Without the religious element, life is like an engine running without oil — it seizes up.
Think of this unusual, sweet-yeasted "cake" as a tray-baked cinnamon doughnut. Originally made by Moravians who settled in America in the 18th century, the dough has mashed potato as its base and an irresistible brown-sugar topping. To enjoy it as a breakfast treat, make the dough the day before and let it rise in the fridge overnight before baking in the morning. Alternatively, prove on the same day in a warm place, ready to bake for afternoon tea.
Moravian sugar cake with walnuts and cinnamon
The best dance classes in Sydney
Consumers of poetry no longer want intellectual rigor. They want the poet’s trauma, millennial irony, and wink-wink cleverness. MEdia Dragons 🐉 »
Shocking Study Finds Decreased Proteins – Not Amyloid Plaques – Cause Alzheimer’s DiseaseSciTechDaily
Funny Quotes About Aging, From Lucille Ball to Bob Hope | Inspiring Quotes
As a young woman, Vivian Gornickwas determined to be a serious writer. Yet she could not bring herself to write ✍️ Serious Cold River »
Hilary Mantel (1952-2022)
As widely noted, two-time Booker Prize-winning author Hilary Mantel has passed away; see, for example, the obituaryby Lisa Allardice in The Guardian, or tributes by a variety of "leading contemporaries", also in The Guardian.
Half a dozen of her works are under review at the complete review, but I haven't reviewed anything of hers (or updated the existing reviews, sigh) in well over a decade -- i.e. once she hit it so big.
Scientific American: “If you want a new job, don’t just rely on friends or family. According to one of the most influential theories in social science, you’re more likely to nab a new position through your “weak ties,” loose acquaintances with whom you have few mutual connections. Sociologist Mark Granovetter first laid out this idea in a 1973 paper that has garnered more than 65,000 citations.
But the theory, dubbed “the strength of weak ties,” after the title of Granovetter’s study, lacked causal evidence for decades. Now a sweeping study that looked at more than 20 million people on the professional social networking site LinkedIn over a five-year period finally shows that forging weak ties does indeed help people get new jobs. And it reveals which types of connections are most important for job hunters…”
Using an Infographic to Encourage Deep Reading – Prof. Cindy Guyer, Senior Law Librarian and Adjunct Assistant Professor Law at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, has been experimenting with incorporating infographics in her teaching to present information and knowledge visually, using graphs, flowcharts, timelines, and diagrams, which are components of instructional design.
FT.com – Once touted as redundant, the most quotidian of materials is now a hot commodity again: “…Frith-Powell is using early-Victorian equipment to make paper in the same way it was made in the 1600s, but the Paper Foundation, based in a 19th-century country house in Cumbria’s Burneside, is not a historic enterprise. Launched five years ago by Mark Cropper, chair of bespoke and luxury paper mill James Cropper, it was born out of an aspiration to preserve the waning craft of making paper by hand.
The mill is part of a broader craft rehabilitation project that will see an arts centre established in the manor next to the mill, housing an exhibition space, print studios, library and archive. They’re already producing paper for artists and conservationists, and have launched a collection of handmade paper products such as sketchbooks, watercolour pads and notecards.
Paper hung out to dry in the Paper Foundation’s mill Paper hung out to dry in the Paper Foundation’s mill. Papermaking in Europe has been in decline for the past 100 years: where the continent used to boast thousands of mills, increased volumes and mechanisation have seen that number dwindle to fewer than 1,000. Of the mills making paper by hand, the Foundation is now one of only a handful worldwide, and one of two in the UK…”
Nobel Prize in Literature betting
The 2022 Nobel Prize in Litrature will be announced on 6 October -- and betting odds are now up at Ladbrokes.
They posted odds, but this is surely not how even only semi-literate bettors would rate the contenders (beyond sentimental favorite (but unlikely choice) Salman Rushdie (8/1)). Stephen King is tied for third, at 10/1 (sorry, it ain't going to happen), and eight authors have odds of 12/1 or better -- tilting this exercise ridiculously way in the house's favor. (Given that we don't even know whether some of these authors have been nominated -- and only five or so remain in the final running -- odds in general should be much higher.) Oh, and Michel Houellebecq is the favorite, at 7/1.
Uneven diacritical marking -- well done with Ngũgĩ Wa Thiong'o, Hélène Cixous, and Dubravka Ugrešić; couldn't be bothered with 'Mircea Cartarescu', 'Maryse Conde', or 'Ivan Vladislavic' --, ineligible authors (Javier Marías: he dead), and simple carelessness ('Both Strauss') suggest just how (un)serious(ly) they take the whole thing, but, hey, it attracts attention and the eyeballs/clicks (and presumably more than just occasional betting-dollars).
(As to more serious discussion, the World Literature Forum is valiantly doing its part -- 1418 posts in their Nobel Prize in Literature 2022 Speculation-thread as I write this --, and there's a bit of action at The Mookse and the Gripes discussion board on their 2022 Nobel Prize-thread (101 posts, at this time), but I have to admit I haven't been paying much attention.
Most of my personal favorites are much the same as in previous years, with no new(er) authors breaking through for a while now, so I don't have much to add. But maybe I will as the announcement approaches ?)
“The Bird Migration Explorer captures the joy of birds and the wonder of migration through a series of interactive maps built using the latest and best-available migration and conservation science. Using this unique digital platform, visitors to the Bird Migration Explorer can learn about the full annual cycle for 458 species of migratory birds that regularly breed in the United States and Canada and use areas in Latin America and the Caribbean during other times of the year.
You can take a closer look at your favorite bird as it completes its annual migration using the Species Migration maps, discover which migratory birds use a given location and how they connect it to other places across the Western Hemisphere on the Locations maps, and learn about many of the challenges migratory birds face during the year with the Conservation Challenges maps. Migratory birds inspire and fascinate countless people all across the hemisphere with their awe-inspiring annual journeys.
By learning more about what migratory birds tell us, we can better protect them and the places they need throughout the year. The Bird Migration Explorer takes one of the world’s natural phenomena and displays it right on your screen for hundreds of migratory bird species.”