…the Utne Reader of environmental blogs, though the phrase the folks there use is “traveling blog carnival”. This month’s “issue” is posted at Perceiving Wholes.
They should have seen it coming
No, really. A Princeton lab geared towards studies of ESP will be shutting down after nearly 30 years of research. (NYT: “A Princeton Lab on ESP Plans to Close Its Doors,” by Benedict Carey [Feb 10, 2007])
Posted by Ben on February 13, 2007
https://www.swordbilled.com/they-should-have-seen-it-coming/
In which the phrase “Hemingway look-alike” comes up in totally the wrong context
Yeah, I was surprised, too. A trailing headline at the foot of an article on the Book Standard boldly shouted “Florida man wins Hemingway look-alike contest”. Except that the link is defunct, and doesn’t actually lead to an article describing the contest in all its certain hilarity. So I did a search on Yahoo! News… […]
Posted by Ben on February 13, 2007
https://www.swordbilled.com/in-which-the-phrase-hemingway-look-alike-comes-up-in-totally-the-wrong-context/
So an elephant walks up to a black hole…
Space-time paradoxes involving elephants, black holes and, yes, Alice. Also a baseball encyclopedia. (NewScientist: “The elephant and the event horizon,” by Amanda Gefter [Oct 26, 2006])
Posted by Ben on February 11, 2007
https://www.swordbilled.com/so-an-elephant-walks-up-to-a-black-hole/
And the blood-red something… did you get a pencil?
“Pitch ‘n’ Putt with Joyce ‘n’ Beckett” pretty much says it all. Though don’t take my word for it.
Posted by Ben on February 11, 2007
https://www.swordbilled.com/and-the-blood-red-something-did-you-get-a-pencil/
All awake, all the time!
An article in NewScientist from a whiles back details society’s progression towards 24-hour alertness, how it’s happening, what it means. (Not that anybody knows, exactly.) We seem to be moving inescapably towards a society where sleep and wakefulness are available if not on demand then at least on request. It’s not surprising, then, that many […]
Posted by Ben on January 29, 2007
https://www.swordbilled.com/all-awake-all-the-time/
Stealing Ethics
Of philosophy books at academic libraries, ethics books are more likely to be stolen than non-ethics books. Or, borrowed pending their comprehension? The Splintered Mind provides a slightly more comprehensive analysis of the phenomenon than you’d expect to find, probably. (originally by way of Bookslut; Splintered Mind: “Still More Data on the Theft of Ethics […]
Posted by Ben on January 25, 2007
https://www.swordbilled.com/stealing-ethics/
Books in Review, 2006
As is usually the case, I slogged through a few handfuls of non-fiction written to various levels of quality and a bunch of imaginative, curious fiction that sometimes didn’t work. Bland but bloody The Brothers Bulger was horrendously written, but was a quick and fascinating read. Stacy Horn’s The Restless Sleep, a book on NYC’s […]
Posted by Ben on January 9, 2007
https://www.swordbilled.com/books-in-review-2006/
How to make friends and impress people: sabrage
First by knowing the word, and second by actually being able to do it. Yeah. Good luck with that.
Posted by Ben on January 5, 2007
https://www.swordbilled.com/how-to-make-friends-and-impress-people-sabrage/
Relatively Mild
Outside there’s a whorl of green, leaves being ripped from trees and carried in the wind. It’s relatively mild, all things considered; if this is what someone had told me the End of the World would be like, I wouldn’t have believed it. Where’s the chaos? Where are the looters? I still don’t believe it, […]
Posted by Ben on January 4, 2007
https://www.swordbilled.com/relatively-mild/