Content Catnip
Quirky Internet Wunderkammer
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Comforting Thought
Bite-sized comfort and spirituality in a turmultuous world
This is only one of many worlds
This is only one of many worlds. Worlds are beings, each with their own themes, rules, and ways of doing. Humans in this world fall too easily to war, are quick to take offense, and claim ownership. “What drama,” said crow, dodging traffic as he wrestled a piece of road kill.” Excerpt from Conflict Resolution…
Comforting Thought: Hope is Awakened by Millions of Individuals
“Some will say that such hope is carried by a nation, others by a person. But I believe quite the reverse: hope is awakened, given life, sustained, by the millions of individuals whose deeds and actions, every day, break down borders and refute the worst moments in history, to allow the truth—which is always in…
Comforting Thought: Artists Pay Homage to the Finest Examples of Humankind
“Artists are the perpetual defenders of living creatures, precisely because those creatures are alive. They truly advocate to love whoever is close by right now, and not those far in the future, which is what debases contemporary humanism, turning it into a catechism of the courthouse. Quite the reverse: a great work of art ends…
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Ancient Word of the Day
Words dredged up from the pelagic zone of language
Ancient Word: Pellucid
#Pellucid: An adjective meaning “transparent, translucent, admitting the passage of light.” Originating from the 1610s, from #Latin pellucidus #etymology #ancientwords #words #light #shine
Ancient Word of the Day: Pianissimo
“The voice that speaks in him, speaks low, but he who listens with a third ear hears also what is expressed almost noiselessly, what is said #pianissimo.” #etymology #words #storytelling #music #ancient
Ancient Word of the Day: Sansai
Sansai. n. ‘mountain vegetables’ from Japanese. Sansai grow wild in marshlands, and grasslands, or in the forest. Japanese people have been gathering wild food to cook with since ancient times. In fact, wild plants or Sansai have helped Japanese when food has been scarce because of drought or some other natural disaster. When food was…
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10 Cool Things I Found On the Internet
A weekly palate cleanser of quirky wonder
10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #170
Irish rappers Kneecap and their ten rules to live by If you are interested in music, it’s likely that you will have read something, or heard someone banging on about how amazing Kneecap are. They are Mo Chara, Móglaí Bap and DJ Próvaí: a dynamic, charismatic group of rappers from Belfast, whose punchy, sometimes satirical, output moves…
10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #169
Slow living in the countryside Is New Zealand about to collapse? It’s no secret that the Polish Bear and I and many, many 100,000’s of others living in Aotearoa migrated and left. Why you ask? It’s for a lot of reasons, the high crime and lack of police, the low salaries and lack of employment…
10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #168
Two hours of cute nudibranches and chill out tunes Giant cuttlefish! They are in danger and scientists are going to save them with … bubbles! Via First Dog on the Moon Tobacco Club by Abraham Teniers (mid-17th century) Singerie — from the French for “Monkey Trick” — is a genre of art in which monkeys…
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Book Reviews
Mind-expanding fantasy, quirky history books and more
Book Review: Explorers: A New History (A Norton Short) by Matthew Lockwood
Lockwood doesn’t simply deconstruct myths—he rebuilds the story of exploration as a deeply human, often painful, and undeniably fascinating process. The result is an eye-opening meditation on empire, cultural exchange, ambition, and the moral price of curiosity. #BookReview #History #Colonisation #Indigenous #Adventure #NonFiction
Book Review: The History of Magic by Chris Gosden
Chris Gosden’s engaging and vividly colourful storytelling style brings to life the history of all things occult, pagan and witchy from ancient cave art to modern day witchcraft in a way that is deeply engrossing and enjoyable. #witchcraft #mysticism #spirituality #pagan #paganism #history #archaeology #books #bookreview
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Artists, Writers & Musicians In Their Own Words
Unique and inspiring art by interesting people
Artists and Writers In Their Own Words: Jane Cornwell
Jane Cornwell creates soothing and emotional art that speaks to the soul I was accepted for Glasgow School of Art age 16 and I loved it… I have a notebook from school, age 5, with a little drawing of me standing at an easel. I’ve always had a compulsive need to draw, paint and make…
Artists & Writers in their Own Words: Monica Olivia
Introducing my poetic, spiritual, wise and beautiful friend from Norwegian Lapland Monica Olivia. She is a self-taught Sámi artist who makes art of mind-blowing beauty using a palette of vivid hues found in the most northerly regions of the earth. Monica also has a spiritually nourishing and beautiful blog ‘Ask the Mountains’ where she writes…
Artists & Writers in their Own Words: Maria Strutz
Maria Strutz is a German artist, printmaker, sculptor and translator, who lives in the UK. Her art weaves together the magical and liminal worlds of animals, nature, spirits and mythology She has delighted her fans and followers for many years with her unique linocut prints and sculptures that tap into the primeval story of humans…
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The Natural World
Organisms, real, imagined, extinct and extant.
The city of the future
How would you design the city of the future? My city of the future would be designed to facilitate ongoing and sensible growth within the planet’s ecological boundaries. It would use recycled water and make use of solar and wind energy instead of fossil fuels. People’s innovation using AI and biotechnology would mean we manufacture…
Travel: Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens
In the Koishikawa Korakuen Gardens is an Edo era (Tokyo) garden of hushed quiet contemplation amidst the bombastic, rushing and striving modern world
Beach walking and native birds
What do you love about where you live? I love living right next to the beach and being able to walk there each day. There are egrets, rosellas, cocakatoos, gallahs, Australian crows, rainbow lorikeets, tawny frogmouths, dusky moorhens, superb fairy wrens. All flitter and flirt through the brush and low lying bushes near the beach with…
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Te Ao Māori
All about the indigenous culture of Aotearoa, New Zealand
Words and Music: Earth the slumbering pūriri
In the Beginning Earth Breath on me Earth the cool breath of life Earth the slumbering pūriri Earth the misty valley Earth the departed sun Earth the tingling blue sky Earth the dark sheen of a woman river Earth the mottling tides tumbling ashore Earth the sweeping godwits Earth our home Earth the giving land…
Birds, Mana and Maori Culture
Māori iwi have long held beliefs and customs about the native birds of Aotearoa New Zealand. Birds or Ngā Manu had a vital place in Maori tribal life as they provided food, beautiful feathers for adornment and their strengths and personalities were a rich source of metaphor and poetry. Their behaviour was use to predict the…
Dolphins as Taniwha in New Zealand
Dolphins are mystical beings full of intelligence, compassion and consciousness. For different Māori iwi, dolphins hold sacred significance and they are known as taniwha. They are considered tapu (sacred) and possessing a powerful mauri (lifeforce). What are Taniwha? Taniwha (pron. tan-ee-far) are mysterious creatures that dwell in the sea, rivers, lakes or in caves. They…
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Content Catnip TV
Transportative videos made by Content Catnip
Travel: Oeshiki Festival of Light, Ikegami Tokyo
Oeskiki is an annual buddhist festival held on the 13th of October that commemorates the death of Nichiren in 1282. He was a revered buddhist teacher who lived during the Kamakura period, about 700 years ago. Although celebrated throughout Japan, the main Oeshiki festival is held at Ikegami Honmonji Temple located in the Ota ward…
Travel: Kolejcowo is a cute and creepy version of Poland in miniature
When I was in Poland in 2019, I didn’t hesitate to visit the Kolejcowo in Świebodzki Station in Wrocław. This is the largest model railway in Poland, but also a rather amazing depiction of how life in Poland actually looks. Everything, right down to the petrol stations, graffiti, and the shops actually exists in real…
Content Catnip TV: Team Lab Borderless, Tokyo
TeamLab Borderless in Tokyo is a remarkable audio-visual attraction in Tokyo and a must-see in the city if you ever visit. It’s on expansive, harbour-facing area of Odaiba which is encircled by the very scenic train ride, along with excellent shopping centre Diver City, which features a showcase level of award-winning ramen restaurants from throughout…
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Travel Tales
Nostalgic travel from the time before ‘you know what‘ happened
Cosy Asakusa, Tokyo by night
People were nestled in their own little womb-like worlds of ramen and Izakaya meals, chugging on massive oversized beers in big jugs. Sheltered and obscured by plastic curtains and held up by plastic chairs. #Tokyo #TravelStories #shortstory #writing #travel
Who made the world?
Who made the world? The billowing clouds heading southward. The pillowed reef and a thousand animals beneath my feet. Who made the wind bracing my ankles. The shadows behind and through it all. Who makes the light dance in one part of the world. While other places cut like a frozen blade through flesh. Who…
Australia: Twenty Seven Summer Views
I enjoy taking photos, even though I mostly never have a good camera with me and so I need to capture moments on my Samsung. I enjoy capturing these moments forever in time. This reminds me of how I felt at the moment of taking the picture and the. So here are some photos I’ve…
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Obscure Music
Unusual little-heard music to inspire creativity
Album of the Year: Cartoon Darkness by Amyl and the Sniffers
Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 Genre: Punk, Thrash Metal Label: Rough Trade Review in one word: Exhilarating I don’t often review music, yet as I clean my house, go on walks, work, have friends around, hang out with my partner or read books…well I’m constantly listening to something! So here it goes – my favourite album of 2024 dropped only a…
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Quirky History
Lesser-known morsels of olden day stuff
In praise of Japan’s most majestic cat, circa 889 A.D
In the year 889 A.D, the 23 year old Emperor of Japan writes a journal entry filled with awe and gushing praise for his beloved cat. “On the 6th Day of the 2nd Month of the First Year of the Kampo era. Taking a moment of my free time, I wish to express my joy…
All technology is a double-edged sword
What technology would you be better off without, why? I’m trying to think over a consumer technology that is definitively and conclusively bad, but can’t think of one. Each innovation has brought an equal share of good and bad. Ride-sharing apps: The good: consumer convenience, ability to not own a vehicle, better for the environment…
Every Picture Tells A Story: Strong Dogs on Antarctic Expedition (1911)
Photographer Frank Hurley snaps his whimsical and wise looking Greenland esquimaux #dogs named Basilisk and Ginger during an #Antarctic expedition between 1911-1914. Image discovered via the State Library of New South Wales. #snow #adventure #old #photo
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