Nepenthe

Found at Atlas Obscura : Pocket globes had been circulating since the 1600s, especially among sailors and students of cartography, write science journalists Betsy Mason and Greg Miller in their recent book,  All Over the Map: A Cartographic Odyssey .  At the time, cartographic works ran the gamut from erudite and accessible, both in content and price. Lavishly illustrated atlases and star charts were  designed for a lay audience , while comprehensive catalogues helped astronomers and navigators get more precise bearings. Cushee’s fell somewhere in between. Cushee didn’t need to be condescended to. Her edition was an improvement upon  one made by her late husband , Richard, a British surveyor, in 1731. Elizabeth updated Richard’s version to be in line with the cartographic knowledge of the time, Mason and Miller explain. She added arrows to mark the path of the trade winds, and attached California to the coast of North America (previously, it had floated as an ...

From The Paris Review : Walter Crane, Beauty and the Beast, 1875. We take the phrase “once upon a time” for granted, but if you think about it, it’s quite oddball English.  Upon a time —? That’s just a strange construction. It would be pleasant to know its history: When, more or less, does it get up on its legs? Around when does it become standard procedure? My researches into this question, however, have yielded nothing conclusive. Forget “upon a time.” Look at the “once.”  That  part really is standard from the beginning, and not only in English. Just this past weekend, I paged through fifteen volumes of the Pantheon Fairy Tale and Folklore Library, and I’m here to tell you: The word  once  is in the first sentence of almost every single folktale every recorded, from China to Peru. There is some law of physics involved. Folktales get right down to business, no fooling around. Once there was an old king who had two sons. Once there was a poor lace m...

Found at Crime Reads : The 1942 movie  Casablanca   begins with a voiceover: With the coming of the Second World War, many eyes in imprisoned Europe  turned hopefully, or desperately, toward the freedom of the Americas. Lisbon became the great embarkation point. Victor Laszlo (Paul Henreid) and Ilsa Lund (Ingrid Bergman) take that late night plane from Casablanca to Lisbon; Rick (Humphrey Bogart, or more informally, Bogey) and Captain Louis (Claude Rains) do not. In the final scene Louis suggests to Rick that they head for Free-French controlled Brazzaville—maybe they did. However, Michael Walsh’s imagined sequel,  As Time Goes By (1998) has Rick, Louis, and piano player Sam (Dooley Wilson in the movie), follow Victor and Ilsa to Lisbon and then on to London to resist the Nazis. Lisbon was the capital of neutral Portugal in World War Two. And is now a remarkable honeypot of intrigue and murder for crime writers looking for an extraordinary location. Li...

AS PORTAS QUE ABRIL ABRIU  Era uma vez um país  onde entre o mar e a guerra  vivia o mais infeliz  dos povos à beira-terra. Onde entre vinhas sobredos vales socalcos searas serras atalhos veredas lezírias e praias claras um povo se debruçava como um vime de tristeza sobre um rio onde mirava a sua própria pobreza. Era uma vez um país onde o pão era contado onde quem tinha a raiz tinha o fruto arrecadado onde quem tinha o dinheiro tinha o operário algemado onde suava o ceifeiro que dormia com o gado onde tossia o mineiro em Aljustrel ajustado onde morria primeiro quem nascia desgraçado. Era uma vez um país de tal maneira explorado pelos consórcios fabris pelo mando acumulado pelas ideias nazis pelo dinheiro estragado pelo dobrar da cerviz pelo trabalho amarrado que até hoje já se diz que nos tempos do passado se chamava esse país Portugal suicidado. Ali nas vinhas sobredos vales socalcos searas serras atalhos veredas lezírias e praias claras vivia um povo tão pobre q...

Obituary from The Guardian For more than 50 years,  Isao Takahata , who has died aged 82, played an instrumental role in forging the international reputation of Japanese animation. He was one of the two key figures behind Japan’s leading animation house, Studio Ghibli, which he co-founded in 1985 alongside  Hayao Miyazaki , and the director of such poignant works as the antiwar film  Grave of the Fireflies  (1988) and the Academy award-nominated  The Tale of the Princess Kaguya  (2013), based on a 10th-century folktale and realised in a style influenced by traditional Japanese ink-wash painting. Yet in contrast to the freewheeling and design-based approach of his more prolific colleague, Takahata never put so much as a pen to paper during the animation process. Nonetheless his sophisticated, character-driven animations explored a diverse range of themes and aesthetic styles, often confounding expectations as to what was possible within the medium. ...

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MULHER A mulher não é só casa mulher-loiça, mulher-cama ela é também mulher-asa, mulher-força, mulher-chama E é preciso dizer dessa antiga condição a mulher soube trazer a cabeça e o coração Trouxe a fábrica ao seu lar e ordenado à cozinha e impôs a trabalhar a razão que sempre tinha Trabalho não só de parto mas também de construção para um filho crescer farto para um filho crescer são A posse vai-se acabar no tempo da liberdade o que importa é saber estar juntos em pé de igualdade Desde que as coisas se tornem naquilo que a gente quer é igual dizer meu homem ou dizer minha mulher ARY DOS SANTOS

Did you know Kate was born on the exact same day and month as Emily Brontë, 140 years apart? The Master and Margarita,  Mikhail Bulgakov’s Russian satire about the devil and the Soviet Union, first by the Rollling Stones, then by Guns' n 'Roses - my favourite: The following text is from Billboard magazine . George Orwell’s legendary dystopian novel 1984  was the central thesis for Bowie’s 1974 glam rock album  Diamond Dogs . It’s present in tracks such as “Big Brother” and, of course, “1984.” It’s haunting, timely and ahead of its time -- just like the book it was inspired by. Led Zeppelin are hardly the only J.R.R. Tolkien nerds in rock n’ roll history (Rush certainly gives them a run for their money) but The Lord of the Rings  and The Hobbit  soundtracks could have very well been set to the sounds of “The Battle of Evermore,” “Misty Mountain Top,” and, of course, “Ramble On.” Gollum with that precious name drop from J...

From Mother Nature Network : Amphibians aren't exactly charismatic, but, somehow, the axolotl attracts a lot of attention from people who may normally get squeamish around frogs. Perhaps it's their goofy smile and cute little frills that disarm people. But these salamanders have a number of other special traits that may explain such keen interest all around, from scientists to conservationists to folks who just really love animals. 1. Axolotls stay 'babies' for their whole lives. Axolotls are neotenic creatures meaning they achieve sexual maturity without losing any of their larval features. So while many amphibians, like the salamander, will eventually develop lungs and head to land, axolotls keep their trademark feathery external gills and remain aquatic. This also means that their teeth never develop and that they must rely on a suction method to consume food. 2. Axolotls, however, can be given a little boost to become 'full' salama...

Amphibians are not often considered charismatic. The axolotl is different. With its ear-to-ear grin, pink feathery headdress of gills and frantic underwater dance, this amphibian has captivated generations of admirers. Once revered by Aztecs, today the axolotl appears in many forms. It is a symbol for Mexican national identity in anthropologist Roger Bartra’s book La Jaula de la Melancolia (The Cage of Melancholy); Mexican muralist Diego Rivera includes axolotl swimming near a male figure’s genitals—the center of creation—in his mural “Water, Origin of Life.” You may have heard of the axolotl because its image is so ubiquitous—and so, it seems, is it. Millions of the creatures thrive around the world. The axolotl is a popular pet, particularly in Japan, where they are bred so widely that they are also served deep-fried at some restaurants. They are also distributed so c...