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

via Arts and Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Arsenic and oatmeal. Until the mid-1800s, there was no such thing as a toxicology report. It was a golden age of domestic murder...more

How Technology Provides Us Personal Time via Big Think by Big Think Editors
With each new social networking tool introduced to your computer or mobile phone, it may seem like you have no time to yourself anymore. The reality is just the opposite, says Philip Bump: Social media can give others the illusion of busyness—declare your mountain … Read More

via Arts and Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Snobbery. Theodore Dalrymple admits that deep within he is a frightful snob, a man who can feel only contempt for people who regard the World Cup as important...more

The two cultures of the Czech Roma via Eurozine articles by Karolina Ryvolová
The 300,000 Roma in the Czech Republic are the frontrunners of a Europe that is struggling to become multicultural, writes Karolina Ryvolová. Their culture exceeds the poverty in which they live and has a richness and variety that stems from a different set of historical roots.
Read in full

via Arts and Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
In the wake of Wagner's achievement in Tristan und Isolde and Parsifal, the musical language that had been common property of Western composers fell into crisis...more

Project Nim: heartbreaking film on animal ethics, and academic arrogance via Boing Boing by Xeni Jardin
“I went to see the documentary Project Nim last night at the advice of a friend, and would like to recommend it to all who read Boing Boing. James Marsh (Man on Wire) directed. Be prepared to cry or require hugs afterwards. It’s in theaters throughout the USA now.
Read more and find links to the trailer and a clip from the film.

via Arts and Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
The agony of originality. Four thousand years ago, an Egyptian writer lamented his stale prose: “Would I had phrases that are not known.” If he was late to the party, what about us?...more

Fabric made from spider silk via Boing Boing by David Pescovitz
This 13-foot-long textile was woven from silk produced by more than a million Golden Orb spiders from Madagaskar. It's currently on display at the Art Institute of Chicago and moves to London’s Victoria and Albert Museum in January 2012. Read more

via Arts and Letters Daily – ideas, criticism, debate
Tour de France, 1956. Fiorenzo Magni fell, broke his collarbone and arm, kept pedalling – and finished second. To think: He wasn’t even doping...more

Turkish women, west German feminists, and the gendered discourse on Muslim cultural difference
via Eurozine articles by Rita Chin
As part of the 2003 European opposition to the Iraq war, Jürgen Habermas and Jacques Derrida issued a plea for a common European, writes Rita Chin. Yet this public naming of values effectively marked the line between Europe and its Muslim minorities.
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