Posts tagged “history”
We're terrible at predicting phase changes. We can iterate but not invent, which is why sci-fi spaceships have telephone wires. Like Babbage, we're already living in the future we can't quite see. Ubiquitous powerful computation will make today's smartphones look as primitive as hand-calculated logarithm tables.
I went to the inaugural concert and was completely blown away. Tuesday's inauguration will draw more people to the Mall than live in my entire home country.
Yes. Oh hell yes.
84,000 people showed up. That's not just a rally, that's a movement.
Reading "A Brief History of the Caribbean" revealed how little I knew about my own region. The Amerindian genocide, the staggering African slave mortality, Europeans dying by the thousands from malaria and yellow fever, and Trinidad's surprising socialist history under Eric Williams all caught me completely off guard. Highly recommended.
I love that weightless feeling in a decelerating elevator. Also: the Antikythera mechanism blows my mind. The ancient Greeks were thousands of years ahead of their time, yet their civilization collapsed while China's persisted. What happened? Someone explain European history to me.
The birthday party was a success, leaving the house a wreck. Cleaning consumed my day. The highlight of some disobediently-brought presents: a gorgeous circa-1930 illustrated guide to London, satisfying my history, London, and book geekery simultaneously, complete with wonderful period photos and charmingly earnest advice on crossing busy streets.
Saw *Downfall* and found it powerful, disturbing, and occasionally unbelievable -- though history itself is unbelievable. The director sacrifices some reality by softening its Nazi protagonists, but that emotional connection is what makes the story work. The dead silence in the cinema afterward said everything.
Quick trivia: the three original estates were clergy, nobility, and commoners. The press became the fourth estate in 1837. I'd never heard any of these terms before, and now I'm sharing them with you, ironically helping to kill journalism in the process.
Looked up the etymology of "racism" today. The concept of race didn't exist until around 1770, and the word "racism" wasn't coined until 1935, by the Nazis. Before that it was "racialism." Apparently discrimination was so normal it didn't need a name. Also, being a victim doesn't make you an expert.
Never forget.
The rule placing Election Day on "the first Tuesday after the first Monday" in November exists to avoid November 1st, which is both a Catholic holy day and the day merchants balanced their books. Big business and the religious right shaping US politics? Apparently a founding tradition.
Gorgeous retro futurism worth a look.
Been busy with real life lately. LindowsOS looks promising for my free-computer project. X-Men Evolution series 3 is fantastic and I'm still smitten with Nightcrawler. Also found a cool animation showing how US state boundaries changed through history.
Sierra Leone's ex-dictator is broke and living with his mum, which is funny enough. But the real kicker: the UN sent him to study law at my university, Warwick. I can't stop picturing a former military dictator at Top Banana.
September 11th. Everything has changed.
