Bits and Bobs

Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend. Did anyone see any big fireworks displays for Guy Fawkes night? I live on the third floor of a house on top of a hill so I've had a pretty splendid view of dozens of fireworks displays all week.

- Photoshop can do some pretty terrifying things. But as long as photos have been around, there has been photo-manipulation. Here's an interesting article about the con-men who sold photos of ghosts.

- I love a good natural disaster film. This article discussing what would happen if ocean water was replaced with heavy water sounds like a Roland Emmerich film waiting to happen (although, with far more scientific accuracy).

- Can you guess which countries these Miss Universe contestants come from based on the always hilarious national costume round of the competition? I did freakishly well at this quiz and I'm not quite sure what that means about me.

- Here's an absolutely fascinating article looking at Nazis and medical science (not for the faint of heart).

- Every year everyone complains that Christmas is getting earlier and earlier. But apparently the Victorians campaigned about starting Christmas earlier as a worker's rights issue - starting your Christmas preparations earlier meant there wasn't a last-minute rush at the shops which ensured better working conditions for shop assistants.

- I love film score composer Hans Zimmer. Here's a really interesting interview where he talks about his favourite scores and the people he's worked with. I think it's great to have an insight into film-making from the composer's perspective since most interviews tend to focus on the director and actors.

- If you've recently seen the film Captain Philips but don't really know much about Somali pirates, you should give this article a read. For many people, partaking of piracy seems illogical considering the harsh penalties upon capture. But piracy is a multi-million dollar industry and money is a pretty strong incentive for young men in a country with a very young government and very poor economy.

- My home-town of Cambridge has apparently installed intelligent, glowing bike paths. Cool.

Bits and Bobs

It's been a while since I did a bits and bobs post (thanks to some pretty busy weekends) so I have loads of bits and bobs to share today. There's been lots of really interesting things about too - yay for high-quality journalism!

- A fascinating look at the woeful dirth of films about women. And speaking of women in films, here's an article looking at the newest incarnation of the Superman franchise and whether or not Lois Lane is a modern woman.

- The Atlantic tries to explain a mysterious mass extinction event.

- A woman shares her story about living with an adopted murderer in the family.

- Have you all seen the hilarious parody PSA about 'bitchy resting face'? If not, check it out immediately. And then read this great article about why women are expected to smile more. As someone who is frequently told by complete strangers to smile more when walking about minding my own business, this article resonated with me a lot.

- It has been pretty well established thus far that I am really into maps. Here's an awesome, hand-drawn map of the world depicting the adventures you can undertake in each country - it's like a cartographic bucket list.

- Here are some mind-blowing photos of space. I really want to check out this exhibition!

- The Guardian sheds some light on the atrocious ways that some ministers have been manipulating statistics recently.

Bits and Bobs

Here are some interesting things I've been reading this week...

- Bloomberg Businessweek have an interesting article about companies selling cheap solar panels in Africa to provide people with affordable electricity.

- I love books. Look at this stunningly beautiful bookshop in a former theatre in Buenos Aires. And then check out this list of the 25 most beautiful public libraries in the world. And then check out this list of the 25 most beautiful university libraries in the world. And then, perhaps, visit an actual library - the British Library sells amazing cupcakes...

- Here are some amazing photos of waves by photographer, Pierre Carreau. The stillness of the photos is eerily beautiful; they look like they've been sculpted from glass!

- As has been made abundantly clear on this blog before, I love maps. Check out these maps showing the massive variations in pronunciation and dialect across the US. I'd love to see something similar done for the UK which, despite being significantly smaller, probably has an equally diverse range of dialects. 

- This is an interesting article looking at the relationship between black women and their natural hair. It reminds me of Zadie Smith's wonderful book, White Teeth, which I devoured from cover-to-cover as a teenager. My favourite parts of White Teeth were always the ones about Irie, the daughter of an inter-racial marriage struggling with her identity while growing up in London. It's interesting to think about how much our physical appearance affects our identity and internal vision of ourselves

Bits and Bobs

Last weekend didn't have a 'Bits and Bobs' post because I had a pretty busy Bank Holiday weekend. So here's some interesting things I've read over the last two weeks...

- Here's some amazing photography of elements taken up close.

- About a month ago I wrote an article about the 'princess phenomenon' and how the problem with young girls looking towards princesses as role models isn't really a problem with princesses but with our narrow definition of what a princess is (pretty, quiet and acquiescent). The Atlantic has just published a similar article looking toward a more expansive definition of princess.

- The Guardian has a pretty interesting profile of J Crew Creative Director, Jenna Lyons.

- I loved this poignant piece in the New Yorker about memory and war.

- Reading this article about the psychology behind 'fat talk' was pretty eye-opening. I'm now very aware of how often my friends and I engage in this type of conversation and just how damaging it is.

- In the wake of the murder of Drummer, Lee Rigby, in Woolwich, the Wall Street Journal suggests a new way to look at fundamentalism and terrorism.

Bits and Bobs

Here are some interesting things I've read this week...

- The winners of the 2013 Sony World Photography Awards have been announced. Check out the winners for the various categories here. I think my favourite is Ilya Pitalev's in the Professional Current Affairs category (photo 8) - I like the juxtaposition between the discordant gaggle of school girls and the soldier standing ramrod straight.

- An interesting article looking at our differing perceptions of acts of terrorism vs. shootings.

- Want to be reminded of how awesome people can be? Check out this map of people expressing thanks for random acts of kindness in London.

- Hate terrorism but love trees? Read about the people planting trees in the Sahel to fight terrorism.

- To keep up with online competition, shops are turning to ever more sophisticated methods of collecting information on our shopping habits. The whole thing feels awfully Orwellian. Then again, is it so bad for shops to gauge customer tastes and preferences if they can then provide more desirable products or a better shopping experience?

- Here’s a discussion of a longitudinal psychology study looking at the factors contributing to personal happiness and lifelong wellbeing. It is probably one of the most fascinating articles I have read in a really long time. Some of the conclusions seem self-evident e.g. strong social relationships, more than wealth or intelligence, correlate to personal wellbeing. Other conclusions are a bit more surprising e.g. physical activity in college years is a greater predictor of mental health than physical health in later life. The article ends, of course, with a discussion of whether happiness is something that can be judged scientifically or medically. Beautifully summed in this quote: 

“Their lives were too human for science, too beautiful for numbers, too sad for diagnosis and too immortal for bound journals.” 

It’s a long article but definitely worth a read.

The Relationship Between Photographer and Subject Matter

I found these photographs of polluted landscapes by David Maisel absolutely captivating. There’s something hauntingly beautiful about the acrid colours and harsh lines.

But what I also found fascinating was a comment made by the photographer at the end of the article. Maisel explains that his photographs are not meant to be directly critical of any particular industry and points out that photography requires the very resource extraction and manufacturing that caused the pollution his work depicts. He admits that he’s “embedded in the subject matter of this work.”

I thought this was a really interesting idea – that artist and subject matter are not only linked but reinforce each other.