History
Stop Motion Sculpture
Artist Nina Paley took her camera, and some volunteers, to the Met Museum in NYC and took photos of 914 statues and then combined them to make a moving, morphing, evolving sculpture. Her thesis is that all work is derivative – whether or not video manages to prove that it’s a mesmerizing watch. Read how [...]
“It’s amazing how things have changed since 1994…”
Recently, two sisters were released from the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility on condition that one donated her kidney to the other one who relies on dialysis. In their press conference speech one of them remarked on the changes to the world since they were convicted in 1994 of taking part in a $11 robbery. “It’s [...]
Unconventional Autobiographies
Another literary list from Flavorwire: this time a list of inventive autobiographies that put bland celebrity offerings in the shade. Check out: The Box: Tales from the Darkroom by Gunter Grass, in which he fictionalizes accounts of his life from the perspectives of his eight children; My Prizes by Thomas Bernhard examines the life he [...]
Poor Medieval Britons? Not So Much…
Economists at the University of Warwick have worked out that medieval Britons had a per capita income of around $1,000 (1270 – 1870). In 2009, countries such as Ghana, Cambodia, Tanzania, Ethiopia and Burundi all had per capita incomes of less than $1,000. This medieval prosperity allowed people to live much more comfortable existences than [...]
Exasperated Experts
Historian Margaret MacMillan is in despair at the apparent lack of initiative shown by students who approach her for quotes for their essays but who have clearly not done any research themselves. “What they want are snippets of information to save them the trouble of searching for themselves and handy quotes from their “expert” to [...]
Secret Life of the Prison Library
Avi Steinberg describes life as a prison librarian at the Suffolk County House of Correction, Massachusetts. Prisoners would run to the library as soon as they were released from their cells, but the history of prison libraries is a troubled one. On one side they are thought to be a good thing – educating and [...]
American Ruins
Photographer Arthur Drooker’s photos of N. American buildings make them look as if they’ve survived (or decayed) since ancient times. He uses infrared photography to infuse an other-worldliness in industrial landscapes and dilapidated mansions. See them here.
Ghosts of WWII Photos
Russian photographer Sergey Larenkov’s haunting photos on My Modern Met that mix archive photos with modern day cityscapes bring home what it was like to live in the great cities in the time of WWII better than reading dozens of history books about the subject. Even seeing undoctored photos or archive of the time is [...]
Extreme Real Estate Feuds
If you’ve ever had trouble with your neighbours, here’s something to make you feel better (or get you all cross again). NY Magazine lists eight mega-property feuds, ranging from a 40-yr court dispute (that continued even after the deaths of the main protagonists) to a doctor who blew up his 4-story home to stop his [...]
How Big is It Really?
How Big Really offers useful visualizations of places, events and other important things, based on a map of your current location. For example, you can see how far the Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch would stretch if centered on your neighbourhood (far) or the area covered by Chernobyl radiation (farther). Try it for yourself here.
