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10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #123

Customer Service Representative - Oil on Canvas (2020) by Marianna Olague

This week, learn how colours got their names, the value of friendship, funky 90’s hiphop, ultra realistic paintings of life in #Texas, the legend of Rez #Dogs, tasty evening snacks and much more. Come on in…it’s edition #123 of #InterestingThings by #ContentCatnip

Yves Tumor: God is a Circle

Dark, edgy, sumptuous, a bit unhinged and chaotic but yet somehow complete and unified. This song and this album is totally unique…Either you will love this and understand it or vehemently hate it and be confused by it, but we’ll see…let me know what you think below.

Study: Close friends help you live longer, just don’t pick up their bad habits

“A lot of things can cluster, like people who are more socially connected are more physically active, and they can also have more of a sense of meaning and purpose in their life. That can lead them to take better care of themselves and take less risk, because they have people who depend on them, or are encouraging them and looking out for them.”

Still she adds, she hopes this doesn’t encourage people to smoke or drink heavily just because they have friends.

The large scale of this study confirms the important role of friendships in health, says Blieszner: “You can generalize these results with great confidence to the population as a whole.”

Ask Reddit: What was once taken seriously and is now treated like a total joke?

McAffee Anti Virus software
MTV
Staying in a job out of loyalty
Walking into a workplace and asking for a job or giving a CV
The Guiness Book of World Records
Bill Cosby
Rudy Giuliani
Elon Musk
Netflix Originals
Kanye West
Landline telephones and physical answering machines
Yellow Pages
Fax Machines

Great snacks for before bed to promote a good rest

Machine Gun Funk by Notorious B.I.G

I have discovered Biggie about two decades too late…but anyway this incredibly gem and his other greatest hits are on high rotation in my place nowadays. It’s got an unbelievably funky swinging bassline and also his flow is totally on fire…he was known for his rhythmic and impressive flow and eloquent, deep lyrics. What a loss for us all that he’s not still around. [If you are sensitive and don’t like swearing then you possibly won’t like this song]. If you can get over that you might love this…

How colours got their names: a fascinating infographic

Combining two of my favourite loves etymology and colour. Found via Cool Guides on Reddit

Rez Dogs are emblematic of the indigenous spirit of North America

In many native communities around the lands we now call North America, dogs roam freely. They may be viewed as a risk to people’s safety, members of the community, or some combination, depending on where you are and who you ask. Often called rez dogs, the animals are imbued with many different identities. Some native people themselves identify with the dogs as relatives and reflections, members of families, similarly hungry and rejected, and stubborn and wily survivors who are emblematic of the Indigenous spirit.
Via MIT Press Reader

Courtesy – December 16

A great mix of hypnotic and uplifting classic trance from Courtesy.

Customer Service Representative – Oil on Canvas (2020) by Marianna Olague

Marianna Olague’s vibrant paintings capture the essence of her daily life in the El Paso, TX borderland desert, where she finds beauty in the ordinary. Her art features brilliantly coloured portraits of friends, family, and significant locations, often depicting them engaged in everyday activities. Through vivid realism and intricate detail, Olague’s art celebrates the unconventional beauty of the US-Mexico border

Olague is a painter based in El Paso, TX, with a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas at El Paso and a Master of Fine Arts from Cranbrook Academy of Art. Her work is featured in various collections and has been exhibited nationwide. Via Art Porn on Reddit

Something For Kate cover Rock the Casbah

A great Aussie band Something For Kate cover the funky classic Rock the Casbah. This comes from the always cool and interesting music blog by William A Thousand Mistakes, make sure to subscribe for more.

You’ve been ignoring me?

“I just popped down your PC to say hellreeeoow” via Wholesome memes

“Love one another but make not a bond of love: let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.”
~ Khalil Gibran

Beauty and the Beast by Thomas Blackshear

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Book Review: Medieval Bodies Life and Death in the Middle Ages by Jake Hartnell

Book Review: Medieval Bodies: Life and Death in the Middle Ages by Jack Hartnell

Art Historian Jake Hartnell takes us on a macabre and enthralling journey from head to toe in the medieval human body. This is fascinating because, even though we share the same bodies as our medieval ancestors, we had wildly diverging beliefs about the inherent symbolic power of parts of our bodies and what could heal, harm or kill us.

Medieval Bodies is a delightful book. Reading it, you soon realise that medieval people worried about growing old, embarrassing odours and strange rumblings going on inside of them. And just like us, they fell in love, fought, had sex, experienced physical and emotional pain and died too. It’s just that we are standing on the shoulders of medical giants now who, luckily for us manage a lot of these illnesses and discomforts for us.

If a woman wishes to not conceive, let her carry against her nude flesh, the womb of a goat, which has never had offspring. Otherwise, take a male weasel and let its testicles be removed and then released alive. Let the woman carry these testicles with her in her bosom. Trotula. A Salernitan text on women’s reproductive health, 12th Century.

Back in medieval times, medical treatment and beliefs about the human body were strange, fantastical and theatrical. Featuring interventions and influences of saints, kings, queens, gods, monstrous beasts and strange augurs and signs from certain animals or weather.

The Winwick Brooch

Medieval marriages were forged together a hand-fasting ceremony of betrothal. Two hands fastened together was as popular as a heart to denote marriage on keepsakes like brooches and rings. Like this treasure, the Winwick Brooch, dating from the 1400’s and found in the grounds of St Oswald’s Church in Winwick, Cheshire.

The Wound Man

**The medieval wound man showed surgeons at the time how to address common wounds to different parts of the body. Bavarian Manuscript circa 1420. Public Domain Review**

The Lady and the Unicorn

MON SEUL DESIR – or My Sole Desire is written on the tent, The lady is surrounded by birds, dogs, rabbits, a lion and the unicorn from the previous tapestries. The mysterious tapestry cycle is thought to denote the five senses and the secret sixth sense.

This is an incredibly enjoyable read. How medieval people saw themselves and their own bodies in relation to the medieval world could be a boring book, but Hartnell is an exceptionally skilled writer, making for an entertaining and yet erudite read. He deftly shifts between ancient mysticism, religion, politics, medicine, art and culture. Almost every page features amazing full colour illustrations which vividly bring to life beliefs about the body in ancient times. I can’t recommend this book highly enough! It is rich with quirky historical facts and I’m sure you will love it!

Travel: Exploring Sydney’s exquisite vintage architecture at QVB

The Queen Victoria Building (QVB), is an enchanting architectural wonder in Sydney’s central business district. The style of the building is a Romanesque Revival architectural masterpiece and was originally designed by George McRae.

Constructed between 1893 and 1898, this heritage-listed building originally served as a marketplace but has undergone various uses and renovations over the years. Its design features a grand central dome, smaller domes, and intricate Victorian style detailing, embodying the architectural ambitions of its era.

Over time, the QVB has seen significant changes, QVB has undergone many transformations over the decades to accommodate office spaces and shops, and there have been periods when the place lay in decay with threats looming over its demolition.

Despite these challenges, it was restored to honour its original grandeur in the early 00’s. Now QVB is a thriving shopping center and tourist attraction featuring quirky and high-end shops and tea houses. Read more about Queen Victoria Building on Wikipedia.

Having a go: some things that most people don’t understand

What’s something most people don’t understand?

1. If someone isn’t making small talk with you, (in a hairdresser or nail salon) they aren’t being snobby, they are most likely shy or introverted and don’t know what to say.

2. If you don’t change the thing that’s pissing you off: job, relationship, location, situation then nothing will change and you will still be miserable, in the future, so embrace change. In the meantime don’t continually torture your friends and family because you are miserable because of the choices you made or didn’t make.

3. If someone is quiet, it doesn’t necessarily mean that they are weak or can be pushed around. Many quiet people can be very assertive whenever is needed.

4. Money is just a way to survive in this world and be comfortable. Even the world’s richest people can’t be saved from death by having lots of money. It is a false idol and false god of the most shallow kind, it cannot love you, it has no soul. If you surround yourself with money and things they will not gladden your heart or will only do so temporarily.

5. Create discipline and order in your habits and that way, eventually you can do the things you love everyday.

6. Surround yourself with knowledge and use it as an armour and a shield against the chaos of the universe.

7. Depressing working and living environments will depress you and undermine you, even if you are unaware of this. Make sure your home and work space is as comfortable, orderly, vibrant and energetically uplifting as possible and you will feel better mentally and physically.

8. Following trends and following what others expect you to do (of your age group, location amd gender) instead of following your own interests will eventually make you into a boring person – resist this strongly and follow your own interests. Even if this makes you an oddball – you will end up being a very happy oddball, better than being a deeply unhappy normie.

9. People on the internet are your distant friends but if you actually speak to them on the phone or meet them in person, at that point you could probably call them your real friends.

10. People have baggage, hang-ups, insecurities and things that boil up to the surface. If someone has a bad look for you in public it’s 99.9% likely to not to because of you.

11. Animals may not be able to speak but they communicate their complexity through their body language. All of them (not just your pets)have inner lives, experience pain and suffering just as you do. All deserve to be alive and respected. They are not simply tools or resources for human exploitation.

12. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

13. Some people are disappointing and lazy but when you find the good ones, who are reliable, loyal, hardworking, caring, gentle and honest hold onto them with both hands.

Taking big-boned baby Buck to the beach

Buck has had a very difficult few months. He lost his golden retriever sister to a rare form of liver cancer.

My parents’ two beautiful Goldens have now become one very distraught and lost boy. He has now grown into an adult body, but his mannerisms and mind are still show that he is a puppy.

He looks around for his sister and stares off looking at the sky a lot. It’s as though he is looking for her shape drifting through the clouds.

Buck is the goodest of good boys. On the beach he lets it all hang out: ears, tongue, eyes, paws, tail. He becomes a rabid purveyor of exquisite salty morsels, calcified tidbits and ever-gushing watery barrels crashing on the beach.

His paws becomes squelchy receptacles of the sublime. From his mouth comes a series of yelping moans of excitement, as bright and as pure as morning sunshine.

He is temporarily lit from within by the breathe of life, the essence of energy we all grasp onto desperately…each time we descend down a roller-coaster, fling ourselves out of a plane, go tits by jowl into a packed dance floor.

In his paroxysms of playing and pleasure, he embodies enjoying the present moment. This moment. Then this one. Then the next. Buddha couldn’t have been more contented to see him like that.

His eyes roll back in his head as he imbibes seaweed and cracks cockell shells in his gummy jaws. He looks back at me guiltily and then turns around and runs into the hazy blue of distance where the clouds and waves meet the horizon and in the haze I can see the blonde fur of his sister egging him on and cajoling him to run faster.

Who would have the heart to put a leash on such a free soul as he.

Book Review: To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey

Eowyn Ivey is a master craftswoman and her sentences are smooth and flowing like treacle. Her debut the Snow Child was one of my favourite novels. It told the magical tale of a child that emerges out of the icy Alaskan tundra and provides an ageing couple yearning for a baby, with the promise of a living child.

For her second novel, To the Bright Edge of the World- Ivey returns again to her homeland for inspiration. It’s set in Alaska in 1885, a time of frontier exploration, prospecting and hardy homesteaders wanting to carve out an existence on the edge of the known world.

The book follows an unusual style of following the characters through correspondence such as journals, letters, reports and magazine articles. It makes the narrative compelling and often leads to teasing, unresolved clues that are later realised in the plot. We work through the documents in much the same way as a museum curator or local history enthusiast would in a remote village, on unveiling the contents of a dusty old steamer trunk.

The story centres around the frontier exploration by Colonel Allen Forrester and his team of rag-tag military men as they explore the lesser known parts of the Alaskan wilderness. Allen leaves behind his young wife Sophie in relative suburban safety and the humdrum world of women’s work in Vancouver. In the meantime Allen encounters all types of natural and supernatural phenomena in the wilderness. Everything from a shaman that shape-shifts into a raven, to a group of women who shape-shift into geece and a spruce tree that can birth into existence a human baby. It’s a fantastical journey but one that’s seen through the eyes of the pragmatic eyes of Col. Forrester who doesn’t stand for any of that hocus-pocus nonsense.

Throughout the book is the theme of transformative liminality and exploring the gap between waking and sleep, tame and wild, imagined and real. The book chugs along at an enjoyable pace and the writing is crisp, engaging and beautifully evocative of time and place.

As in the Snow Child, the Alaskan wilderness is the centrepiece and main character of this novel. And yet it doesn’t need to say a single solitary piece of dialogue to be fascinating and memorable. If anything, To the Bright Edge of the World has given me itchy feet to explore Alaska.

Ivey’s characters are flawed, scarred and made more real by their hurtful histories that haunt them. It’s a braided narrative between the present time of locals discovering the documents relating to the epic journey taken by Col. Forrester, and also the journey itself in 1885. A less gifted writer would struggle to bring the two narratives together, but Ivey manages to do this with ease and grace and the whole novel is a colourful epic that will become etched in your memory for years to come.

10 Interesting Things I Found on the Internet #122

An exquisitely detailed Tiffany stained glass window

Learn about twin souls and mystical connection, an exquisite stained glass window, encouragement for your creative spirit, funky house music and much more. It’s edition #122 #InterestingThings #ContentCatnip

The Twin Flames, the Infinity Symbol by Lamp Magician

Lamp Magician has an amazing blog about Jungian psychology, spirituality, ancient history and much more:

Definition: A twin flame is an intense soul connection with someone thought to be a person’s other half, also called a “mirror soul.” It’s based on the idea that one soul gets split into two bodies from creation.

Souls, in my belief, are not defined by gender. Therefore, the concept of soulmates or twins is not restricted to masculine or feminine traits, per our earthly understanding (I think we must cast our minds wider than the limit on this Earth!). It involves a pairing between two souls irrespective of their gender. Although some poor souls have lost their mates, I have encountered a few pairs who have found their soulmates and now live together happily, albeit rarely.

I highly recommend a book on this topic called “The Soul’s Twins” by Jean Benedict Raffa: https://jeanbenedictraffa.com/. It provides a comprehensive study of our souls, and I have learned much about my own soul through it. I even gained a deeper understanding of my wife’s soul!

This song from a recent Australian band Drunk Mums sounds like 70s pub rock – and it’s amazing!

Inner North by UV Race

I love the rambling monologue about Melbourne’s inner northern suburbs, a creative artsy playground and this band’s funky quirky sound. With thanks to one of my favourite music bloggers William for this and many other great recommendations. His blog is worth a following if you are into little-heard high quality music.

Excellent venn diagram

The venn diagram of 'putting your hands in the air' by Mattsurelee

Ask Reddit: What are the clear signs that you’re getting older

Your body cracks like a glowstick but you don’t glow
You see a celebrity you grew up watching and notice they’re older
Staying at home on Saturday night because ‘I want my peace’
Hangovers that last for days
Looking at the wrinkles on the back of your hand
Less patience for general nonsense. More patience for people you care about
Giving zero fucks
Naps become enjoyable

How stories help us make sense of the world

This is not the only physiological effect of surprise. Our skin conductance increases. Our heart rate changes. Our blood vessels constrict. When things go against our expectations, we respond physically. Even minor transgressions of expectation affect us directly, and this helps to explain why we pay attention to them and why, in turn, they have the mutual prominence needed to serve as landmarks in coordination games.

The stories we tell in daily conversations almost always center on disruptions from the normal flow of life.

But they aren’t usually the epic disruptions we see in novels and movies. Just about any little departure will do. If something is out of the ordinary, or otherwise seems unlikely, this gives us license to talk about it.

The very fact that people are telling a story about something shows that they regard it as out of the ordinary. This is how we learn about social norms. It is how we learn about other people. When people show us what they find remarkable and why, they show us who they are.

If you’re telling me something, it should be news. It wouldn’t be a conversation if I just kept saying the same things. One of the strongest principles that has been discovered about language use by philosophers and psychologists of language is the cooperative maxim in communication: Be relevant. In part, this means: Don’t tell people things that they already know. At each point, what you say should be informative.

Via MIT Press Reader

Blak N’Orange

A nice and funky house track from the 90’s

How to Unf**k your wardrobe

Via Simon Kuestenmacher on Twitter

Leonardo di Vinci: Live Life with No Regrets

From the ever-wise and insightful Robert Greene

Leonardo da Vinci said, “As a well-spent day brings happy sleep, so a life well spent brings happy death.” Make sure you have no regrets. pic.twitter.com/3BjNMVUvGc
— Robert Greene (@RobertGreene) January 7, 2024

Chilli oil rice recipe from the super talented Will Yeung

This looks so good!

An exquisitely detailed Tiffany stained glass window

Via Francisco Ribeiro on Twitter

Antique door-knockers

Via Thanatos Archive

It is never too late to follow your creative spirit

Indigenous Australian artist Loongkoonan, who started painting at 95, and who exhibited her work age 105 #womensart pic.twitter.com/ENWCrMzFUE

Indigenous Australian artist Loongkoonan, who started painting at 95, and who exhibited her work age 105 #womensart pic.twitter.com/ENWCrMzFUE
— #WOMENSART (@womensart1) November 19, 2023

“We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep.”
~ William Shakespeare

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Comforting Thought: Whistling in the dark

Artists & Writers in Their Own Words: Jari Österberg AKA Liuos

“Art would not be important if life were not important. And life is important. Most of us, no matter what we say, are walking in the dark, whistling in the dark. Nobody knows what is going to happen to them from one moment to the next, or how one will bear it. This is irreducible. And it’s true for everybody. Now, it is true that the nature of society is to create, among its citizens, an illusion of safety; but it is also absolutely true that the safety is always necessarily an illusion. Artists here to disturb the peace. They have to disturb the peace. Otherwise, chaos!” ~ JAMES BALDWIN

Ancient word of the day: Nekyia — Pierreuses au bar / Picasso

Underground Resistance: Detroit Techno as a Personal Revolution

This song by the Underground Resistance is just as powerful now as it was in the early 90’s when it first dropped in Detroit’s underground house and techno clubs. It is now considered a classic of early techno and is a strong favourite with DJ’s and producers to get the crowd going even today.

The swirling drums and scratchy beats along with the uplifting and powerful call to action for young people to take control of their lives, become autonomous, independent and to move confidently in the direction of their dreams.

This track is just as potent, danceable, energising and full of life now as it was when it was first released. It speaks to me across decades at every age I have ever been and tells me to keep forging ahead even when the path is not clear, the way is dark or when all hope seems to be lost.

In my humble opinion, if you don’t like Underground Resistance you don’t have a heartbeat.

Lyrics: Underground Resistance: Transition

There will come a time in your life when you will ask yourself a series of questions.
Am I happy with who I am?
Am I happy with the people around me?
Am I happy with what I’m doing?
Am I happy with the way my life is going?
Do I have a life or am I just living?
Do not let these questions strain or trouble you just point youself in the direction of your dreams find your strengh in the sound and make your transition.

Do not spend to much time thinking and not enough doing.
Did I try the hardest at any of my dreams?
Did I purposely let others discourage me when I knew I could?
Will I die never knowing what I could have been or could of done?
Do not let these doubts restrain of trouble you just point yourself in the direction of your dreams.
Find your strength in the sound and make your transition.

There will be people who say you can’t – you will.
There will be people who say you dont mix this with that and you will say “watch me”.
There will be people who will say play it safe, thats to risky – you will take that chance and have no fear.
You wont let these questions restrain or trouble you.
You will point yourself in the direction of your dreams.
You will find the sreangth in the sound and make your transition.

For those who know its time to leave the house and go back to the field.
Find your strength in the sound and make your transition.

Who are Underground Resistance?

Mysterious and enigmatic, Underground Resistance are a radical techno and house music collective originating in Detroit, Michigan and releasing music since 1990. They pride themselves on their DIY aesthetic and through their provocative lyrical electronica they showcase themes of militant political resistance against racism, anti-corporate resistance and revolutionary empowerment of young black Americans.

By ignorant people, they were seen as a musical trouble-makers and the equivalent of the Black Panther movement. In reality, Underground Resistance subverted the racist stereotype of the “black trouble-maker” and turned this on its head. Through their provocative, uplifting and joyful techno, Underground Resistance gave young black people with a different way of being and living: an empowering, positive, uplifting and autonomous way of seeing oneself in the world. This is perfectly expressed in their classic techno track “Transition.”

Their themes of empowerment, independence and lifting oneself out of poverty or any bad situation in life have universal appeal across countries, generations and decades. Their legend lives on.

Most of the members of Underground Resistance including Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson, Derrick May, Carl Craig, Mad Mike, Jeff Mills and Robert Hood went on to achieve huge success as techno producers in the decades after and are responsible for a massive catalogue of music that is the backbone of modern techno. They continue to play to packed out clubs and festivals all over the world. I have had the pleasure of seeing Juan Atkins, Derrick May, Robert Hood and Jeff Mills play live and all of these experiences have been incredible.

Another personal fav

Ancient Word of the Day: Stravaig

Stravaig derives from eighteenth-century Scots extravage, meaning ‘wander about; digress, ramble in speech’, in turn derived from Medieval Latin extravagari ‘wander, stray beyond limits’. Stravaig, in various forms, is found in a wide range of Scottish texts from the late eighteenth-century onwards. Read more

Ancient Word of the Day: Stravaig Stravaig derives from eighteenth-century Scots extravage, meaning ‘wander about; digress, ramble in speech’. #OldEnglish #WyrdWednesday
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Stravaig: v. to wander or amble without a purpose or destination in mind. Glad of the opportunity to explore and discover on foot, being unconstrained by time. (from Scots Gaelic)

Travel: Hiking in Ireland Copyright Content Catnip 2010

Sense Siblings

Dander: A gentle walk
Geng: To walk
Fit Stramp: A footstep
Wengle: To twist and turn
~ Shetland walking words

Adventures on the Isle of Skye — Across the water looking forwards Dunvegan castle from Borerraig at the north western tip of the Isle of Skye. Content Catnip 2010

Nature, every now and then, Grows saucy and stravaigy.
Toorle : A Drama of Farm Life in the Lothians in Five Acts
by Samuel Mucklebackit (1903)

Travel: Walks along the Water of Leith, Edinburgh Copyright Content Catnip 2017

References

Scots Word of the Season: Stravaig

Content Catnip

The Winwick Brooch

The Wound Man

The Lady and the Unicorn

Excellent venn diagram

Ask Reddit: What are the clear signs that you’re getting older

Blak N’Orange

It is never too late to follow your creative spirit

Content Catnip

Lyrics: Underground Resistance: Transition

Who are Underground Resistance?

More from the UR catalogue

Another personal fav

Sense Siblings

References