A mere friend will agree with you, but a real friend will argue. ~ Assyrian Proverb "The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart." - Helen Keller with Charlie Chaplin Tell me your friends, and I’ll tell you who you are.…
Continue reading ➞ Hauntingly relevant ancient Mesoptamian Proverbs about love and friendship
Twankle https://twitter.com/SlenderSherbet/status/1278930494827237376?s=20 To twang your fingers on a musical instrument or absent-mindedly strum or play an instrument without thought. Other concatenations include: Twiddling, twandling, tootling, plunking, noodling, thrummling or tudeling. Tudeling (origin) German dudeln - to perform badly. The crappiest song that almost everyone can play on the piano Chopsticks was invented in 1877 by…
Here’s a collection of the best and treasured history books that I don’t think I could ever part with. They are quirky and delve into a little known aspect of history making them delightful lazy weekend reading. I hope you can get a hold of them, if you do...please let me know what you think…
Continue reading ➞ Ten Quirky and Mind Expanding History Books
Lost Wisdom and its two other companion books Lost Crafts and Lost Lore are beautifully typeset and laid out. Their contents are a cabinet of curiosities - a wunderkammer of the same sort as the Book of Barely Imagined Beings, which I have mentioned in the past. Although in this case Lost Wisdom runs the…
Continue reading ➞ Book Review: Lost Wisdom by Una McGovern and Paul Jenner
1. Chilled out hip-hop grooves from Emapea - Seeds, Roots & Fruits https://youtu.be/uGZJ2UALHME 2. These book-rescuing heroes don't wear capes https://www.reddit.com/r/interestingasfuck/comments/hjey9s/turkish_garbage_collectors_open_a_library_with/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x 3. François Schuiten’s steampunk cityscapes 'Les Cités obscures' Immense skyscrapers and towering monoliths dwarf the citizenry in François Schuiten’s 'Les Cités obscures', a graphic novel series (1983–present) that captures the steampunk modernist aesthetic. Read…
Continue reading ➞ 10 Interesting Things I found on the Internet #13
Scottish Forensic Anthropologist and Professor Sue Black's memoir about her life confronting death won the Saltire Book of the Year in 2018. Forensic anthropology (in case you are wondering) is the study of human remains in order to solve criminal cases. I was very excited to read this book. Yet the first few chapters of…
Continue reading ➞ Book Review: All that Remains: A Life in Death by Sue Black
Hanako means flower girl in Japanese. Hanako lived the majority of her life in the pure spring waters of a pond at the foot of Mt Ontake near Oppara. It's believed that the purity and relative isolation of the pond contributed to her longevity. Hanako lived through the English conquering of both Australia and New…
Edward Brooke Hitching, history-hound, lover of quirky things and writer for the ever-popular and erudite quiz show QI, has written The Sky Atlas. A treasury and history of some of humankind’s most beautiful maps and charts. Yet this book is more than that, it’s a sparkling and glittering array of sky-bound achievements. It’s a visual…
Continue reading ➞ Book Review: The Sky Atlas by Edward Brooke Hitching
Fritz Kahn's Der Menschen als Industriepalast by Henning Lederer. Fritz Kahn combined industrial and mechanical functionality with the working wonders of the human body. He was a creative genius whose work remained undiscovered for many years. Until a curious curator Uta Von Debschnitz unearthed them. Kahn was a Berliner who did well for himself…
Continue reading ➞ Fritz Khan’s painting Der Menschen als Industriepalast in dreamy animation
1. Haunting and cinematic Norse music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aMKnHkeJEQ&feature=youtu.be 2. Tatsuya Tanaka's tiny whimsical worlds Each of these mini masterpieces represent a vibrant and quirky aspect of Japanese life (both past and present) made from the flotsam and jetsam of our everyday world. https://twitter.com/tanaka_tatsuya/status/1278810685984522240?s=20 https://twitter.com/tanaka_tatsuya/status/1272407163709739008?s=20 3. The price we pay for awareness With every level of consciousness…
Continue reading ➞ 10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet this Week #12
Treat thine ears and eyes to a new genre of music - bardcore! Perhaps you're looking for that tavern banger that you enjoyed back in 1365. Or perhaps you want to reminisce on the summer solstice when you gathered with jolly folk at Stonehenge, got wasted on mead and were visited by a strange celestial…
Continue reading ➞ Medieval bangers and tavern stompers circa 2020
Highland Cows or as they are commonly known in Scotland Highland Coos are an ancient breed known to have grazed the rugged Scottish landscape since the sixth century. Their genetic origins are still up for debate. They may be native to Scotland or introduced by the Vikings to Great Britain. One scientific train of thought…
Continue reading ➞ Travel: A History of the Beautiful Highland Cow
1. Natalie Wong's exquisite and strange fantasy coral murals made from paper https://youtu.be/KjuITFhgP0s Read more 2. This guy who really wanted McDonalds but could only go through the Drive-Thru https://twitter.com/vickie19761/status/1268158165377482753?s=20 3. How to break free of the stimulation nation Some advice from the always relevant Dr Eric Perry Here are some steps that I use…
Continue reading ➞ 10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet this Week #11
Mother Nature - I don’t really need people but people need me
As the southern hemisphere turns now towards the colder months we are all finding comfort into our nests and getting cosy for the winter. In New Zealand and the southern parts of Australia we are experiencing snow in the alpine regions. So it seems appropriate now to talk about the many ancient words for snow.…
For every force, there is a counter force. Violence, even well intentioned, Always rebounds upon oneself.
His Bloody Project by author Graeme Macrae Burnet recounts the story of the triple murder and subsequent trial of accused 17 year old crofter Roderick McRae, who brutally slays three people in his remote village in 1896. Roderick lives with his family in a tiny croft on a property and land owned by the laird. His…
Continue reading ➞ Book Review: His Bloody Project by Graeme MacRae Burnet
The Recovering is a memoir about alcohol and how it runs rampant in the lives of writers and artists throughout history. It’s seen through the lens of the book’s author, Leslie Jameson as she navigates her way through life and the being drunk and being in recovery. Jamieson clearly has a knack for the written…
Continue reading ➞ Book Review: The Recovering Intoxication and its Aftermath by Leslie Jamieson
1. Subterranean murmurs and echoes from beneath the ice Two hours of haunting, swirling and otherworldly sounds as ice crackles in a frozen river in Sweden. This is a nice lullaby for going to sleep. Although you may have strange vivid dreams! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qd-CwJa1SHE 2. Jessica Baumgartner on how to find balance on a global, local…
Continue reading ➞ 10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet this Week #10
Many years ago, I went hiking in Ireland in Glendalough I saw some magical landscapes. Ireland has a beautiful soft light in the summer. The diffused sunlight is speckled with clouds that pass over the vast valleys and mountain-sides. It's possible to sit there all day and just watch the way the light travels over…
Continue reading ➞ Travel: Among the Irish Faeries and Norse Gods
Take a virtual tour of the tomb of the great pharaoh Ramesses all without leaving your home and while staying in your pyjamas. Take the tour here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-dRf7Zxf8Q We write to taste life twice...in the moment and in retrospection. Those few moments of communion with the world are worth the pain. Writing is worth it for others. It's an inheritance for others. A gift to others in the end. One has to create a world in which to live. I could not…
Tulip Fever is one of the most captivating historical fiction reads I have had the pleasure of enjoying in recent years. Tulip Fever takes place in Amsterdam in the 1630's during a time of immense wealth that is brought into the country by merchants and tulip sellers. If you enjoyed that other iconic historical novel…
Continue reading ➞ Book Review: Tulip Fever by Deborah Moggach
Apricity was a term originally coined by English lexicographer Henry Cockeram to denote the "the warmeness of the Sunne in Winter". This photo I took during a particularly chilling end of autumn day in Japan in Ginkaku-ji Temple, Kyoto. Note how the sun falls in cascades of enveloping warmth onto the golden tinged leaves. Apricity…
