10 non-work-related items that I found fun or interesting

via Arts and Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Graham Greene’s fearless travels in west Africa made his reputation as a literary explorer. But were his intrepid cousin, Barbara Greene, not at his side...more

New Evidence: Apparently, Castration Has Its Drawbacks
via Big Think by David Berreby
Carlo Maria Broschi, better known as Farinelli, was one of the most celebrated opera singers of all time, and the 18th century equivalent of a rock star (“One God and one Farinelli,” one lady cried out after he'd finished an aria). Handel courted him for years. Mozart sought him out.
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via Arts and Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Casanova made prodigious use of English frock coats, the "little preventive bag invented by the English to save the fair sex from anxiety"...more

via Arts and Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Conservatives love war, as long as it remains sublime in Edmund Burke’s sense, with the aura and mystery of violence, pain, and death held at a distance. Corey Robin explains...more

Joy Words via How-To Geek by Asian Angel
The object of the game is to create as many words as possible using a given set of letters. You will only have two and half minutes per round, so think fast!
Play Joy Words (allow plenty of time – not as addictive as some but …)
And while I’m talking about word games you are still playing freerice.com, the site that gives away grains of rice for each correct answer, aren’t you?
If you haven’t played for a while then note that there are now many more categories available to you – I just failed miserably to identify Moldovia as a blob on the map of Europe (got Mongolia correct, though)!

via Arts and Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
English may well be one of the biggest, most imaginative and attractive languages on the planet, but people just won't leave it alone...more
Book review is 18 months old but still worth reading!

via Arts and Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Youth genres - action, raunchy comedies, comic-book adaptations - have completely colonized Hollywood. How did this happen? Two words: Top Gun...more

Machu Picchu: The Incan Fortress in the Andes via Britannica dot com daily blog (better than a casual browse through the paper version!!)
High in Peru’s Andes Mountains, at an elevation of 7,710 feet (2,350 meters), Machu Picchu – the site of ancient Incan ruins – lay hidden away, known only to local residents, for centuries. That was, until July 24, 1911, when Yale University professor Hiram Bingham was led to the site by a local. In search of the “lost city of the Incas” (Vilcabamba, or Vilcapampa), Bingham was sure he had found it when he stepped foot into the narrow saddle between Machu Picchu (“Old Peak”) and Huayna Picchu (“New Peak”).

via Arts and Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
The deep future for humans looks grim. Only .01 percent of species that ever existed still do so. You think we're special?...more

via Arts and Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Banele Shabangu is scared. Rightfully so: A man in a mask is about to stick a needle into the base of his penis. Can circumcision save Swaziland?...more

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