davidthompsontag:typepad.com,2003:weblog-12079022009-11-13T08:25:57+00:00TypePadGo Barefoot for Gaia tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20120a6937c57970b2009-11-13T08:25:57+00:002009-11-13T10:51:51+00:00In the following BBC clip, lifted from today’s ephemera, the sculptor and artistic luminary Antony Gormley shares his wisdom on matters ecological. “Dispense with your socks,” says he. “This is a time of global warming. Through our feet we can...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/11/go-barefoot-for-gaia-.htmlFriday Ephemeratag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e201287588df30970c2009-11-13T07:00:00+00:002009-11-13T07:00:00+00:00The stridulating bird sings with its wings. // Panoramic dentistry. // EyeWriter. // Boneworms. // Beef magazine. “Für Männer mit Geschmack.” // Do not mix beer with oncoming trains. // People on public transport. // Eavesdropping on Apollo 11. //...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/11/friday-ephemera-1.htmlModesty Prevails tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e201287587de81970c2009-11-12T08:49:05+00:002009-11-12T16:27:10+00:00This is rather marvellous. A wearable papercraft self-portrait by Eric Testroete. Do click to embiggen. Assembly instructions are included so you could always build your own. And then go shopping. See also: Bert Simons.David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/11/modesty-prevails-.htmlElsewhere (13) tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20120a67948d3970b2009-11-11T17:20:16+00:002009-11-11T17:20:16+00:00Heather Mac Donald on racial quotas in school discipline. Schools that suspend or expel Hispanic and black students at higher rates than white students will now get a visit from a district “Equity Team” and will be expected to remedy...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/11/elsewhere-13-.htmlA Handsome Volumetag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20120a66d29db970b2009-11-10T08:45:42+00:002009-11-10T15:07:57+00:00Readers may recall Phil Wolstenholme’s ongoing digital photography project Wide Area Network, in which Sheffield’s surrounding countryside is writ large in a series of enormous, eerily detailed prints. Aesthetes among you may be interested in Wolstenholme’s first book of photographic...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/11/a-handsome-volume.htmlThe Music Inside Me tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20120a66d1ea2970b2009-11-10T08:15:14+00:002009-11-10T08:15:14+00:00Here’s a thing. John Fink’s Glottal Opera, featuring the tones and interiors of the ladies from Kaya, an Australian a cappella group. (h/t, Anna.)David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/11/the-music-inside-me-.htmlAnd Not a Heat Ray in Sight tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e201287565f4b0970c2009-11-09T09:42:02+00:002009-11-09T09:42:02+00:00A selection of Martian landscapes. Images taken by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and its HiRISE camera from approximately 300 km above the planet’s surface.David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/11/and-not-a-heat-ray-in-sight-.htmlAn Unsustainable Eviltag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20120a664c87e970b2009-11-09T07:30:15+00:002009-11-09T07:33:46+00:00Fell to its knees 20 years ago today. The Berlin Wall… was an apt symbol of Communism. It represented a historically unprecedented effort to prevent people from “voting with their feet” and leaving a society they rejected. The wall was...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/11/an-unsustainable-evil.htmlFriday Ephemeratag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20120a6ac5db5970c2009-11-06T07:00:00+00:002009-11-06T12:09:41+00:00Play with the Incredibox. // Anvils and explosives. (h/t, Ace) // The art of noodle making. // Beatniks in Newquay, 1960. // Bath bomb. // Tank chair. (h/t, Steynian) // The iSnort. // Tetris AI. // Stereoviews of yore. (h/t,...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/11/friday-ephemera.htmlAn Example to Us All tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20120a6ab25c2970c2009-11-05T09:17:17+00:002009-11-05T09:32:54+00:00Yes, I know. You want another of those Classic Sentences from the Guardian. Oh, look. Two stuck together: Paul McCartney once said: “If slaughterhouses had glass walls, we’d all be vegetarians.” Well, if people could see the state of war-torn...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/11/an-example-to-us-all-.htmlLandingstag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20120a651ed99970b2009-11-04T08:07:33+00:002009-11-04T08:07:33+00:00Josef Hoflehner’s wide-angle photos of low-flying aircraft at Princess Juliana International Airport. The Caribbean airport has some interesting signage too.David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/11/landings.htmlAdvertise with Fliestag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20120a6a33df1970c2009-11-03T07:56:28+00:002009-11-03T07:56:28+00:00To promote their literary works at the Frankfurt Book Fair, publishing company Eichborn deployed 200 flies, each attached temporarily to an ultra-light banner. The banners, measuring just a few centimetres across, seem to be causing the beleaguered flies a bit...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/11/advertise-with-flies.htmlHummingbird Hat tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20120a699f9a5970c2009-10-31T17:13:41+00:002009-10-31T17:13:41+00:00You’ll be wanting one of these. Also, the hummingbird helmet. Via Coudal.David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/10/hummingbird-hat-.htmlFriday Ephemeratag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20120a6339edc970b2009-10-30T07:00:00+00:002009-10-30T08:04:42+00:00Insects in the morning dew. (h/t, Chastity Darling) // Bacon lampshade. // Buddha pears. // Brain fragment vodka shots for Hallowe’en visitors. // And for younger trick-or-treaters... // A storybook for the wee ones. // Packaging that dissolves. // A...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/10/friday-ephemera-4.htmlIntellectual Lifetag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20120a6332310970b2009-10-29T10:21:53+00:002009-10-29T17:05:41+00:00Today’s Guardian editorial sings the praises of that “radical literary magazine,” The London Review of Books: So essential to Britain’s intellectual life... The editorial care taken is a cause for wonder and cheer. The LRB is also praised for, The...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/10/intellectual-life.htmlClip Showtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20120a6282877970b2009-10-28T12:24:45+00:002009-10-28T13:02:13+00:00Busy today, but I thought I’d steer newcomers towards the updated greatest hits. And poking about in the archives isn’t entirely without its rewards. For instance, you’ll find pointers to a mirror made of wood, some presidential spanking, ruminations on...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/10/clip-show.htmlI Remember Robots tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20120a67aa99f970c2009-10-27T08:04:09+00:002009-10-27T08:04:09+00:00Before Chuck-E-Cheese there was The Rock-afire Explosion. “I started a new restaurant chain called Showbiz Pizza Place and we got singing robots in there...” (h/t, Anna.)David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/10/i-remember-robots-.htmlDragon’s Breathtag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20120a61fe07e970b2009-10-26T12:42:53+00:002009-10-26T12:42:53+00:00Slowed down fire-breathing. High resolution here.David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/10/dragons-breath.htmlCulling for Gaiatag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20120a61d33cd970b2009-10-25T09:55:18+00:002009-10-26T20:27:46+00:00Time for another selection of Classic Sentences from the Guardian. Or rather the Guardian’s Sunday sister paper, the Observer. Until recently, I had thought the Observer’s commentary wasn’t quite as obnoxiously self-loathing as the material that swills all but daily...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/10/culling-for-gaia.htmlFriday Ephemeratag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20120a611fb61970b2009-10-23T07:00:00+01:002009-10-23T07:00:00+01:00Things I must track down, #312. // Not everyone can do this. (h/t, Drunkablog) // When slugs make love. // A visual history of the mobile phone. // The making of a giant cardboard camera. // Magnetricity. (h/t, The Thin...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/10/friday-ephemera-3.htmlDepth Perceptiontag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20120a6582dc6970c2009-10-20T14:49:39+01:002009-10-21T08:44:03+01:00Just 8 km in diameter, Saturn’s moon Daphnis casts its shadow. The tiny moon’s gravity creates waves in Saturn’s A ring that extend above the plane to a height of 1.5 km. Image taken by Cassini in visible light on...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/10/depth-perception.htmlI Sense a Malign Presence tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20120a5f2a3a1970b2009-10-18T20:52:26+01:002009-10-21T08:26:43+01:00A while ago, on the subject of identity politics and competitive victimhood, I wrote: Any claim to moral agency is surrendered to those members of a favoured group who happen to be shouting loudest. Thus, injustice is defined, unilaterally, by...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/10/i-sense-a-malign-presence-.htmlFriday Ephemeratag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20120a5e8b635970b2009-10-16T07:00:00+01:002009-10-16T17:13:05+01:00Slow motion bullets. 1 million frames per second. (h/t, Ace) // Assorted screen caps. Name that film. (nsfw) (h/t, Coudal) // Adult Chupa Chups. (h/t, Chastity Darling) // Icycle. // Moth-retardant toothpaste. // Time lapse thunderstorm. // Melon carving. //...David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/10/friday-ephemera-2.htmlNot Quite Falling Over tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20120a63e9b43970c2009-10-15T06:22:10+01:002009-10-15T06:22:10+01:00Here’s a thing. Wait for the big chap about 3:45. (h/t, Anna.)David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/10/not-quite-falling-over-.htmlNot Bad for Hairless Apes tag:typepad.com,2003:post-6a00d83451675669e20120a5df9268970b2009-10-13T10:29:11+01:002009-10-13T11:25:23+01:0050 years of space exploration. 1 meg version here. Zoom version here. Image by Sean McNaughton and Samuel Velasco. Via Coudal.David Thompsonhttp://davidthompson.typepad.com/davidthompson/2009/10/not-bad-for-hairless-apes-.html