Ilona Royce Smithkin, Improbable Muse in Fashion and Art, Dies at 101
Over at the New York Times is a obituary about Ilona Royce Smithkin who lived a unique life.
Faits Divers
Things that happen
Modern Times Playlist
Alan Chapman hosts Modern Times On Saturday nights between 10 and 12 P.M., on KDFC radio (and www.kdfc.com), Alan Chapman hosts Modern Times, his curation of modern “classical” music. I’ve been logging the titles played over the course of the last 18 months and present them here as a “Playlist” one can use to explore … [Read more…]
Roberto Calasso, Renaissance Man of Letters, Dies at 80
In the NY Times: Roberto Calasso, Renaissance Man of Letters, Dies at 80 A Florentine by birth, he was a polymath as an author and publisher (Kafka, Verdic philosophy, Greek mythology) who reached a wide international readership. In “The Art of the Publisher,” his reflections on his decades in publishing, Mr. Calasso was diffident about … [Read more…]
Yep, it’s bleak, says expert who tested 1970s end-of-the-world prediction
In the Guardian, Yep, it’s bleak, says expert who tested 1970s end-of-the-world prediction, A controversial MIT study from 1972 forecast the collapse of civilization – and Gaya Herrington is here to deliver the bad news
Paul Auerbach, pioneer of wilderness and disaster medicine, dies at 70
In a Washington Post obituary, accomplishments and life of Dr. Paul Auerbach, pioneer of wilderness and disaster medicine, are detailed. Even with his extensive training in medical emergencies, Dr. Auerbach was unprepared for the devastation he encountered when he volunteered to travel to Haiti to care for victims of the earthquake that struck the Caribbean … [Read more…]
Everyone should read this The 3 Simple Rules That Underscore the Danger of Delta
Everyone should read this From the Atlantic: The 3 Simple Rules That Underscore the Danger of Delta Vaccines are still beating the variants, but the unvaccinated world is being pummeled. By Ed Yong
Jon Hassell, avant-garde US composer, dies aged 84
A nice obituary, by Alexis Petridis on the Guardian for Jon Hassell, a musician who blew me away in 1980 with sounds I couldn’t categorize. I still can’t. as Eno put it, “one overriding principle in Jon’s work [was] that of respect – he looks at the world with all its momentary and evanescent moods … [Read more…]
Chad Kalepa Baybayan
Chad Kalepa Baybayan Seafarer Who Sailed Using the Stars, Dies at 64 He was a torchbearer for the celestial navigation art known as wayfinding, which ancestral Polynesian sailors used to navigate the Pacific Ocean. From a NYT obituary, May 15,2021
The humble shrub that’s predicting a terrible fire season
Over at Ars-Technia, an interesting view on “Chamise is kind of a crystal ball for understanding how badly California might burn. ” And nothing scares a fire weather scientist quite like a year with dehydrated chamise. If it’s dry, then that’s a good indicator that everything is dry. “Right now, these are the lowest April … [Read more…]
Names that Fit – The Aptonym
There are many people who have names which suit their occupations. Here is a short list I’ve found so far in 2021. There are others who have slipped by in the past but are unverifiable. According to Frank Nuessel, in The Study of Names (1992), an aptonym is the term used for “people whose names … [Read more…]