Tuesday various

  • Well this is disheartening:

    “Legitimacy has shifted to the side of the climate skeptics, and that is a big, big problem,” Ben Stewart, a spokesman for Greenpeace, said at the meeting of environmentalists here. “This is happening in the context of overwhelming scientific agreement that climate change is real and a threat. But the poll figures are going through the floor.”

  • Know what’s not going through the floor? Vegetables grown upside-down, that’s what. (And how’s that for segues?)
  • Two words: zombie astronauts. The auction has ended, but the dream lives on forever.
  • Though I think maybe too much of the Internet is devoted to Super Mario Bros. — I know, heresy! — this study of in-game camera movement was surprisingly interesting and something I had never once considered before. [via]
  • And finally, I have to say, ItsJustSomeRandomGuy has really outdone himself with his 100th video:

“Nothing is less real than realism.”

As part of a Mother’s Day present, we spent the weekend in Washington, D.C., where the Phillips Collection is hosting a special exhibit of Georgia O’Keefe’s artwork through May 10th. The title of this post is actually taken from a quote by O’Keefe, who wrote:

Nothing is less real than realism — details are confusing. It is only by selection, by elimination, by emphasis that we get the real meaning of things.

My mother is a fan of O’Keefe’s work, so my sister got purchased six tickets, with her husband and his mother joining us as well. (Of course, the museum didn’t actually check our tickets when we entered the special exhibit, but that’s another story.)

It was nice, even if it did mean we had to leave New York around 6:30 Saturday morning, and even if my mother isn’t feeling particularly great now, on Mother’s Day proper. (I’m hoping it’s just a stomach bug and a fleeting one at that.) We had a nice visit, and the weather was particularly pleasant all the time we were there.

It’s surprisingly cold and windy in New York for this time of year, and I’m mostly just watching some television, like this week’s fun but silly episode of Doctor Who (I’m worried they may be laying on the “big bad silence is coming” bit a little too thick, but if nothing else Matt Smith continues to really amuse and impress me.) I actually did this week’s Sunday New York Times crossword on my iPad in the car ride home — along with reading a fair amount of Kaleidotrope slush — and if that alone isn’t a good enough reason to have bought one…well, okay, it’s probably not, but it is easily one of my favorite apps so far, enough that I purchased the year-long subscription.

Anyway, it’s back to work tomorrow. I fear I managed to make this weekend sound less interesting than it was, but it’s been a long one, with a long car ride home, and I’m a little tired.

Happy Mother’s Day, everyone!

Tuesday various

Tuesday various

  • New research suggests that reading cuts stress levels by 68%. Clearly these researchers have never tried reading Dan Brown or Going Rogue. [via]
  • New research also suggests that food portions have grown significantly larger in depictions of the Last Supper over time. [via]
  • Ever wonder what those ISBNs mean? We have several different ISBN prefixes at work, having purchased and integrated other publishing companies in recent years, and it’s often quite helpful to be able to tell at a quick glance where a book originated from. [via]
  • Are strong female characters bad for women? [via]
  • And finally, Ken Jennings on Gotham City’s museums, banks, and storefronts:

    Maybe I just don’t understand all the challenges that come with running a business in Gotham. It’s true that this is a place with a weird, weird economy. How does one city support five hundred abandoned amusement parks and toy factories?