Content Catnip
Quirky Internet Wunderkammer
Comforting Thought
Bite-sized comfort and spirituality in a turmultuous world
Begin with brokenness, begin again
“Stories have endings, that’s why we tell them, for reassurance that there is meaning our lives. But like a diagnosis, a story can become a prison, a straight road mapped out by the people who went before. Stories are not the truth. Begin with brokenness, begin again. We are not all, not only, the charactersContinue reading “Begin with brokenness, begin again”
Comforting Thought: Having a friend from another species enlarges your soul
“Just being with any animal is edifying, for each has a knowing that surpasses human understanding. A spider can taste the world with her feet. Birds can see colours we can’t begin to describe. A cricket can sing with its legs and listen with its knees. “A dog can hear sounds above the level ofContinue reading “Comforting Thought: Having a friend from another species enlarges your soul”
Comforting Thought: Disruptive Creators Versus Custodians & Curators
“If we were all disruptive artists all the time – nothing in society would be coherent. No one would be obliged to do anything other than follow whatever short term whims took their fancy. Fortunately- many people are instead curators. Those who set up permanent exhibitions based on unifying themes and help to rein inContinue reading “Comforting Thought: Disruptive Creators Versus Custodians & Curators”
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Ancient Word of the Day
Words dredged up from the pelagic zone of language
A history of the world’s languages as a gnarly willow tree
The world’s mother tongues have blended and intermingled since humans first stood upright and emerged out of the primeval forests. Here’s a really awesome family tree beautifully illustrated by Minna Sundberg. Minna is an immensely talented illustrator who has been creating a wonderful tales set in northern Europe for her online web comic Stand Still,Continue reading “A history of the world’s languages as a gnarly willow tree”
Ancient Word of the Day: Khemeia
Khemeia: The extraction of juices for medicine, from Ancient Greek Related to the word Khumos meaning plant juice. This word khemeia travelled from Greece to the Medieval Arabic world where it came to mean al-khemeia or alchemy. The goal of alchemists was to bring a mystical fifth element known as the ‘quintessence’ from the divineContinue reading “Ancient Word of the Day: Khemeia”
Ancient Word of the Day: Rema
Rema (Shetland Scots) The mirror-calm surface of the sea on a calm day. A body of water with a surface as smooth as cream. Comes from the Scots word “reyme”, meaning “cream”). Rjómalogn (Icelandic) Cream-calm, used to denote profoundly tranquil weather or sea. Arafin (Welsh) Calm or slow weather in Welsh. blikkstille./ blekkstille (Norwegian) AContinue reading “Ancient Word of the Day: Rema”
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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 #42
Yo-ho-ho and a genie bottle filled with Ugandan palm oil. Stick around a bit for some tasty morsels brought out from the back cellar for your perusal, black-label, rare stuff hope you enjoy it. Tulip: A short film by Andrea Love (the genius behind Cooking With Wool) This looks so cute! I have featured theContinue reading “10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #42”
10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #41
Yo-Ho-Ho and a bottle of Victorian cough syrup. Something weird happened to me today and a whole lot of barnacles suddenly attached to me on a walk, so here they are, the treasures from the internet. A virtual tour of the mythical ancient Chauvet Cave in France Raw velvety malachite shimmering with magic Via RedditContinue reading “10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #41”
10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #40
Yo-ho-ho and a mug of (forest-destroying) NesQuick. Come one, come all to another kooky edition of 10 interesting contraptions that can barely be defined as real. These things were collected on the rear hub-cap of my car as I drove from one side of the country to the other – I hope you like them!Continue reading “10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #40”
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Book Reviews
Mind-expanding fantasy, quirky history books and more
Art shows us that not all scars are ugly
Art has a strange negotiating ability between people, including people who never meet and yet who infiltrate and enrich each other’s lives. It create intimacys; it does have a way of healing wounds, and better yet of making it apparent that not all wounds need healing and not all scars are ugly.
Book Review: Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
A thought-provoking and powerful story of race in modern America Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟 Bloomsbury Publishing 2019 Although I am not American, I delved deeply into this book and gained a new understanding of the subtleties of race relations in this country. There is surprising layers of depth to this book, not only about race but alsoContinue reading “Book Review: Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid”
Book Review: Into the Silent Land by Paul Broks
Genre: Non-fiction, Neuropsychology, psychology. Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Publisher: Allen and Unwin *No spoilers. Into the Silent Land is a non-fiction book about neuropsychology that explores the vast and unknowable terrain of people’s minds. Paul Broks is an English neuropsychologist and writer. This book was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book award. InContinue reading “Book Review: Into the Silent Land by Paul Broks”
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Artists, Writers & Musicians In Their Own Words
Unique and inspiring art by interesting people
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 humansContinue reading “Artists & Writers in their Own Words: Maria Strutz”
Artists & Writers in Their Own Words: Jarod K Anderson AKA The Cryptonaturalist
The Cryptonaturalist podcast is the creation of Jarod K Anderson. It’s a completely unique, poetic and quirky fictional podcast in the genre of a classic nature documentary. Yet that’s where its similarity with the known world ends. This is David Attenborough meets The X Files, or Jane Goodall meets Big Foot. In the lingering shadowsContinue reading “Artists & Writers in Their Own Words: Jarod K Anderson AKA The Cryptonaturalist”
Artists & Writers in Their Own Words: Jari Österberg AKA Liuos
Jari Österberg AKA Liuos first became a techno producer in the early 90’s. He became a one-man band with the help of the Amiga 500 computer and produced vast swathes of interesting and experimental techno albums. As years went by, he started to use more hardware and his production started to lean more towards minimalistContinue reading “Artists & Writers in Their Own Words: Jari Österberg AKA Liuos”
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The Natural World
Organisms, real, imagined, extinct and extant.
Ecomysticism: The Profound Experience of Nature as Spiritual Guide by Carl Von Essen
Ecomysticism: The Profound Experience of Nature as Spiritual Guide by Carl Von Essen
Japan’s 72 gossamer-light and poetic microseasons
The traditional seasons in Japan are marked out by impercetibly small changes in nature across 72 miniature seasons in a year, each lasting 5 days and reflecting the fleeting, impermanent and diaphanous beauty of nature and all of its wonders. There are 24 divisions or sekki in the calendar that are split into 72 kōContinue reading “Japan’s 72 gossamer-light and poetic microseasons”
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Te Ao Māori
All about the indigenous culture of Aotearoa, New Zealand
Kaumātua Wisdom: Hawaiki nui Hawaiki roa
Whakarongo ki te Au Our truth is this: We come from the sea this is where our bones lie not on the summits of mountains Hawaiki nui Hawaiki roa Is our ancestral Pacific land and its location in history can only be found in legend yielding only to the sea’s timelessness He Kuaka Mārangaranga KotahiContinue reading “Kaumātua Wisdom: Hawaiki nui Hawaiki roa”
Words and music: A Homage to Tāne
Here I stand in the sacred domain of Tāne I look within the forest for the family To the many birds, to the many trees To all of the creatures of our world For they give life to everyone Tū ana ahau ki te wao tapu nui a Tāne Ka titiro atu ki te whānauContinue reading “Words and music: A Homage to Tāne”
Words of a Kaumātua: When you want a smile, give yours away
When you want a smile, give yours away When you want affection, you give affection When you help people, they help you When you want love, give your love Kua rongo ake au… Tuku whakamoemiti, āta haere ki te ākau Mā te wā koe e tiaki e manaaki e kākahu Ki ngā hua o ōuContinue reading “Words of a Kaumātua: When you want a smile, give yours away”
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Content Catnip TV
Transportative videos made by Content Catnip
Travel: Magnificent Ryoan-ji temple and gardens, Kyoto
Ryōan-ji (meaning the Temple of the Dragon at Peace) is a Zen temple located in Kyoto, Japan. The Ryōan-ji garden is considered one of the finest surviving examples of Japanese Zen temple garden design generally featuring distinctive larger rock formations arranged amidst a sweep of smooth pebbles arranged in immaculate linear patterns, designed to facilitateContinue reading “Travel: Magnificent Ryoan-ji temple and gardens, Kyoto”
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 wardContinue reading “Travel: Oeshiki Festival of Light, Ikegami Tokyo”
Travel: Wellington from city to wild coasts
Watch my video of the journey Wellington is unusual and amazing in that you can walk along the beach for 10 km and go from being in the middle of the city to being in a really remote and wind-swept marine sanctuary. There aren’t many other places in the world you can do that. Here’sContinue reading “Travel: Wellington from city to wild coasts”
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Travel Tales
Nostalgic travel from the time before ‘you know what‘ happened
Cuba Dupa Wellington 2021
Each year at the end of March there is a street festival in Wellington. Cuba Dupa is always vibrant, vibrational and brings out the wild and vivacious side of the little city. Even though I’m a total introvert, strangely enough I really like loud concerts and street festivals where I can dance and have aContinue reading “Cuba Dupa Wellington 2021”
Wellington Walks
Over the summer (which is Christmas and New Year in New Zealand) we were walking nearly every day over the hills and to the beach. Here’s a record of some of these walks. It is a pretty place for nature,hills and beaches Wellington. Although it is not a good idea to swim in the oceanContinue reading “Wellington Walks”
Celestial ceilings and soaring skies in Poland
Poland in the summer is filled with enveloping sunlight, as bright and life affirming as a hug. Vibrant life, bees and flies take a circuitous route through fields of barley, poppies and wheat in the countryside. The air filled with drifting dandelion and pollen. A cacophany of bird song fills the countryside accompanied by aContinue reading “Celestial ceilings and soaring skies in Poland”
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Obscure Music
Unusual little-heard music to inspire creativity
The art of Kulning: Night-scented stock are called in for the long summer evening
Kulning is an ancient, sweet and sorrowful form of Scandinavian music used to herd cows and goats back down from their high mountain pastures in parts of Norway and in certain provinces of Sweden, Jämtland and Härjedalen. In practical use since medieval times, the mysterious tones were also thought to be a deterrent to potential predators like wolvesContinue reading “The art of Kulning: Night-scented stock are called in for the long summer evening”
Awesome low-fi / house / ambient / psychedelic artists from New Zealand
Skip to the end for an amazing playlist of these artists on Youtube Aldous Harding From Christchurch, Aldous Harding is known throughout the world for her strange, unnerving stage presence and her delicate and yet raw brand of folk. She’s quite enigmatic and unlike any other artist. You may take a while to warm toContinue reading “Awesome low-fi / house / ambient / psychedelic artists from New Zealand”
Laid back self-isolation mix #1
Hi my friends. I am going to start doing semi-regular playlists of music that are laid back, joyful, soul warming. Music that will help you to get through hard times in self-isolation, particularly if you are separated from those you love, or if you are feeling lonely. These mixes will be eclectic styles – house,Continue reading “Laid back self-isolation mix #1”
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Quirky History
Lesser-known morsels of olden day stuff
Otherworldly and Abandoned Soviet Monuments
These sculptures and old buildings before the end of the Cold War era look futuristic and strange. Some structures demonstrate the military might of Russia. While others are scintillating, harshly modern, and located in beautiful forested landscapes. These monuments are artistic and architectural wonders. Could these lost and forgotten objects ever be revived and resurrected, albeitContinue reading “Otherworldly and Abandoned Soviet Monuments”
Beautiful maps & beautiful Welsh tales: The Mabinogion
The Mabinogion is a magical and mythical Celtic classic from the thirteenth century or earlier. It’s thoroughly Welsh and is considered a masterpiece of medieval literature. Although written down during the middle ages, experts think these stories may date from the dawn of Celtic civilisation in Britain. The Mabinogion has given rise to all ofContinue reading “Beautiful maps & beautiful Welsh tales: The Mabinogion”
History: You are what you do – olden times tradespeople and their tools
Hieroglyphics, circa 1800 This delightful print entitled Hieroglyphics dates from circa 1800 and was created by the London-based publisher Samuel William Fores in the aquatint style. We can see the composite portraits of four professions: a florist, writer, musician, and barber — their features made up entirely from the tools of their trades. Such compositeContinue reading “History: You are what you do – olden times tradespeople and their tools”
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