerous enough. To be fair, this bear had been hit with a tranquilizer dart. But still
Pfizer CEO says people who spread misinformation on Covid vaccines are ‘criminals’ CNBC
Paul Rudd is officially sexy.
While the veteran actor has no shortage of fans over his nearly four decades in showbiz — hello, Ant-Man — now, at 52, he's been named People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive. The announcement was made with much fanfare on Tuesday's The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.
Newest Sexiest Man Alive onto The Late Show
SUVOROV UNDERSTOOD TOTALITARIANISM:
We commonly think of totalitarianism as controlling every aspect of people’s lives because Big Brother takes sadistic, power-hungry pleasure in stomping his boot on your face. While that is certainly true, Suvorov meticulously hashes out another, non-trivial aspect of totalitarianism: It’s an all-or-nothing system. Any pocket of resistance, any oasis of independence is not merely a bruise to the tyrant’s ego, but rather, a real and direct threat to the regime’s survival. As long as a Soviet citizen can dream of escaping to some place on Earth where he’ll be free from the boot, the regime is in existential danger. It is only when there’s nowhere to escape to that it can breathe a sigh of relief.
This report examines topics that impact workplace mental health, including working remotely and what the future of work looks like. The insights were obtained from a survey of over 10,000 Australians.
Australia’s largest annual survey for workplace mental health and wellbeing
Our Worst Idea About “Safety” Slate. “Risk compensation.” Important.
Getting Back to Normal Is Only Possible Until You Test Positive The Atlantic (nvl). Well worth a read.
After a Year With Vaccines, Do We Always Need Masks? Bloomberg. It’s extremely important to discredit and stigmatize all non-pharmaceutical interventions, so that when the next respiratory virus-driven pandemic strikes, we fail to learn the same lessons all over again
#CheetahCubdate #6: Smile with Your TeethSmithsonian
Winners of the Weather Photographer of the Year Contest Celebrate the Beauty of Nature
Texas high school removes bathroom doors due to safety concerns.
Moving on up
Dadrock posturing special: Screamadelica Stratocaster/ carvings by Zoe Wilson / an accumulation of things / Architecture // Architects as jazz album covers, by Eugene Schlumberger / exploring a semi-abandoned Chinese city / a pair of dream woodland houses: Cadbury Camp Lane and Loch Tummel House (both via Wowhaus, I and II) / the Nakagin Capsule Towerfaces an uncertain future / ‘A strangely alluring cocktail of dad dancing and traffic chat: architecture on TikTok‘ / photography by Rumi Ando / a marvellous postcard collection / which are the most wanted cassettes at Discogs?
Music and more
‘Dune: we simulated the desert planet of Arrakis to see if humans could survive there’ / Nick Cave talks with Mick Harvey and Warren Ellis about Bad Seeds’ B-sides and more / 35 interesting maps / happy birthdayLoveless. Lots of good links / architectural art by Charlie (‘I like tiny details’) / The Verge’s worst gadgets/ exploring the hidden world of forgotten slate mines in north Wales / Hundred Rabbits, combining endurance sailing and software coding / art by Betty Jiang / EL TALLER pino, an exploration into the structure and design of electrical equipment / Jess Allen makes beautiful paintings.
Sound reasoning
The new issue of Paperboy Magazine is out now / The Library of Misremembered Books / a full copy of Cartoon Modern: Style and Design in Fifties Animationfrom 2006 / Pavel builds Kalimbas / Studio Drift’sMaterialism, reverse engineeringthe materials in everyday objects, from smart phones to sub-machine guns (via the Guardian) / Jay Nelson makes camper vans that are also art / music: Giles Turnbull’s show Unreel / excellent live videos from the guitar-heavy Brixton Windmill scene and elsewhere by Lou Smith. Includes bands like Black Midi, Goat Girl, The Romance of Baba Loco, Children of the Pope and many more / epic soundtrack sweeps in Ladytron’s The Mountain (Blakkat Dub) / Iman Joy El Shami-Mader is the mythical creaturologist / paintings by Miranda Boulton / Laura Kampf makes excellent videos about making things / Paul Slade’s Secret London.
Fights and findings
The Battle of Brixton, 1957 / the demolition of the Elephant and Castle shopping centre / Historical Reconstruction of the 1915 Ford Model T Assembly Line / Retro collectors are uncovering hoards of old data / Mountain View Cemetery: star of Hollywood funeral scenes / pulp fiction: Paperback Mannie / time traveling with words / Volcanic Activity In Japan Is Lifting Abandoned Ships Out Of The Ocean / objects from The Ricky Jay Collection, the late magician’s history of magic / see also Karl Lagerfeld’s design collection at Sotheby’s / At home with Jeff Koons / paintings by Sebastian Blanck, complete with time lapse films of works in progress / shifting sands, the latest in beach engineering / Pawtuxet, ‘a steel string guitar with soundboard left a whole year in a beehive. Cedar, Bubinga, nomex, honeycombs, rosewood, mahogany, beeswax finish, and propolis’ / Gogotte Formations.