C'è stato un solo Cary Grant. Perché? Chi era o meglio cosa c'era di così unico in quest'uomo?
Money quote: "Over the course of his long career, Grant fixed standards of what it meant to be “debonair” and “a man about town” — everything he did, on screen and off, seemed inflected with panache and grace. Or, as my professor from undergrad used to sum him up: “The man knew how to wear clothes.” Indeed he fucking did."
https://medium.com/the-hairpin/scandals-of-classic-hollywood-cary-grants-intimate-bromance-e00033754c49
Money quote: "Over the course of his long career, Grant fixed standards of what it meant to be “debonair” and “a man about town” — everything he did, on screen and off, seemed inflected with panache and grace. Or, as my professor from undergrad used to sum him up: “The man knew how to wear clothes.” Indeed he fucking did."
https://medium.com/the-hairpin/scandals-of-classic-hollywood-cary-grants-intimate-bromance-e00033754c49
Medium
Scandals of Classic Hollywood: Cary Grant’s Intimate Bromance
Here is the simple truth about Cary Grant: he was the best and most important actor of the last hundred years. He didn’t reinvent acting like Brando, he didn’t fatten himself up like Robert De Niro…
Lo Straniero di Albert Camus e la difficoltà di tradurlo in inglese.
Money quote: "First impressions matter, and, for forty-two years, the way that American readers were introduced to Meursault was through the detached formality of his statement: “Mother died today.” There is little warmth, little bond or closeness or love in “Mother,” which is a static, archetypal term, not the sort of thing we use for a living, breathing being with whom we have close relations. To do so would be like calling the family dog “Dog” or a husband “Husband.” The word forces us to see Meursault as distant from the woman who bore him."
https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/lost-in-translation-what-the-first-line-of-the-stranger-should-be
Money quote: "First impressions matter, and, for forty-two years, the way that American readers were introduced to Meursault was through the detached formality of his statement: “Mother died today.” There is little warmth, little bond or closeness or love in “Mother,” which is a static, archetypal term, not the sort of thing we use for a living, breathing being with whom we have close relations. To do so would be like calling the family dog “Dog” or a husband “Husband.” The word forces us to see Meursault as distant from the woman who bore him."
https://www.newyorker.com/books/page-turner/lost-in-translation-what-the-first-line-of-the-stranger-should-be
The New Yorker
Lost in Translation: What the First Line of “The Stranger” Should Be
For the modern American reader, few lines in French literature are as famous as the opening of Albert Camus’s “L’Étranger”: “Aujourd’hui, …
Quando la creative non-fiction diventa fantascienza: cronache dalla pancia del videogioco online (e poi c'è gente che si chiede perché esiste Twitch)
Money quote: "In theory, anything can happen in EVE Online, but some things are considered impossible. Well, last month, one of the “impossible” things happened: The destruction of the game’s first-ever Keepstar battlestation, which was kept in a wormhole. Of course, it took 11 months of meticulous planning.
Ever since the massive Keepstars, the largest structures that can be created by EVE players, were put into the game in 2016, they have lost the sense of perceived invulnerability that they once enjoyed. Over the two years, more than 30 of the extremely expensive structures have been destroyed. But the first-ever Keepstar endured, thanks to its location: Deep in the heart of a wormhole, the most inhospitable space that EVE Online has to offer."
https://kotaku.com/the-year-long-undercover-plot-to-blow-up-eve-onlines-m-1831574442
Money quote: "In theory, anything can happen in EVE Online, but some things are considered impossible. Well, last month, one of the “impossible” things happened: The destruction of the game’s first-ever Keepstar battlestation, which was kept in a wormhole. Of course, it took 11 months of meticulous planning.
Ever since the massive Keepstars, the largest structures that can be created by EVE players, were put into the game in 2016, they have lost the sense of perceived invulnerability that they once enjoyed. Over the two years, more than 30 of the extremely expensive structures have been destroyed. But the first-ever Keepstar endured, thanks to its location: Deep in the heart of a wormhole, the most inhospitable space that EVE Online has to offer."
https://kotaku.com/the-year-long-undercover-plot-to-blow-up-eve-onlines-m-1831574442
Kotaku
The Year-Long, Undercover Plot To Blow Up EVE Online's Most Notorious Space Station
In theory, anything can happen in EVE Online, but some things are considered impossible. Well, last month, one of the “impossible” things happened: The destruction of the game’s first-ever Keepstar battlestation, which was kept in a wormhole. Of course, it…
Ogni tanto torna fuori, anche perché la gente continua a commentare la recensione che la (ora ex) moglie di Jeff Bezos, MacKenzie, ha scritto di un libro che raccontava la storia di Amazon, polverizzandolo
Money quote: "One of the biggest challenges in non-fiction writing is the risk that a truthfully balanced narration of the facts will be boring, and this presents an author with some difficult choices. It may be that another telling of the Amazon story—for example, that people at Amazon have no secret agenda they’ve been able to keep hidden for 19 years, really do believe in the mission they keep repeating, and are working hard and of their own free will to realize it —would strike readers as less exciting than the version offered here. I sympathize with this challenge. But when an author plans to market a book as non-fiction, he is obliged to find a suspenseful story arc that doesn’t rely on mischaracterizing or avoiding important parts of the truth. I am grateful this is the era of the Internet, when characters in non-fiction can step out of books, as Jonathan Leblang and Rick Dalzell have done, and speak for themselves. Ideally, authors are careful to ensure people know whether what they are reading is history or an entertaining fictionalization. Hollywood often uses a more honest label: “a story based on true events.” If authors won’t admit they’ve crossed this important line, their characters can do it for them."
https://www.amazon.com/review/R2I0T26SV0ELPP/
Money quote: "One of the biggest challenges in non-fiction writing is the risk that a truthfully balanced narration of the facts will be boring, and this presents an author with some difficult choices. It may be that another telling of the Amazon story—for example, that people at Amazon have no secret agenda they’ve been able to keep hidden for 19 years, really do believe in the mission they keep repeating, and are working hard and of their own free will to realize it —would strike readers as less exciting than the version offered here. I sympathize with this challenge. But when an author plans to market a book as non-fiction, he is obliged to find a suspenseful story arc that doesn’t rely on mischaracterizing or avoiding important parts of the truth. I am grateful this is the era of the Internet, when characters in non-fiction can step out of books, as Jonathan Leblang and Rick Dalzell have done, and speak for themselves. Ideally, authors are careful to ensure people know whether what they are reading is history or an entertaining fictionalization. Hollywood often uses a more honest label: “a story based on true events.” If authors won’t admit they’ve crossed this important line, their characters can do it for them."
https://www.amazon.com/review/R2I0T26SV0ELPP/
Uno dei punti principali delle startup è avere almeno due fondatori, altrimenti gli investitori non investono. L'idea è che un neo-imprenditore da solo non ce la possa fare. E invece, c'è chi dice di sì
Money quote: "In their recent working paper "Sole Survivors: Solo Ventures Versus Founding Teams," Greenberg and Mollick show that “companies started by solo founders survive longer than those started by teams.”"
http://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/2-founders-are-not-always-better-1
Money quote: "In their recent working paper "Sole Survivors: Solo Ventures Versus Founding Teams," Greenberg and Mollick show that “companies started by solo founders survive longer than those started by teams.”"
http://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/2-founders-are-not-always-better-1
MIT Management Sloan School
2 founders are not always better than 1
Team superiority is a myth.
Un tizio che si occupa della parte più laboriosa degli orari e biglietti dei treni: la parte internazionale
Money quote: "Train travel is a more rewarding, low-stress alternative to flying, which brings us closer to the countries we visit and reduces our contribution to climate change. It's time to rediscover the pleasure, romance & adventure of travel by train or ship. This site explains how to travel comfortably & affordably by train or ferry where you might think air was now the only option. For help with train travel, ask the Man in Seat 61"
https://www.seat61.com/
Money quote: "Train travel is a more rewarding, low-stress alternative to flying, which brings us closer to the countries we visit and reduces our contribution to climate change. It's time to rediscover the pleasure, romance & adventure of travel by train or ship. This site explains how to travel comfortably & affordably by train or ferry where you might think air was now the only option. For help with train travel, ask the Man in Seat 61"
https://www.seat61.com/
Seat61
The Man in Seat 61 - for train travel
How to travel by train from the UK to any country in mainland Europe, within Europe & around the world...
Il vero miracolo della maternità a quanto pare è il papà...
However, there is one aspect of human behaviour that is unique to us but is rarely the focus of these discussions. So necessary is this trait to the survival of our species that it is underpinned by an extensive, interrelated web of biological, psychological and behavioural systems that evolved over the past half a million years. Yet, until 10 years ago, we had neglected to try to understand this trait, due to the misguided assumption that it was of no significance – indeed, that it was dispensable. This trait is human fatherhood, and the fact that it doesn’t immediately spring to mind is symptomatic of the overwhelming neglect of this key figure in our society."
https://aeon.co/essays/the-devotion-of-the-human-dad-separates-us-from-other-apes
However, there is one aspect of human behaviour that is unique to us but is rarely the focus of these discussions. So necessary is this trait to the survival of our species that it is underpinned by an extensive, interrelated web of biological, psychological and behavioural systems that evolved over the past half a million years. Yet, until 10 years ago, we had neglected to try to understand this trait, due to the misguided assumption that it was of no significance – indeed, that it was dispensable. This trait is human fatherhood, and the fact that it doesn’t immediately spring to mind is symptomatic of the overwhelming neglect of this key figure in our society."
https://aeon.co/essays/the-devotion-of-the-human-dad-separates-us-from-other-apes
Aeon
The marvel of the human dad
Among our close animal relatives, only humans have involved and empathic fathers. Why did evolution favour the devoted dad?
Alla fine, una certezza rimane: anche la pubblica amministrazione americana è una capra a gestire i dati della gente
Money quote: "“The total number and current status of all children separated from their parents by [the Department of Homeland Security] and referred to ORR’s care is unknown,” the report reads. It lists the “lack of an existing, integrated data system to track separated families” as a central obstacle to reunification."
https://www.wired.com/story/oig-report-trump-separated-children-border/
Money quote: "“The total number and current status of all children separated from their parents by [the Department of Homeland Security] and referred to ORR’s care is unknown,” the report reads. It lists the “lack of an existing, integrated data system to track separated families” as a central obstacle to reunification."
https://www.wired.com/story/oig-report-trump-separated-children-border/
Wired
How the Feds Failed to Track Thousands of Separated Children
Ad hoc systems and haphazard databases made the Trump administration’s cruel border separation policies somehow even worse.
Ecco a voi il numero di questa domenica di Mostly Weekly (l’email segue tra qualche ora)
https://antoniodini.com/weekly/145/
https://antoniodini.com/weekly/145/
Mostly Here
~145
La doppia vita degli scrittori e altre storie
Pensiamo ai pulsanti che vogliamo e non vogliamo premere. Che dobbiamo e non dobbiamo premere. Pensiamo alla società moderna.
Money quote: "This distaste for buttons, combined with a nostalgia for a pre-button past and a belief that action involved directed contact with the world, continued to bubble up in popular discourse well into the 1900s. In the story The ‘Push-the-Button Man’ (1924) by Frank Dorrance Hopley, the protagonist, Carey, begins by being enamoured with the prospect of sitting behind a desk and pushing buttons all day to command others to do his work, but ultimately he has to excise buttons from his life to reclaim it through a dramatic act of anti-button sabotage"
https://aeon.co/essays/what-would-a-world-without-pushbuttons-look-like
Money quote: "This distaste for buttons, combined with a nostalgia for a pre-button past and a belief that action involved directed contact with the world, continued to bubble up in popular discourse well into the 1900s. In the story The ‘Push-the-Button Man’ (1924) by Frank Dorrance Hopley, the protagonist, Carey, begins by being enamoured with the prospect of sitting behind a desk and pushing buttons all day to command others to do his work, but ultimately he has to excise buttons from his life to reclaim it through a dramatic act of anti-button sabotage"
https://aeon.co/essays/what-would-a-world-without-pushbuttons-look-like
Aeon
What would a world without pushbuttons look like? | Aeon Essays
From elevators to iPhones, the rise of pushbuttons has provoked a century of worries about losing the human touch
Camminare fa bene, molto molto bene. Parola di James Joyce (tra gli altri).
Money quote: "What is it about walking, in particular, that makes it so amenable to thinking and writing? The answer begins with changes to our chemistry. When we go for a walk, the heart pumps faster, circulating more blood and oxygen not just to the muscles but to all the organs—including the brain. Many experiments have shown that after or during exercise, even very mild exertion, people perform better on tests of memory and attention. Walking on a regular basis also promotes new connections between brain cells, staves off the usual withering of brain tissue that comes with age, increases the volume of the hippocampus (a brain region crucial for memory), and elevates levels of molecules that both stimulate the growth of new neurons and transmit messages between them."
https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/walking-helps-us-think
Money quote: "What is it about walking, in particular, that makes it so amenable to thinking and writing? The answer begins with changes to our chemistry. When we go for a walk, the heart pumps faster, circulating more blood and oxygen not just to the muscles but to all the organs—including the brain. Many experiments have shown that after or during exercise, even very mild exertion, people perform better on tests of memory and attention. Walking on a regular basis also promotes new connections between brain cells, staves off the usual withering of brain tissue that comes with age, increases the volume of the hippocampus (a brain region crucial for memory), and elevates levels of molecules that both stimulate the growth of new neurons and transmit messages between them."
https://www.newyorker.com/tech/annals-of-technology/walking-helps-us-think
The New Yorker
Why Walking Helps Us Think
Since at least the time of Greek philosophers, many writers have discovered a deep, intuitive connection between walking, thinking, and writing.
L'ultima storia del Professionista - il mio articolo per Fumettologica
https://www.fumettologica.it/2021/12/obiettivo-sconosciuto-segretissimo-di-marino/
https://www.fumettologica.it/2021/12/obiettivo-sconosciuto-segretissimo-di-marino/
Fumettologica
L'ultima storia del Professionista
Su Segretissimo c'è Obiettivo sconosciuto, l'ultima storia del Professionista di Stefano Di Marino, scomparso il 6 agosto di quest'anno.
Quello della circoncisione è un tema sensibile, se mi permettete il gioco di parole. È legato a pratiche religiose e supposte pratiche igieniche ma è sostanzialmente una forma di mutilazione rituale dei genitali maschili dettata dalla superstizione e dal pregiudizio. La rappresentazione simbolica (il patto di Abramo, se si guardano le ragioni della mutilazione in Occidente) non è un modo valido per nobilitare una pratica dettata dalla superstizione religiosa.
È fede? No, è mutilazione di neonati (e non solo neonati) pura e semplice. Tanto che l'altra corrente che cerca di dare un fondamento giustificatorio alla circoncisione, soprattutto negli Usa, è un igienismo altrettanto abietto.
Quella che segue è una storia di protesta all'interno del solco dell'ortodossia (il New Yorker non è esattamente un giornale di militanza comunista) che cerca di far emergere la contraddizione della piccola mutilazione genitale maschile ritualizzata. Non ci riesce, ma è un buon tentativo.
Money quote: "Most poorly performed circumcisions stem from two misjudgments on the part of the circumciser: either too much or too little foreskin is removed. In my case, it was too little (and, one might add, given that I was seven years old instead of the eight days prescribed by the Torah, too late). After the infection had subsided, the shaft of my penis was crowded by a skyline of redundant foreskin that included, on the underside, a thick attachment of skin stretching from the head to the shaft of the genital, a result of improper healing that is called a skin bridge. A small gap could be seen between this skin bridge and the penis proper. In texture and appearance, the bridge reminded me of the Polly-O mozzarella string cheese that got packed in the lunchboxes of my generation. It produced no pain on its own after the infection had died down and the two years of difficult urination were over, but the strangeness of my penile appearance—and the manner in which it was brought about—became lodged in my consciousness."
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/10/11/a-botched-circumcision-and-its-aftermath
È fede? No, è mutilazione di neonati (e non solo neonati) pura e semplice. Tanto che l'altra corrente che cerca di dare un fondamento giustificatorio alla circoncisione, soprattutto negli Usa, è un igienismo altrettanto abietto.
Quella che segue è una storia di protesta all'interno del solco dell'ortodossia (il New Yorker non è esattamente un giornale di militanza comunista) che cerca di far emergere la contraddizione della piccola mutilazione genitale maschile ritualizzata. Non ci riesce, ma è un buon tentativo.
Money quote: "Most poorly performed circumcisions stem from two misjudgments on the part of the circumciser: either too much or too little foreskin is removed. In my case, it was too little (and, one might add, given that I was seven years old instead of the eight days prescribed by the Torah, too late). After the infection had subsided, the shaft of my penis was crowded by a skyline of redundant foreskin that included, on the underside, a thick attachment of skin stretching from the head to the shaft of the genital, a result of improper healing that is called a skin bridge. A small gap could be seen between this skin bridge and the penis proper. In texture and appearance, the bridge reminded me of the Polly-O mozzarella string cheese that got packed in the lunchboxes of my generation. It produced no pain on its own after the infection had died down and the two years of difficult urination were over, but the strangeness of my penile appearance—and the manner in which it was brought about—became lodged in my consciousness."
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/10/11/a-botched-circumcision-and-its-aftermath
The New Yorker
A Botched Circumcision and Its Aftermath
The constant discomfort of a genital injury creates a covenant of pain. It is impossible to think about anything else.
David Pogue, che è uno dei più famosi giornalisti tech americani (anche se con una traiettoria molto, molto particolare) si scopre che da grande voleva fare il compositore. Ed è finito a dare lezioni di computer a Stephen Sondheim in cambio di un po' di tempo per farsi rivedere il lavoro dal maestro.
Money quote: "Finally, Sondheim lived by the adage, "Be willing to kill your darlings." That means, if you have a line, or a song, or even an entire show that's not working, you've gotta be willing to throw it out, no matter how much you love it."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lessons-from-stephen-sondheim-the-teacher/
Money quote: "Finally, Sondheim lived by the adage, "Be willing to kill your darlings." That means, if you have a line, or a song, or even an entire show that's not working, you've gotta be willing to throw it out, no matter how much you love it."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/lessons-from-stephen-sondheim-the-teacher/
Cbsnews
Lessons from Stephen Sondheim, the teacher
Correspondent (and pianist) David Pogue remembers the advice given him by the musical theater giant.
Sono ipnotizzato dal video di questo pesce che ha la testa completamente trasparente e gli occhi dentro, per poter vedere da più parti grazie anche alla bioluminescenza. Favoloso e stranissimo.
Money quote: "Thousands of feet beneath the surface of Monterey Bay off California, scientists recently captured footage of a fish with a bulbous, translucent head and green orb-like eyes that peer out through its forehead."
https://lifeboat.com/blog/2021/12/bizarre-transparent-fish-that-sees-through-its-own-head-captured-in-rare-footage
Money quote: "Thousands of feet beneath the surface of Monterey Bay off California, scientists recently captured footage of a fish with a bulbous, translucent head and green orb-like eyes that peer out through its forehead."
https://lifeboat.com/blog/2021/12/bizarre-transparent-fish-that-sees-through-its-own-head-captured-in-rare-footage
Lifeboat
Bizarre Transparent Fish That Sees Through Its Own Head Captured in Rare Footage
Thousands of feet beneath the surface of Monterey Bay off California, scientists recently captured footage of a fish with a bulbous, translucent head and green orb-like eyes that peer out through its forehead.
This bizarre creature, known as a barreleye…
This bizarre creature, known as a barreleye…
"Spider-Man: No Way Home", la mia recensione per Fumettologica con polemica finale con chi organizza le anteprime per la stampa
https://www.fumettologica.it/2021/12/spider-man-no-way-home-recensione-film/
https://www.fumettologica.it/2021/12/spider-man-no-way-home-recensione-film/
Fumettologica
"Spider-Man: No Way Home", la recensione
"Spider-Man: No Way Home" è un gran film, che parla della perdita, della memoria e. del desiderio di vendetta.
Vertical Walking è una singolare ma intrigante soluzione di mobilità verticale per persone anziane o parzialmente disabili.
Money quote: "Vertical Walking is a new system to move yourself between floors in a building. By exploiting the potential of the human body and materials, only a fraction of effort is required, compared to taking stairs. No external energy is needed.
Following presentation at the Venice Architecture Biennale, various trials with people like Jannie (see video), and research with medics and academics, Vertical Walking is developing as a solution that can help a growing population of people to live independently at home, as well as to provide healthy exercise and a great sense of pleasure and quality of life."
https://www.vertiwalk.com/
Money quote: "Vertical Walking is a new system to move yourself between floors in a building. By exploiting the potential of the human body and materials, only a fraction of effort is required, compared to taking stairs. No external energy is needed.
Following presentation at the Venice Architecture Biennale, various trials with people like Jannie (see video), and research with medics and academics, Vertical Walking is developing as a solution that can help a growing population of people to live independently at home, as well as to provide healthy exercise and a great sense of pleasure and quality of life."
https://www.vertiwalk.com/
"Diabolik" è un film lento ma ben riuscito - la mia recensione per Fumettologica
https://www.fumettologica.it/2021/12/diabolik-film-recensione/
https://www.fumettologica.it/2021/12/diabolik-film-recensione/
Fumettologica
"Diabolik" è un film lento ma ben riuscito
Il "Diabolik" dei Manetti Bros. è un gran film ma con un suo passo, decisamente non frenetico, che può prendere in contropiede.
Il popolo più ubriacone di tutti? È quello australiano. Brutto record
Money quote: "The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education chief executive, Caterina Giorgi, said the statistics were “concerning”, and that a clear picture of the impact of harmful alcohol use during the pandemic was only just emerging.
“Australia tops the world in both the number of times people report getting drunk and in seeking emergency medical treatment for alcohol … Both of those indicators suggest people are drinking at fairly risky levels,” she said."
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/dec/03/risky-levels-australia-is-the-drunkest-country-in-the-world-new-survey-finds
Money quote: "The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education chief executive, Caterina Giorgi, said the statistics were “concerning”, and that a clear picture of the impact of harmful alcohol use during the pandemic was only just emerging.
“Australia tops the world in both the number of times people report getting drunk and in seeking emergency medical treatment for alcohol … Both of those indicators suggest people are drinking at fairly risky levels,” she said."
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/dec/03/risky-levels-australia-is-the-drunkest-country-in-the-world-new-survey-finds
the Guardian
‘Risky levels’: Australia is the drunkest country in the world, survey finds
While French drank most times a week, Australians surveyed got drunk an average of 27 times a year, almost double the global average
Come avrete notato nel mio canale e nella mia newsletter non ci sono link con referral. C'è una sola cosa però che raccomando, mettendoci la faccia: il backup cloud del mio computer fatto con BackBlaze. Sempre quello: ve lo ripropongo adesso, tra Natale che arriva e la fine dell'anno che seguirà tra poco (è il momento ideale per occuparsi di queste cose, no?) perché c'è una promozione notevole: tre anziché uno!
BackBlaze è a pagamento ma con il mio referral di solito avete un mese di prova gratuito e poi, se vi abbonate, uno anche io. In questo caso invece se vi abbonate vi danno altri due mesi gratuiti, come me. Cioè lo usate gratuitamente per tre mesi.
Il backup serve e BackBlaze è ottimo. Vivamente consigliato! Ripeto, ci metto la faccia e me lo pago da anni di tasca mia con convinzione.
https://secure.backblaze.com/r/01ti3i
BackBlaze è a pagamento ma con il mio referral di solito avete un mese di prova gratuito e poi, se vi abbonate, uno anche io. In questo caso invece se vi abbonate vi danno altri due mesi gratuiti, come me. Cioè lo usate gratuitamente per tre mesi.
Il backup serve e BackBlaze è ottimo. Vivamente consigliato! Ripeto, ci metto la faccia e me lo pago da anni di tasca mia con convinzione.
https://secure.backblaze.com/r/01ti3i