Cartoons: Putin's Press

While looking for an example of how Russian President Putin controls information in his country, I came across this interesting site--Trust.org, sponsored by Thomson Reuters Foundation.  An article found at Trust, "Russian court puts Putin foe under house arrest, bars Internet use," speaks of just one dissident's arrest but gives enough information to see the extent of Putin's control.

Now for the cartoons--

***

Michael Ramirez, US News

***

Dan Wasserman, US News

***

Jack Ohman, US News

***

Scott Stantis, US News

***

Paul Combs, US News

***

-- Marge

DIY: On-the-street survival

We hear a lot about how the middle class is shrinking and the rich are getting richer by the day, but what does that mean in terms of personal lives?  If the middle class is becoming poorer, then the poor are poorer yet, and some end up on the street, homeless.

The federal government and cities record the number of homeless--"Counting the homeless in America's poorest city," "Here's Why Homelessness Is Going to Get Worse in 2014," fund programs to help the homeless, and provide services.  But the numbers of people needing assistance is often greater than the services available.

So what does it feel like to be out on the street, not knowing where your next meal is coming from, and without the running water to even brush your teeth? Take a look at "7 Things No One Tells You About Being Homeless." If, on the other hand, you're interested in living off-grid and fully mobile, take a look at this word from the street, "Ultra fully mobile."

Here are some bits and pieces that offer to help with street survival; some should be taken with a grain of salt.

The Space at Tompkins offers an array of resources for the homeless in New York City.

***

Street person with friend, The Space at Tompkins

***

One of Tompkins' suggestions is a survival kit in an Altoids tin, which is fully described at Field & Stream's site. Note that the comments have some interesting things to say about it and survival kits in general.

***

Survival kit in an Altoids tin, Field & Stream

***

It follows (at least for me) that if you're homeless you may become a squatter. Lorraine Henning, who has/had a project at Indiegogo, has proposed a handbook, "A Practical Guide to Squatting." While she sometimes sounds like she's speaking tongue-in-cheek, she offers some interesting information.

Here are two sites that offer designs for emergency shelters.  While the designs seem to me impractical for a person without income or resources to implement them, they're still worth a look. There's The Tiny Life and HomeTone.

***

Encore Heureux and G studio, room-room, HomeTone

***

-- Marge

Organic Cities

My eye was caught the other day by this image at suckerPunch:

***

ta (David) YU, Thesis: Organic city plaza, suckerPunch

***

It's part of a SCI-Arc M.Arch 2 thesis by ta (david) YU.  Here's another view:

***

ta (David) YU, Thesis: Organic city overview, suckerPunch

***

Frank Lloyd Wright in his book An Organic Architecture, published in 1939, proposed

"So here I stand before you preaching organic architecture: declaring organic architecture to be the modern ideal and the teaching so much needed if we are to see the whole of life, and to now serve the whole of life, holding no 'traditions' essential to the great TRADITION. Nor cherishing any preconceived form fixing upon us either past, present or future, but - instead - exalting the simple laws of common sense - or of super-sense if you prefer - determining form by way of the nature of materials..."

One of his designs is the David and Gladys Wright house in Phoenix, Arizona.

***

***

From the Wikipedia article on organic architecture, here's a statement of its aims by one architect:

Architect and planner David Pearson proposed a list of rules towards the design of organic architecture. These rules are known as the Gaia Charter for organic architecture and design. It reads: "Let the design:

• be inspired by nature and be sustainable, healthy, conserving, and diverse.
• unfold, like an organism, from the seed within.
• exist in the "continuous present" and "begin again and again".
• follow the flows and be flexible and adaptable.
• satisfy social, physical, and spiritual needs.
• "grow out of the site" and be unique.
• celebrate the spirit of youth, play and surprise.
• express the rhythm of music and the power of dance."

For a survey of the 21 Greatest Buildings of the 21st Century, take a look at this Gear Patrol page.  Another selection of buildings, Organic Architecture: 12 Beautifully Curved Buildings, is offered by Web Urbanist.
 

Of course, one building does not a city make.  And issues of how cities grow are not addressed here. As  ta (david) YU says about a city's evolution--

The forming of the urban context is based on the existing territory, something that changes slowly, and human activities, which are changing all the time. Due to the non-stop pace of human activities, the urban context remains in a cycle of perpetual negotiation. Like organic tissue, the city is always in a state of growth, decay, and rebirth.

 

Note that organic building is another topic.

-- Marge

Cartoons: Veer left! There's a pothole.

Cities and drivers in the U.S. are reporting an epidemic of potholes, due to the extreme weather (yep, more about weather) this winter.  Here's a story from NBC:  "Harsh Winter Breeds Costly Pothole Pain."

Here's what some cartoonists have to say about this winter and potholes.

***

Gary Varvel, Cagle

***

Randy Bish, Cagle

***

Rob Rogers, robrogers

***

Steve Breen, The Week

***

-- Marge

Out sick with a cold or the flu

Can't concentrate and my eyes aren't focusing well, so calling it a day.

Here's a meme to tide you over; it's from the collection "Brace Yourself, the Flu Season Memes Are Here," posted by Emerald Catron.

***

Quickmeme, TheFW

***

This is the one I really like:

***

Imgur, TheFW

***

-- Marge

Cloud forests

Carrots and flowers and trees may seem to be simple organisms when compared to elephants and humans and they are.  But they're still not that simple.

As an example, take just water movement through a generic plant--not reproduction or photosynthesis or other functions.  Here are the basic parts of a plant:

***

Typical Plant Body, Illinois University at Chicago (UIC)

***

To see how different environmental conditions affect water transport in plants (aka transpiration) be sure to visit this interactive animation at the Science site. Note that plants normally absorb most of their water via their roots; an exception is plants in a cloud forest.

Cloud Forests are a type of rainforest that occurs near the equator and at altitudes between 2,000 and 3,500 meters.  Wikipedia says they occur between 500 and 4,000 meters.

***

Costa Rica, Santa Elena Skywalk, Dirk van der Made, Wikipedia

***

"Cloud Forest Trees Drink Water Using Leaves," states this article at Nature World News.  In the article one of the researchers is quoted:

 "The textbooks teach us that water enters roots, moves up the trunk and into the branches, then finally exits the leaves. That's true, but it's not the whole story," Greg Goldsmith, lead author of the study from UC Berkeley, said in a statement.

"With our sensors, we observed water entering the leaves and actually moving back down the branches toward the trunk."

This lovely image was found at Melissa Chernick's blog in a post titled "Drinking the Clouds." 

***

Drinking The Clouds, Storiented

***

--Marge

Cartoons: We don't need no stinking reform

In the news the topic of immigration reform is back on the table.  Those in the Tea Party appear to be the stumbling block on new legislation.  USA Today in "Immigration activists threaten GOP political payback" says the "hope for immigration reform all but dead."

Time to step back and take a better look --

***

Chan Lowe, US News

***

David Horsey, US News

***

John Darkow, The Week

***

David Fitzsimmons, The Week

***

BTW, cartoonist David Horsey has an excellent piece titled "Ice storm paradox: It's colder because the Earth is warmer."

--Marge

DIY: Polymer clay valentines and more

You have just two more days, if you want to make a gift for Valentine's Day.  Polymer clay, as compared to mineral clay (earthenware, stoneware, porcelain), has always looked to me like it would be fun to play with. Mineral clay pieces can be extremely lovely, but they have to be fired in an oven at temperatures from ~1300 degrees to ~2372 degrees F (depending on the type).  Polymer clay can be cured in your oven at home. 

There are a number of brands of polymer clay; seems to me Fimo is the best-known.  The Wikipedia article cites health concerns for polymer clays, so be aware.  A new brand called Pardo uses all-natural ingredients. Below is a pasta-making machine for conditioning polymer clay.  One can be purchased at Amazon for less than $20.00 (be sure to check the reviews).

***

Dan Bollinger, "Polymer clay conditioning," Wikipedia

***

Here are some ideas for projects from Polymer Clay Daily. 

***

Mariana Bankova, Donna Kato, and TejaeFloyd, Polymer Clay Daily

***

For projects rated by difficulty, try Polyform.  One of Polyform's projects in this Dichroic-Look Pendant.

***

Dichroic-Look Pendant, Polyform

***

And if you just want to see some expertly done polymer clay jewelry, take a look at Etsy.

-- Marge

The flu: is it going around now?

My son's not feeling well today, he may have a cold or it may be the beginning of the flu. And I'm wondering whether, considering the cold weather the U.S. has had this winter, if the number of people experiencing seasonal flu is greater this year.  The CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) says:

Flu activity is widespread in most of the country. High flu activity is likely to continue for several weeks. If you have not gotten your flu vaccine yet this season, you should get one now. And remember that flu antiviral drugs are a second line of defense to treat flu illness. People at high risk of serious flu illness should call a health care provider if they get flu symptoms.

A small chart on the CDC page about seasonal influenza (flu) shows that activity is highest in Texas  and adjacent states to the north.  This chart shows the number of people who went to the doctor for treatment of the flu, this year and selected previous years:

***

Reported flu-like illnesses, CDC

***

Note that 2012-2013 was higher.

Worldwide, people in Japan are most worried about the flu, according to Google's aggregated search data. Looking deeper into searches that originated in Japan, here are Google's statistical flu trend estimates for that country.

If you're not feeling well--rest, drink plenty of fluids, and cheer up.

***

Kirk Walters, Cagle

***

-- Mama Marge

Cartoons: Extreme weather and El Niño

Believe it or not November 2013 was the warmest year on record globally, according to a TIME magazine article (subscription needed to read the full item), "El Niño Is On Its Way:"

For many Americans, 2013 ended with an unusually bitter cold snap. Late November and December saw early snow and bone-chilling temperatures in much of the country, part of a year when--for the first time in two decades--record-cold days will likely turn out to have outnumbered record-warm ones. But the U.S. was the exception: November was the warmest ever globally, and the provisional data indicates that 2013 is likely to have been the fourth-hottest year on record.

Enjoy the snow now, because chances are good that 2014 will be even hotter--perhaps the hottest year since records have been kept. That's because, scientists are predicting, 2014 will be an El Niño year.

With the coming heat in mind, here are a few cartoon celebrating (sort of) cold and snow.

***

Dave Granlund, Cagle

***

Jimmy Margulies, Cagle

***

Randy Bish, Cagle

***

Had enough?

-- Marge

DIY: Faux metal wall art

Want to make something with a different look, maybe metal, but don't want to get into welding, grinding, and all that grittiness?  Take a look at some of these projects.

Probably the most popular on the web is metal decorative squares made from toilet paper tubes.  Here's Suzy's story and the project.

***

Faux metal wall art, Suzy's Artsy-Craftsy Sitcom

***

Anna at her blog, Take the Side Street, shows how to make a distressed, rusty arrow
from plywood.

***

Faux metal arrow (detail), Take The Side Street

***

Emily at Newly Wifes (sic) shows how to put together a wall piece using washers (the kind that are used with screws).

***

Washer art, NewlyWifes

***

If you want something metalish for your wall, but don't have the time to make it, here's a selection from Etsy.  This work by Inspiring Art is outstanding.

***

Inspiring Art, Etsy

***

And here's a Japanese artist, Takahiro Yede, doing some interesting work.  Take a moment to read what he has to say about his work.

***

Takahiro Yede, Seesaa.net

***

-- Marge

Art: ink in water

Pery Burge, "Nova Nova"

***

Artist Pery Burge photographed ink in water.  In the abstract of a paper she published she described the process thus:

Radial spreads are made by placing different types of ink and paint over each other. Then, when gravity 'activates' the spread, causing the ink to move outward, the resulting patterns of ink are photographed.

More of her work can be seen at her site Chronoscapes and in her photostream on Flickr. In an article at WonderHowTo, titled "Creating the Cosmos with Ink, Paint & Water," there is a short description of Pery's photographic process.

***

Pery Burge, "Deep Winds Rising"

***

In the video below Pery used lines from T.S. Eliot's "Four Quartets."  You can find a full version of Four Quartets at ColdBacon (warning: sudden music).  I found this interesting site -- Pearltrees -- while looking for info on iPB Soundscapes. Here's Pery's video.

***

***

 -- Marge