http://www.clusterflock.org thoughts, questions, original art and content and links to stuff we think is of interest; a group blog dedicated to pretty much everything. by people you would like to meet at a party; proof of intelligent life on the planet; inhabited by Internet hunter gatherers in the pre-apocalyptic realm; a destination that offers constellations of stimulating links to popular (and not so popular) culture; a group blog dedicated to culture: art, design, music, food, architecture, science, travel, movies, books, typography, politics, etc.; inclusive of geezers!; a delightful mixture of orange words and pictures of well, the insides of a stuffed animal–delightful all the same; the social network I never thought I’d join. Wed, 23 Jul 2008 20:56:48 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Squintina Tabby -- Licensed dealer in Tea [detail]. (Pen and grisaille drawing heightened with gouache.) One of the three variations on this drawing known to exist. [Beatrix] Potter's aunt and uncle owned a cat called Squintina (Squinty). Dated to about 1895, as a publishing firm adapted the picture that year for ... http://www.clusterflock.org/2008/07/licensed-dealer-in-tea-for-cooper.html When I first experienced 2001 (in the huge Cinerama theater on Broadway), I guessed that the effect of HAL dying simply had to have been done on an Eltro machine, or a close copy of one. By absurd coincidence, I was an engineer in NYC who may have had the ... http://www.clusterflock.org/2008/07/wendy-carlos-on-hal-9000.html From the ticker: "McCain credits Bush for recent $10-a-barrel drop in oil price." But of course he didn't blame him for any of the rise in that price.  The story notes that McCain believes it is the psychological effect of Bush's lifting the ban on offshore drilling that did the trick--in ... http://www.clusterflock.org/2008/07/one-way-gate-of-praise.html of Cindy's upcoming birthday, I present to you Cake Wrecks should you require examples of How Not. "Happy" Birthday Cindy will not do. http://www.clusterflock.org/2008/07/in-anticipation.html John McWhorter, a man who I often disagree with as much as I respect, critiques the Academy's standard perspective on Hip Hop: McWhorter argues. Far from being truth-tellers, he says, so-called “conscious” rappers recycle endless clichés and conspiracy theories about inner-city blight, the drugs trade and Aids. Instead of generating a ... http://www.clusterflock.org/2008/07/a-true-public-intellectual.html http://www.clusterflock.org/2008/07/the-future-comic-sans-6.html And these are just the A words: Astorgy is the lack of natural affection when it would normally be present. Accismus is an insincere refusal of a thing that is desired. Agathokakological means made up of both good and evil. http://www.clusterflock.org/2008/07/reading-the-oed.html What we have now: It has fewer pages than three years ago, the paper stock is thinner, and the stories are shorter. There is less foreign and national news, less space devoted to science, the arts, features and a range of specialized subjects. Business coverage is either packaged in an increasingly ... http://www.clusterflock.org/2008/07/the-changing-face-of-the-american-newspaper.html http://www.clusterflock.org/2008/07/the-high-heel-race-in-moscow.html The PD Slide Rule, thankfully, is protected by Creative Commons not Copyright. (via Austin Kleon) http://www.clusterflock.org/2008/07/public-domain-slide-rule.html