anglepoised stream

Slowly, agonizingly, humans learned how the universe worked, abandoning most of the fanciful beliefs...

Wed, 22 May 2013 09:52:56 +0100

Slowly, agonizingly, humans learned how the universe worked, abandoning most of the fanciful beliefs they carried through their long, dark loneliness. This included belief in—

the divine right of egotistical kings,
the mental incapacity of women,
the idea that a wise state knows all,
the idea that the individual is always right,
the sick-sweet addiction that transforms a doctrine from a mere model of the world into something sacred, worth killing for.

Brightness Reef, David Brin.

"Here comes the Royal Family now. The automobile has now stopped…. Oh, there’s the King..."

Sat, 18 May 2013 11:06:00 +0100

“Here comes the Royal Family now. The automobile has now stopped…. Oh, there’s the King — he’s stepping out, followed by her Majesty Queen Elizabeth, nattily attired in a silver coat. Mr. King is now shaking hands with the King and introducing Mr. Queen to the King and Queen and then Mrs. Queen to the Queen and King. They are now proceeding up the steps to the well-decorated City Hall, the King and Mr. King together with the Queen being escorted by Mrs. Queen. The King has now stopped and said something to Mrs. Queen and goes to Mrs. Queen and the Queen and Mr. King and the Queen laughed jovially. The King leaves Mr. King and goes to Mrs. Queen, and the Queen and Mr. King follow behind…”

- From CBC Radio report of the 1939 visit of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth to Winnipeg, where they were greeted by Prime Minister Mackenzie King and Winnipeg Mayor John Queen and Mrs. Queen.

Royal Moments in Broadcasting

A set of then/now merges for the Newington Green/Highbury area.

Fri, 10 May 2013 10:16:19 +0100

A set of then/now merges for the Newington Green/Highbury area.

Carl Craig - Frustration

Wed, 08 May 2013 15:41:04 +0100

Carl Craig - Frustration

Recondite - Tie In

Mon, 06 May 2013 12:33:10 +0100

Recondite - Tie In

"The measure of (mental) health is flexibility (not comparison to some ‘norm’), the freedom to learn..."

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 09:45:26 +0100

“The measure of (mental) health is flexibility (not comparison to some ‘norm’), the freedom to learn from experience … to be influenced by reasonable arguments … and the appeal to the emotions … and especially the freedom to cease when sated. The essence of illness is the freezing of behavior into unalterable and insatiable patterns.”

- Sun Diver, David Brin.

Isolée - Démon

Wed, 17 Apr 2013 16:54:00 +0100

Isolée - Démon

Cannibal Ox - “Gases In Hell” (Inhale).

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 04:25:00 +0100

Cannibal Ox - “Gases In Hell” (Inhale).

"‘Like’ is the placeholder emotion. Don’t give the world more shit people..."

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 13:06:56 +0100

“‘Like’ is the placeholder emotion. Don’t give the world more shit people ‘like’.”

- Constellation Games, Leonard Richardson.

"All of us that grew up under Thatcher were taught that it is good to be selfish, that other..."

Wed, 10 Apr 2013 12:32:00 +0100

“All of us that grew up under Thatcher were taught that it is good to be selfish, that other people’s pain is not your problem, that pain is in fact a weakness and suffering is deserved and shameful. Perhaps there is resentment because the clemency and respect that are being mawkishly displayed now by some and haughtily demanded of the rest of us at the impending, solemn funeral are values that her government and policies sought to annihilate.”

- Russell Brand: Remembering Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s Unmaternal National Matriarch (via notes.husk.org).

Photo

Tue, 09 Apr 2013 18:27:37 +0100

MunrOverground Map

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 08:25:20 +0100

MunrOverground Map

Kraftwerk denied China visa over 1999 Free Tibet concert The...

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 16:16:00 +0000

Kraftwerk denied China visa over 1999 Free Tibet concert

The festival has replaced Kraftwerk with the British pop band Travis. “I can’t say we are 100% confident with Travis as headliners,” Zang Keyu, Modern Sky’s director of performance and operations, told the state-run Global Times newspaper. “But it’s a fact we have to accept.”

What Major World Cities Look Like at Night, Minus the Light...

Sat, 30 Mar 2013 09:18:49 +0000

What Major World Cities Look Like at Night, Minus the Light Pollution

Another Studio - MONUmini Post Office Tower

Wed, 27 Mar 2013 14:03:00 +0000

Another Studio - MONUmini Post Office Tower

"Never before have human beings so benefited from membership in a sagacious, scientific, and..."

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 14:52:28 +0000

“Never before have human beings so benefited from membership in a sagacious, scientific, and increasingly virtuous civilization. Wisdom flowers and spreads… even as does silliness. Like the absurd assertion (repeated ad nauseam by left and right) that wisdom hasn’t grown! A damnable outright lie. This is a bona fide renaissance, threatening to make everything better, in all ways. A renaissance that must find every potentially lethal error and hence, ironically, benefits from endless criticism. Helpful, vigorous criticism—but not chic-cynical despair.”

- Existence, David Brin

"In some people, a hedonic gratification pattern can be achieved simply by entering certain frames of..."

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 14:50:00 +0000

“In some people, a hedonic gratification pattern can be achieved simply by entering certain frames of mind. For example, the cyclical jolt from gambling can be a genuine addiction, requiring as much effort to break as cocaine or kicx. Habitual thrill seekers, video game potatoes, and Wall Street “wizards” have all been shown to follow similar patterns. Once aboard the roller-coaster, they cannot let go. One mild version can be seen in those riveted to spectator sports… and then there are the indignation junkies. People who regularly get high off self-righteousness and sanctimony. You know the kind—we all do.”

- Existence, David Brin

The Future Sound of London - The Far-Out Son of Lung and the...

Thu, 21 Mar 2013 09:14:07 +0000

The Future Sound of London - The Far-Out Son of Lung and the Ramblings of a Madman

Japanese Telecom - Japanese Animation

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 07:19:54 +0000

Japanese Telecom - Japanese Animation

"There were times when she wanted to say: Get down on your knees! Be grateful! A billion people..."

Sat, 16 Mar 2013 07:16:48 +0000

“There were times when she wanted to say: Get down on your knees! Be grateful! A billion people living on a dollar a day, as many who can’t find clean drinking water, you live in a country where there is a promise to feed, clothe, shelter and doctor you, from the moment of your birth to the moment of your death, for free, where the state won’t come and beat or imprison you or conscript you, where the life expectancy is one of the longest in the world, where the government does not lie to you about Aids, where the music is not bad and the only bad thing is the climate, and you find it in yourself to complain about parking? Woe, woe! Down on your knees in gratitude that you can even notice this minor irritation! Praise God for the fact that you resent getting this ticket, instead of rending your clothes with grief because you lost another child to dysentery or malaria! Sing hosannas when you fill out the little green form in the envelope stuck to your windshield! For you, you of the deservedly punished five-minute overstay, you of the misinterpreted residents’ bay area, you of the ignored Loading Only sign, are of all people who have lived the most fortunate!”

- Capital, John Lanchester