The Internet Imagined in 1969

≡ Category: Life, Technology |2 Comments

The gender stereotypes might be backward-looking (we’ll make up for it later in the day), but the technological vision is on the mark, right down to email, e-commerce and online banking. Of course, these weren’t the only people imagining an electronic, connected world during the 1960s. In 1964, the futurist Arthur C. Clarke peered into [...]

The Instant Mongolian Home

≡ Category: Life |1 Comment

The nomadic people of Mongolia don’t stay put very long. They’re always on the move. They travel light. And they build a yurt, their home away from home, wherever they go. The yurt (or “ger” as they call it) takes but an hour to build — something that Daniel Grossman (National Geographic) and Julia Kumari Drapkin [...]

The Top Five Regrets of the Dying

≡ Category: Life |Leave a Comment

A little food for thought. The Guardian talked with a palliative nurse who has recorded the most common regrets of the dying. It’s worth giving the top five regrets a read, especially if you’re at risk of ending up in the same penitent place. Here, the nurse lists the misgiving most commonly cited by men: [...]

Stephen Fry: The Secret Life Of The Manic Depressive

≡ Category: Life, Science |3 Comments

In the mid-1990s, Stephen Fry, the British actor and comedian, had a moment of crisis. He recalled in 2006: Eleven years ago, in the early hours of the morning, I came down from my flat in central London. I went into my garage, sealed the door with a duvet I’d brought and got into my [...]

Madeline 365: A Year in the Life

≡ Category: Art, Life |Leave a Comment

Remember Jeff Harris? He’s the photographer who has documented every day of his life with a self-portrait since 1999. Now meet Madeline Schichtel, a young production assistant living in LA. She recorded her daily life in 2011 with a Canon Powershot, then edited each day down to a meaningful one-second shot, creating the video montage “This is [...]

Life in 4,748 Self-Portraits

≡ Category: Art, Life |Leave a Comment

It started simply enough in 1999. Jeff Harris, a photographer based in Toronto, took his first self-portrait, something he has since repeated every day. His visual diary now amounts to 4,748 photos and they tell a very personal story. They show the passing of time, some fairly normal moments, but also some difficult ones. In November [...]

Audrey Hepburn’s Screen Test for Roman Holiday (1953)

≡ Category: Film, Life |6 Comments

When you think of Audrey Hepburn, you think of Roman Holiday, the 1953 film that launched her career. How can you forget Hepburn as Princess Anne? Originally, the part was written for Elizabeth Taylor, then a major star. But something happened during the casting that changed all of that. In his biography of Ms. Hepburn, the author Barry [...]

John Lennon Sums Up Elvis, Yoko & Howard Cosell in One Word

≡ Category: Life, Music |2 Comments

In 1976 a youthful fan named Stuart sent John Lennon a six-page list of questions. The former Beatle responded with answers, along with a child-like drawing of a lamb standing on a cloud, saying, “Hi Stuart.” Stuart wanted to know a few things, like what sort of album Lennon was working on. “Until it’s been [...]

Pickin’ & Trimmin’ in a Down-Home North Carolina Barbershop: Award-Winning Short Film

≡ Category: Life, Music |2 Comments

Pickin’ & Trimmin’ is a documentary short film from 2008 profiling “The Barbershop” in Drexel, North Carolina, where Lawrence Anthony and David Shirley have barbered for decades, and where bluegrass musicians have jammed in the back room every weekend. Directed by Matt Morris, the award-winning film showcases the people and atmosphere of a small community in rural [...]

RIP Christopher Hitchens: Stephen Fry Pays Tribute, Hitch Rejects the Deathbed Conversion

≡ Category: Life, Politics, Religion |4 Comments

18 months after being diagnosed with oesophageal cancer, the polemical writer Christopher Hitchens has died at the age of 62. His fans began to fear the worst last month when Hitchens, suddenly hospitalized with pneumonia, couldn’t attend a widely-publicized debate in London. The promoters of the event, Intelligence², quickly turned the debate into a celebration of Hitchens’ life. [...]

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