We do it #ForTheCultrs
Like a salve for the soul, Dom Griffin came through with his 2022 film review and it’s a long one (yay!) In it, he covered everything from Avatar: The Way of Water to, and I quote, “a very special film called DOGFACE: A TRAPHOUSE HORROR“. Definitely watch the review and then go watch that film right after, I guess!
The cherry blossom (or sakura), is a species of flower mostly found in East Asia. However, it is mostly associated with Japanese culture and is considered the national flower.
Today marked the first cherry blossom forecast of the year, conducted by the Japan Meteorological Corporation. They base their forecasts and maps on specific “index trees”, usually the most common in particular regions. For example, Tokyo’s index tree can be found in Yasukuni Shrine.
About 1,000 Yoshino cherry trees nationwide from Hokkaido to Kagoshima are forecasted to bloom and be in full bloom this year. The forecast dates for flowering and full bloom at all locations, as well as flowering meters that show the growth process of cherry blossoms, are posted on the general weather site “Otenki Navigator.” The next announcement is scheduled for 1/26.
(via n-kishou.com)
According to reports, Tokyo is expected to see the earliest blooms nationwide, on March 22nd, followed by Fukuoka on the 23rd, Nagoya on the 25th, and Osaka on the 28th (source). The earlier blooms are likely due to climate change which has effected blooming dates for years.
Grammarphobia got a question about the use of the word “man” by people referring to each other during the Jazz Era to counter the belitting use of “boy”, and whether it originated before that. The answer: yes.
[…] In fact, the usage dates back to Anglo-Saxon days, though its sense has evolved over the years.
When the usage first appeared in Old English, it was “used to address a person (usually a man, but sometimes a woman or child) emphatically to indicate contempt, impatience, exhortation, etc.,” according to the Oxford English Dictionary.
The dictionary’s earliest example, which we’ve expanded, is from the “Vercelli Homilies,” 23 prose homilies in the Vercelli Book, an anthology of prose and poetry probably collected in the late 10th century but originating earlier:
“cwæð sanctus ysodorus, geþence nu ðu, man, & ongyt gif ðu sylf þe nelt alysan þa hwile þe ðu miht” (“Saint Isidore said, ‘Now think, man, and consider if you don’t want to release yourself [from a sinful life] while you can”).
Damn, man! Ain’t language fascinating?
Apparently this is common knowledge but not to me. In Batman Returns, Michael Keaton wore custom Air Jordan 6’s when he played the Caped Crusader.
Designed by Tinker Hatfield and debuted the same year filming commenced, it was the sneaker that Mike was wearing during his crusade to his first elusive NBA Championship. At the same time, the Caped Crusader was kicking ass in Gotham, leaving Jumpman sole prints on the chest of Max Shreck’s goons. For filming, Nike did up the basketball shoes in a murdered-out colorway for Michael Keaton, and added some Batman-level armor north of the tongue for wen you had to fight crime at 5, but had a pickup game at six.
Though we’ve seen a few black Jordan 6s over the years, we’ve never quite gotten a pair that’s dedicated to the film. Alas, Batman’s version of the Air Jordan 6 was never released to the public, though over the years some of the shoes used in the film have surfaced. In 2015, a single right shoe sold on eBay for a whopping $8,100.
(via House of Heat)
Sneaker related: MJ vs. MJ and the fall of LA Gear
(via Randy Cruz on Twitter)
I found this amazing work of art by Julio Lacerda on Twitter. It depicts bug Pokémon from the Kanto region in the style of an entomology diagram chart. When I asked him what inspired the poster, he said “I just love vintage scientific illustrations in this style” which is all you need, honestly.
Check out Julio’s Etsy store and all the products featuring this poster.
American contemporary artist Daniel Arsham has been touring his Pokémon collab exhibit, “A Ripple in Time”, over the last year and his next stop is China, specifically Shanghai K11 Shopping Art Center.
Arsham uses pyrite, selenite, crystal, and bronze in his statues, breaking elements to show their crystalline insides; almost like a Bizarro kintsugi. iMedia asked if it was kawaii and for some, it’s a no:
A fan who came to check in on the first day of the opening told the reporter, “I saw the exhibition in Tokyo online before, and I found it very interesting. It is quite different from the previous Pokémon image, but I think it is not cute. After traveling through the millennium , maybe this is what Pokémon really look like.”
(via Jing Daily and iMedia)
I asked my Twitter followers this question, after spending 3 hours watching a news channel:
if you were stuck in a room for 24 hours with a TV and no remote, means of switching it off, or way of leaving before your time ran out, what is the worst channel you could be stuck with?
And this is what they said:
Any news channel.
Kuma Gold (tweet)
The news channel
Or a sports channel, especially if its replying old games
Billie Geena (tweet)
I could live with news, but please not Sky News. Or needless to say something like Fox. But horseracing or golf would be awful too.
Daragh Nener-Lally (tweet)
Dave
Cassie Graves (tweet)
Any shopping channel!
Dave Jones (tweet)
ITV
Daniel Carmen (tweet)
I’d smash the screen.
Golf or some other sport.
Iman (tweet)
News channel would literally send me into a pit of despair after 24 hours
Verena Hallam (tweet)
I guess the news channels win (or lose?)
Think of this as a lite version of a root beer float. Vanilla ice cream is replaced by whipped vanilla cream and the root beer is initially poured into an ice cube tray to freeze before blending. My kind of frosty one.
Root beer related: That time on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine when Garak drank root beer
A cool video called “Skate”, directed by Charles Bergquist and filmed in San Diego, California, showing a trio of skateboarders in slow motion. It’s interesting to see every intricacy of the most fundamental tricks.
Jeffrey Henson Scales is a photographer from San Francisco and in his latest book, In a Time of Panthers: Early Photographs, he visually explores the early days of the Black Panther Party.
Here’s an excerpt from the blurb:
Few photographers had the insider access Oakland native Jeffrey Henson Scales did around the Black Panther Party in the late 1960s. Capturing intimate portraits and protest images of the organization and its leaders in a time of societal upheaval, Scales archive lay dormant and forgotten for some 50 years. Then in 2018, when his mother died and the contents of the family home were sorted, the negatives were discovered. Fast forward to today’s national racial justice dialogues, the death of several Black men at the hands of police and vigilantes, and the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, “A new urgency to these images and the original Civil Rights Movement takes root in context of today’s ongoing struggle for racial justice,” Scales said about the trove of historical material. “These images serve as a time capsule of sorts, not only of my adolescence and political awakening, but also for the country whose ongoing struggle with racial inequality, police brutality and resistance is as urgent and timely as ever.”
It’s good to see a broader look at the Black Panthers, especially from its origins. The party was—and is—so much more than one figure or one murderous federal organisation.
Lillian Stone discussed the differences between root beer and sarsaparilla for The Takeout. The key distinction is where each drink comes from:
There’s a great scene in The Big Lebowski when Sam Elliott’s character inexplicably asks a bowling alley bartender, “You got a good sarsaparilla?” It’s an old-timey request, although it feels natural coming from Elliott’s brilliantly mustachioed mouth. The bartender passes him something that looks a lot like root beer—but isn’t. Ready for your cowboy lesson of the day? Here goes: While modern sarsaparilla and root beer have similar properties, they have very different origins.
Sarsaparilla has a rich history beyond hokey westerns and touristy roadside saloons. It was originally derived from the zarzaparrilla vine, which originated in parts of Central and South America.
[…]
Today’s root beer is almost interchangeable with sarsaparilla, but it wasn’t always that way. Root beer was originally derived from the sassafras tree, a member of the laurel family which is native to North America and parts of Eastern Asia.
The operative words in root beer’s origin is “originally derived”. Apparently, the sassafras tree creates a potentially toxic byproduct called safrole, which the FDA banned and now root beer makers use different flavour additives instead.
Back in 1996, A&W enlisted the help of Spider-Man to sell its root beer, with a cool colour changing mug for $4.95. I couldn’t find the mug on eBay but I did find the ad. Oh, and there was a commercial too (click on the image to see it).
“It’s vile!”
“I know. It’s so bubbly and cloying and happy.”
“Just like the Federation.”
“But you know what’s really frightening? If you drink enough of it, you begin to like it.”
“It’s insidious.”
“Just like the Federation.”
Scream VI is due for release on 10th March and in the run up, Paramount published this awesome subway poster on Twitter showing a map of all the franchise’s victims.
My New Year’s resolution? Travel more. #ScreamVI
Massimo Vignelli would have been so thrilled. Watch the trailer on YouTube.
Firstly, happy new year to you all. I hope 2023 is even more prosperous than 2022. If you’re a creative or a lover of the arts, today’s events might help with that.
1st January is Public Domain Day as I’ve documented in 2019, 2021, and 2022. This year, that means that certain works of art from 1927 become free of copyright in the US and available to the public to do what they want with it and without permission.
Below you will find a list of works from 1927 you might find interesting. As always, check works from any years prior to 1927 to make absolutely sure you follow any licence requirements (if there are any), particularly in other countries or regions (e.g. the EU) where copyrights may have been extended. And happy hunting!