[CAT] Shakespeare, looking up at the noise

[PHOTO] Front yard zinnias, Delaware Avenue

My neighbourhood has wonderful flowers.

[PHOTO] Four photos of the exterior of the Long River Presbyterian Church, Avonlea Village, PEI

I posted last August about how the old Long River Presbyterian Church, dating from the late 19th century and at risk of decay, was relocated to Cavendish's Avonlea Village where it was eventually rebuilt into a theatre. It's still there, looking handsome in its new home.

[BLOG] Some Saturday links

• Anthrodendum considers what, exactly, anthropology majors can do job-wise with their degrees. Interesting ideas.


• Centauri Dreams considers the possible origins of cometary organics in deep space.


• Hornet Stories talks of anti-immigrant Americans with immigrant ancestors who skirted relevant laws themselves, like Donald Trump.


• Language Hat considers byssus, an exotic ancient textile and a word with a complex history.


• Lawyers, Guns and Money looks at how the potential for disaster in Florida is worsened by poor planning.


• The LRB Blog looks at the sad intersection of war, xenophobia, and rising rates of polio in Pakistan (and elsewhere).


• The Map Room Blog notes an interactive map-related play still showing at the Halifax Fringe, Cartography.


• The NYR Daily notes a high-profile corruption trial of a former government minister in Moscow.


• The Planetary Society Blog shares Paul Schenk's story about how he interned at JPL in 1979 for the Voyager 2 flyby.


• Roads and Kingdoms looks at the search by a Brazilian man for caves in the south of that country.


• The Volokh Conspiracy asks some interesting questions about the mechanics of Settlers of Catan.


• At Whatever, John Scalzi remembers Jerry Pournelle.


• Window on Eurasia notes how Russia is strongly opposed to any Circassian return to their ancestral homeland.

[NEWS] Three links about exoplanetary systems and extraterrestrial life

• As we understand the Anthropocene on Earth, we may understand inhabited exoplanets all the better. VICE reports.


• Unsurprisingly, study of stellar X-rays suggests that older and less excitable stars may be most suitable for life. Universe Today reports.


• A new study suggests that TRAPPIST-1 could support unsuspected gas giants, too, orbiting far away. Universe Today reports.

[URBAN NOTE] Four Toronto links: Doug Ford, marijuana, Airbnb, Lower Don Trail

• Doug Ford is running for mayor in 2018, hoping to continue Rob's legacy. (Doug was the more functional of the two.)


• Toronto has cracked down successfully on a property owner in Cabbagetown using their buildings for Airbnb.


• The Lower Don Trail is scheduled to reopen later this month, one year later than originally scheduled.


• The LCBO will be the authorized seller of marijuana in Ontario. I think I largely support this: regulation matters.

[PHOTO] Four articles about photography: Instagram, HIV/AIDS, Instagram hunks, Google photo apps

• I am impressed by the scope, if nothing else, of this plan to archive everything on Instagram. VICE reports.


• I really hope that Instagram's The AIDS Memorial Account remains active. It's a vital online archive of who we lost. Hornet Stories reports on this account's problems.


• Hornet Stories reports on how gay NYC comedian Matt Grote decided to play with the tropes of the Instagram hunk. Intriuging..


• Wired notes a powerful, high-speed Google algorithm that does photo retouching very quickly. Not sure how I feel.