January 2011
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“McFarlane says this is typical of how the British walk. In America, he says,...”
– Stuart Jeffries quoting Robert McFarlane in WG Sebald: Darkness on the edge of Anglia in The Guardian.
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Herman Melville Lists Your Beard
In order, in two chapters of White Jacket:
beards
the crop
suburbs of the chin
homeward-bounders
fly-brushes
long, trailing moss hanging from the bough of some aged oak
love-curls
Winnebago locks
carroty bunches
rebellious bristles
redundant mops
yellow bamboos
long whiskers
thrice-noble beards
plantations of hair
whiskerandoes
nodding harvests
viny locks
the fleece
fine...
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“The modern world has transformed the suit’s interior. Pockets for train and bus...”
– Men’s clothing: Suitably dressed - from The Economist’s article on the history of the suit in its Christmas double issue.
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“As I stare at my Twitter stream, I don’t feel like I’m staring at anything more...”
– The Automated Web & Us (via krislane)
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Anti-Attribution Tumblrs: A Complaint
I’ve noticed a couple of Tumblr blogs recently that use images posted in the Text post type, rather than the Photo type. This is particularly annoying when you’re trying to determine image attribution.
Generally I run across them through ffffound. Here’s an example: it’s a nice picture, but I want to credit it more thoroughly than just linking to the blog on which everyone...
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“I’m still not a huge fan of links on Twitter. Most of the time I’m checking it...”
– Joanne McNeil on Twitter.: The Blog in 2011: More Pictures, More Words at Tomorrow Museum.
For what it’s worth, this is my feeling, too, but she’s right: the world has decided Twitter is the best link (and photo) propagation medium out there, and they’re probably right.
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“So what is the truth? Astrology is based on the four seasons, not on...”
– Expert astrologers debunk the latest astrological rumor (via iamdanw)
I look forward to the forthcoming posts from “expert astrologers” explaining that the Greek for “star writing” in fact means “nonsense based on the seasons”.
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“As I put it last night: Feminist Hulk would never exist on Facebook — it’s...”
– Skud, in Keeping the Internet weird (and pseudonymous) at Infotropism
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“Private road travel increased by 10% nationwide, whereas London completely...”
– diamond geezer comparing London transport statistics from 2000 and 2010.
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Mapfaves
jerakeen: I was all thrilled when straup faved my flickr shapefile pictures
jerakeen: now I see he's just faving around anything with a map, the dirty slag.
blech: so quotable.
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“With no information in [Customer Information Services], the boards were empty....”
– John Bull in How Do You Solve A Problem Like Southeastern? at London Reconnections (via iamdanw).
The post explains why the train operator had so many problems both with snow, and with getting their updated timetable to their customers. It’s well worth reading.
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Permanence, Discoverability, and Control
I stumbled upon this post by quietbabylon, called “For Sufficiently Small Values of ‘Permanent’”, which I’ve chosen to sum up with these paragraphs:
Anil Dash’s post is about the importance of putting your clever/important ideas in a medium other than Twitter. Quick summary: There are a lot of good ideas in circulation on Twitter, but if you don’t put them somewhere like a blog,...
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“You may be interested to know that in 2 years time one London bus route will...”
– A letter by an anonymous TfL employee in 2009, quoted in How London buses are numbered. Hurrah for the 24.
(Having said that, Wikipedia claims the route debuted in 1910 and was changed to its current route in 1912, citing the London Magazine.)
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Why Use Tumblr?
Last month, I spent a few minutes with a colleague who didn’t understand what the attraction of Tumblr was. Later on, I posted an answer to a question on Quora, “If you have a blog and use Twitter why use Posterous and/or Tumblr too?” That answer more or less summarises the appeal, so here it is, crossposted out to something I have slightly more control of, and slightly edited...
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Smells Like Photo Spirit
Tom: I assume I'll also have to download this gig of iPhoto again.
Paul: How much is iPhoto standalone?
Tom: 9 quid.
Paul: Bargain.
Tom: It's hung in the background and has pegged my CPU. That's how I know it's iPhoto.
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“Sensible people should never even see the word “gym” without...”
– Zoe Williams argues that the gym is a genius con we should be ashamed to fall for in The Guardian.
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“By now, only a few people refuse to understand that youth protests aren’t a...”
– Giuliano Amato, an economist and former Italian prime minister, quoted in the New York Times: Lack of Jobs in Southern Europe Frustrates the Young.
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“A recent poll revealed that the Jubilee line is London’s favourite route on the...”
– Jubilant on the Jubilee, based on a survey by YouGov (via iamdanw).
It’s sad to see the Victoria line drop, but they are introducing new rolling stock. I’m not at all surprised to see the H&C and Circle do so badly, though.
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“It’s quite common to be served a cup or a pot of water, well off the boil,...”
– Christopher Hitchens: How to make a decent cup of tea, following George Orwell’s golden rules in Slate.
The saddest thing about this paragraph for me is that, with the spread of Starbucks, Costa, Caffe Nero and their ilk, the same sentiment applies in London as much as it does here. At least...
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“Bresson shot because he needed to shoot. Many of his photos weren’t developed...”
– Craig Mod in his Panasonic Lumix 14mm f2.5 Lens Review — Seeing Prime.
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