Saturday, February 27, 2021

NomadLand Poland

Architects behind Poland and Its Lake huts


Radiohead. Ballet. Together at Last Polish Ballet đŸ©° .

A pair of dancers from the Polish National Ballet perform a dance to Reckoner by Radiohead, choreographed by Robert Bondara. This is from a longer performancefeaturing a number of Radiohead songs. The whole performance briefly popped up onlineover the weekend but is gone now. The video above is the only clip I could find on YouTube — hopefully the whole thing will be available again at some point.


 Why You Hate Contemporary Architecture.


… polling suggests that devotees of contemporary architecture are overwhelmingly in the minority: aside from monuments, few of thepublic’s favorite structures are from the postwar period. (When the results of the poll were released, architects harrumphed that it didn’t “reflect expert judgment” but merely people’s “emotions,” a distinction that rather proves the entire point.) 

READ THIS IF YOU LIVE WITH SOME WHO’S GOT SOME INTERESTING MILEAGE:  On Post Traumatic Stress, marriages, and two truly awesome books.


British police send “chilling” message: “Being offensive is an offence,” later retract.


HÀssja by Emil BÀckström. Image credit: Emil BÀckström.



LOVE IN THE TIME OF COVID: Ashley Madison ‘married dating’ site grew to 70 million users in 2020.



Entrance Building of Botanical Garden in Prague


Both The Dig (1939 British archaeology and sexual restraint) and Minari (Korean immigrant family farming in Arkansas) are excellent movies and show that “old school” substantive cinema is alive and well.  Given the number (and quality?) of delayed releases, this will be quite a year for moviegoing.  At some point.  Nomadland, however, did not thrill me.  It is ultimately a movie for either critics who wish to condescend or viewers who wish to see another portrait of alienated middle America, at this point a dull and overdone topic.  Good negative Richard Brody review here (New Yorker).



A 3D map of all the buildings in the Netherlands, colored by their age.


High-interest lending and pawn shop activity are both falling


"At 43 I constantly feel out of place with you. I have all the wrong thoughts and desires." A writer breaks up with his writing career 


How to write, according to Martin Amis: No overly complex syntax, use line breaks liberally, be original, see things with a  poet’s eye  


An old Romantic-era notion holds that science kills wonder. The work of Alan Lightman only multiplies it    Romantic 



In literary studies, melodrama reigns as paranoia is pitted against repair, violence against nurture, suspicion against  trust  


Consider The Ushers…

Usher is a variant of the French huisier,from the Latin ostiarius, a custodian of the doors. The role comes from early modern theater, where Randle Cotgrave’s 1611 dictionary also has them as “audiencers.” The Gentleman Usher would be among the most active figures running an aristocratic house, supervising honored guests in performances, courtly masques, or other entertainments. – Van


Breakthrough: Scientists Figure Out How To Talk To Dreamers In Their Sleep

An international team of researchers was able to achieve real-time dialogues with people in the midst of lucid dreams, a phenomenon that is called “interactive dreaming,” according to a study published on Thursday in Current Biology. – Vice



What would human history look like if told through our relationships with animals? Scroll


21-year-old UK teacher becomes youngest woman to row Atlantic solo Guardian


Tea With Martin Amis Tablet


Can Historians Be Traumatized by History? The New Republic


America’s Hidden Gulag New York Review of Books