Jay Smooth's TEDx Hampshire College talk is excellent and well worth watching. He develops the ideas he put forward in his earlier 'How to Tell Someone they Sound Racist' video, focusing more on how the message is received and what to do about it.
(H/T The Harpies)
Friday Poem: Too Big For My Skin
Written and directed by Desdamona.
Robot Dancing
What better way to spend a sunny Tuesday afternoon than attempting to break a world record for the largest number of people to do the robot dance at once? Yes it completely derailed my day, but it was fun and silly and I learnt to do a dance I didn't know before (though admittedly I'm not going to be breaking those moves out in a hurry).
The ABC reports that we have broken the world record, but I don't know how official that is.
Thursday music
Yes, I'm alive. Just busy and lazy when I'm not busy. This is Beirut, a band a friend of mine recently made me aware of. The song is called 'Nantes'.
Mountains in the clouds
If you've known me any length of time and if we have ever spoken about Nepal, I have probably told you about that moment when you look out the airplane window and realize that those white things out there aren't clouds but the snow-capped tops of the Himalayas. At eye level. Next to the tin can you're flying in.
Now do you see what I mean?
(Photo courtesy of David Merin.)
Now do you see what I mean?
(Photo courtesy of David Merin.)
Online etymology dictionary
The Online Etymology Dictionary has been around quite a while, but I've only just come across it. Ten minutes ago, in fact. Browse alphabetically or search for specific words, related words, or only natural language terms - if you have even a passing affection for words, you'll find it hard to leave. Hats off to Douglas Harper for putting it together.
So much for misanthropy
The Discovery Channel has a beautiful new ad out. Given the crap that's happening in the world - and is likely to keep happening - it's actually quite refreshing to take a moment to look at this little planet of ours in a positive light.
Is it just me though or is that an orca and not a great white? Anyway - I love the arachnid guy. And Stephen Hawking joining in is just cool.
Is it just me though or is that an orca and not a great white? Anyway - I love the arachnid guy. And Stephen Hawking joining in is just cool.
Things you didn't know you didn't know
The Bad Astronomer's at it again with a great post called Ten Things You Didn't Know About the Milky Way Galaxy. I actually did know a few of those things, but certainly not all. I can do little more than look at stuff like this in absolute wonder. We know so much and yet everything we learn simply points to how much we have yet to find out. If there's anything I feel any sort of reverence for, it's that spirit of inquiry that makes us explore everything from galaxies to the tiniest, microscopic organisms that inhabit our world, just to find out what makes them tick.