Book Note!

Akata Warrior, the long awaited sequel to

is out tomorrow (Oct. 3rd)! I’m happy dance all over, I adore Nnedi Okorafor’s books, and I loved Akata Witch*. All the characters are wonderful, as is their bond of friendship and their often prickly relationship with their mentors. When Akata Witch ended, Sunny was left with a direct communication from her grandmother, Ozoemena, and both she and Orlu decided they weren’t quite ready for second level. It left me wanting, very much, to follow along with the four friends, and now I’ll be able to do so.

*Some highly unimaginative people have called this book the Nigerian version of Harry Potter, or somesuch idiocy. Frankly, I think that’s an insult to Ms. Okorafor, who has one of the most splendid imaginations, and weaves real history and beliefs seamlessly into her worlds, and they bring Nigerian culture into a beautiful blossom, one that would be familiar to many, and a grand learning experience for others, like myself. Akata Witch is brimming with sly humour, intelligence, and heart.

From Riches to Rags: A Money Story.

Midas, Transmuting all into Paper, James Gillray, 9 March 1797.

In 1820 a satirical pamphlet called ‘Satan’s Bank Note’ appeared on the streets of London. Accompanied by a woodcut engraving of five men being executed with the devil sitting on the gallows, the pamphlet offered a biting commentary on the epidemic of forgery trials that had broken out in Britain in the years following the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The anonymous author lays the blame entirely at the door of the Bank of England and its biggest debtor, the government of the day:

Near London’s ’Change there is a house,
(To name it I’m unwilling)
Where RAGS are sold, and for each Pound
John Bull gives twenty shillings.

George Cruikshank Bank Restriction Note, published 1819. © Bank of England Museum.

Very interesting reading!

Brewery Biosensors.

Just stay clear of their claws. Fredlyfish4/CC BY-SA 4.0.

There are an endless number of decisions that a brewer can make about a beer recipe, but one ingredient—water—seems like it should be an afterthought. But even for the most basic, cheap beers, brewers pay a lot of attention to water chemistry. If it’s too alkaline, or full of minerals and other contaminants, it will impact the flavor of the final product. So they carefully test their water sources to make sure they’re good enough—and now one brewery in the Czech Republic has hired some tiny new employees to take over this task. They’re paid in food. Because they’re crayfish.

[…]

At the Protivin Brewery—brewers of the Platan family of beers—Reuters reports, they can show whether water pumped from a local natural source is safe to use. Five of the clawed arthropods have infrared sensors mounted on their backs that monitor their heart rates and movement. A portion of the water headed for the brew kettle is diverted to their tank, and if three or more of the crayfish have elevated heart rates, or start moving around a lot, a computer will tell brewers within three minutes that there’s a problem.

The brewery is working with scientists from the University of South Bohemia to develop this biosensor system, which they plan to continue upgrading. Cameras that can monitor the crayfishes’ hearts are a planned addition. The system remains experimental, so brewers still have to monitor water quality in a lab.

Anything in the name of a good beer! Via Atlas Obscura.

Cats on a Tram.

Screenshot from Short Trip (courtesy Alexander Perrin).

Short Trip is an interactive illustration in which you drive a tram for cats as it rumbles up and down the hand-drawn mountains. It’s a peaceful and lovingly designed experience that only lasts a few minutes, yet the attention to detail, from the sound to the sketched trees and turning windmills, is transporting.

Why cats? Australian artist Alexander Perrin was inspired both by his mother’s passion for cats, and his own feline companion in sketching the characters that populate Short Trip.

[…]

Short Trip is planned to be the first by Perrin in a collection of interactive illustrations. This inaugural edition is available to play for free (donations are welcome) on both his site and Itch.io. With all the stress in the world, it is a respite of calm, with birds chirping in the background as the cats leisurely prowl their scenic environment. As Perrin stated, “I suppose cats feel right to support the tramway as they never seem to have a necessary destination, they just move to wherever seems pleasant at the time.”

You can read and see more at Hyperallergic.

Well Said.

Jacob Worrell: As a former “troop”, I give you permission to kneel during the National Anthem. And I give myself permission to give the finger to any asshole who invokes the dead bodies of my brothers and sisters to shut down dissent. Want to honor their sacrifice? Make fewer dead bodies.

It’s a fucking flag. It’s a fucking song. If you don’t like it, change the fucking channel and slap another yellow ribbon on the back of your jeep. #VeteransForKaepernick

Jacob Worrell: No holding back on this one. Public profanity is warranted.

Sunday Facepalm: Vox Day, Comic Saviour.

Vox Day, screengrab.

Get those palms ready for some facin’, people. Whatever you do, no headdesking, you’ll kill yourself. Vox Day has decided to rescue comics from the horrible SJW hell they have become, because everyone hates them, and besides, Vox is sure he has hit on the perfect way to make all us lefties wail and gnash our teef.

Beale told his fans that major comic makers are “methodically, purposefully, absolutely attempting to destroy every value—every American value, every Western value, every Christian value that they can get their hands on” by creating spinoffs of popular comic series that depict classic characters as black, female and Muslim. Beale’s answer to that perceived attack is to fund the creation of a comic series that features “triggering” white characters that smoke cigarettes, wear Confederate flag costumes and combat left-wing protesters.

Hmmm. Well, I smoke, so I don’t think that will press the trigger. Every day, there are photos of assholes wandering about in Nazi regalia and waving confederate flags, and I haven’t swooned yet. I have an idea this won’t work the way ol’ Vox thinks it will, especially as us lefties aren’t exactly in the market for asshole comix.

The series promises “storylines, not social justice” and revolves around a collection of superhuman heroes that defy a United Nations “Superhuman Protection Council” and act as vigilante crime fighters who apparently use their rogue status to target undocumented immigrants and left-wing protesters.

Ooooh, gotta say, that’s right…boring.

What I found the most interesting was the idea that anything short of an undefined “success”, which as we all know will be redefined and re-redefined as Alt⭐️Hero meets with the usual metrics of success over time, is tantamount to “sad humilation”. Think about how twisted one’s psyche has to be to make that connection, and what a crushing fear of failure one would have to have in order to think that way.

That is the heart of the SJW, which is not only terrified of failure, but is terrified that someone, somewhere, will be successful doing something of which the SJW does not approve.

Of course, SJWs have good reason to be terrified of Alt⭐️Hero. Because they know they are the true villains and the enemy in the cultural war.

Hahahahaha oh my. I’m afraid sad puppy Vox is setting himself up for  sad humiliation. (I have no idea if humiliation is the same thing as humilation, someone can ask Vox for me.) Is everyone ready?

You can read much more at RWW.