Month: March 2021

Crate of Curios part 26

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Lockdown lasts, but since yesterday night we’ve been granted an extra hour of daylight to enjoy and luckily spring added a gorgeous sunshine to it today. Athenians are out to walk and have their obligatory coffees, showing that some customs are just too ingrained to fade even at the face of hindrances and life goes on, simply and enjoyably in its small moments. And with this little reflection, let’s proceed without further ado to opening this week’s Crate.

  1. In case you haven’t yet heard about Afrofuturism – the branch of science fiction that has given us a number of gems including, but not limited to the movie “Black Panther”, the funkadelic tunes of George Clinton and the Parliament and the novels of Octavia Butler, it about time you did. The term itself dates from 1993, but the works covered by it go back considerably longer. And as a word of note – Afrofuturism is also strongly present in contemporary African design.

2. We might consider “The Bionic Man” purely an old fantasy series, but real life is approaching the concept fast. In 2020 Robert “Buz” Chmielewski became the first person to have electrodes implanted into his brain that will allow him to control a pair of prosthetic arms with his mind only.

3. The meaning of life is, as we all know, 42. However, just in case you need some help in reaching that conclusion, Mark Manson has listed 7 questions that will help you closer to the answer. (Yes, the image is from Monty Python’s “The Meaning of Life”)

4. Having a bad day? Surely a capybara in a pool with an orange on its head can fix that.

5. Sailors were some of the people who were sporting tattoos way before they became mainstream trendy. Back then those tattoos also had particular meanings. (Click on the link to see the whole chart)

6. And a little comic by Hannah Hillam describing a typical post-pandemic condition to finish off for today.

And that was it for this time. Happy reading and until next week!

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If you want to receive the Crate to your mailbox, you can subscribe here at Substack.
The Crate is now also available on Medium.

Crate of Curios part 25

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Spring is definitely here with the moody weather, blossoming trees and resulting allergic sneezing that adds additional spice to the pandemic atmosphere. However, looking back now at the 1-year anniversary of the pandemic, things have improved at least to a degree – the behind-the-mask sneezes that a year ago aroused visible panic in the nearest vicinity now barely raise an eyebrow. And on this stoically optimistic note, let’s proceed to opening this week’s Crate of Curios.

1. One of the best things you can do for yourself if you happen to be a) even vaguely interested in history and/or fiction and b) using Facebook, is to check out the page of Victorians, Vile Victorians, as their morning posts are a delight to read next to your morning beverage of choice.

2. Continuing on the note of delightful things – good art is definitely one of them. And yet… there are occasions when bad art is even better. Peruse the collections of the Museum of Bad Art and you’ll see what I mean.

3. You know these foggy mystical forests of fairy tales where any number of magical creatures can pop up at any moment? At least one of those actually exists in Devon, England and it’s called Wistman’s Wood.

4. How to find out your job description based on the type of writing you do? Take the test.

5. There are admittedly different ways to read a book, but one of the most useful ways seems to be to read it as a writer.

6. And as I started this Crate with talking about the weather, it seems to be only appropriate to finish it on the same note.

And that was it for this time. Happy reading and until next week!

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If you want to receive the Crate to your mailbox, you can subscribe here at Substack.
The Crate is now also available on Medium.

Crate of Curios part 24

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Spring is approaching with mighty steps and the weather is typically moody, alternating between windy, sunny, and mildly chilly. I wish I could say that lockdown is finally about to end, but as everything else it’s floating in the air like the kites of Clean Monday will be tomorrow. And as technically it already is Clean Monday, let’s get to opening this week’s Crate without delay.

  1. My personal history with detective stories goes a long way back, and I remember coming across the name of Pinkerton Detective Agency in Arthur Conan Doyle’s “Valley of Fear”. However, Mr. Doyle never mentioned the agency also employing the first female detective Kate Warne, who after convincing Allan Pinkerton to hire her, went on to have a stellar career as a private investigator.

2. In some countries one can flush toilet paper. In others one really shouldn’t. And then there’s Greenland.

3. Artists and novel writers have a prevailing reputation for eccentricity, but as it seems children’s book authors are no exception.

4. Ex-communist project buildings don’t carry much of a reputation of cosiness or homeliness, yet when you’ve grown up in one, you know that there’s something there – a special atmosphere you can’t really find elsewhere.

5. There are virtue and vice, light and dark, high and low, yin and yang – and then there are the Ancient Greek concepts of sophrosyne and hubris.

6. And to finish off, a nod towards the seemingly eternal lockdown from Tom Gauld.

And that was it for this time. Happy reading and until next week!

_________________________________________________________

If you want to receive the Crate to your mailbox, you can subscribe here at Substack.
The Crate is now also available on Medium.

Crate of Curios part 23

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It’s yet again a slightly chilly Sunday evening and we’re still in lockdown which now has taken inception-like features (lockdown in a lockdown in a lockdown). However, spring is approaching, days are getting warmer and bitter orange trees are getting rid of their last fruits whenever a gust of wind happens to rattle them. That’s enough for a smile. And now without further ado, let’s proceed to open this week’s Crate.

  1. It might often seem that grass is greener elsewhere, but occasionally it doesn’t hurt to remind oneself that things could also be worse. These 12 most radioactive spots on Earth are a pretty good example of that.

2. Rolling your eyes at yet another book blurb promising literary delights by a stellar author? No fear, here’s all you need to decode the jargon.

3. Most people don’t like change. Our brains in general don’t like change. So the little grey cells have come up with five different ways to resist it.

4. What do you do when you’ve been a victim of petty theft, but you happen to live in Ancient Rome where police doesn’t exist yet? You write a proper nasty curse tablet to get even.

5. The bridges on euro banknotes are fictional in order to avoid squabbles between member countries. Or at least they were fictional until a Dutch designer decided to build a replica of them all in Spijkenisse.

And that was it for this time. Happy reading and until next week!

_________________________________________________________

If you want to receive the Crate to your mailbox, you can subscribe here at Substack.
The Crate is now also available on Medium.

Crate of Curios part 22

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There is a sole reason why I’m late with opening the Crate today. Namely when I sat down at the computer to start writing it, I thought to myself – ‘I’ll just see this one Graham Norton show video clip and then I’ll start.’ It was a lie and I knew it – there’s no way to see just one, it snowballs. Unsurprisingly it also snowballed this time… and hence, let’s get to opening the Crate without any further ado.

  1. It is somewhat comforting to see that the process of creation is no easier for those who have reached some of the highest peaks of achievement within their field. Hayao Miyazaki is as familiar with the creative struggle as anyone, as witnessed by these screengrabs from the documentary about his creative process.

2. A team of researchers at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have found that a plain boiled potato can make for a decent battery, especially if cut into several pieces. Naturally my first question after reading this was – ‘Hasn’t MacGyver done it at some point?’ As it turned out, not exactly, but the potato-battery hack was already floating around Youtube before the researchers went about their project.

3. The awkward situations where scientist friends or relatives want to celebrate their career milestones that nobody else understands? Tom Gauld has got you covered.

4. Kowloon Walled City was demolished in 1992. At its peak it was the densest place of human habitation on Earth at that time, housing 33,000 people on 2 hectares of land (approximately 5 football fields). It was possible to cross the entire complex without touching the ground once.

5. Our brains are not great at accepting new information that conflicts with our existing beliefs. This is a confirmation bias known as ‘Semmelweis reflex’ and its origin dates back to the tragic story of the Viennese physician Ignaz Semmelweis.

And as a final touch – a little slightly bleak poem by Aleksandr Blok from 1912.

And that was it for this time. Happy reading and until next week!

_________________________________________________________

If you want to receive the Crate to your mailbox, you can subscribe here at Substack.
The Crate is now also available on Medium.