Parks Are For Everyone
This article from The Atlantic about the history of London's private parks opening to the public during WWII is fascinating. In the early 1940s, in the name of the war effort, the British government ordered citizens to tear down the tall, black railings that surrounded London's many private gardens. Cast iron barriers were cut from all the city's exclusive parks, supposedly bound for munitions factories and then, in another form, to the Continent. George Orwell hailed the removal as a "democratic gesture." Formerly private gardens like Russell Square spent several years during the war open to everybody. At the Read more…
Nature Is Magical, Exhibit A
Fast forward this video to the 1:40 minute mark for the good stuff. [vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/47138207 w=500&h=283] This just made me happy. An HD camera, a torpedo with a GPS guidance system … and a pod of dolphins. Voila! A long shot from inside the pod like no one's every filmed before. From Kottke.
I can’t say enough nice things about Tana French’s Irish mystery novels
Tana French is a fabulous mystery author. Her books are moody, atmospheric, and page-turners. In order, they are: In the Woods, The Likeness, Faithful Place, and Broken Harbor, which came out last week. They all stand alone, but they probably should be read in order, due to her shifting narrators. A character that first appears in the first book narrates the next book; a character in the second book narrates the third book, etc. So there is a nice progression of character development as you get to know the Dublin Murder Squad: Rob, Cassie, Frank, and Scorcher. French clearly loves Read more…
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