Weekend Reading

  • How I Came to the Church of Rock and Roll
    True, in junior high I sang along to John Denver’s “Rocky Mountain High” and knew every word on the “A Star Is Born” soundtrack.
    I was lucky, being introduced to Queen at an early age. Their album “Jazz” still resonates.
  • “Tyler, you’re fucking Marla”: A perspective on Fight Club to piss off its devotees
    Content note: there’s a lot of discussion of sex and violence in this post. Also, spoilers for Fight Club, if somehow you’ve made it without watching it or knowing “the twist” for almost twenty years.
    A fav movie of mine, and a fav type of article. Take a movie and offer a different perspective. I’m gonna adopt this one I think.
  • Paracetamol: widely used and largely ineffective
    In this guest blog, Andrew Moore, who has authored over 200 systematic reviews, many on pain, lifts the lid on paracetamol. Effective and safe? We are challenged to think again… People with pain have some very simple demands. They want the pain gone, and they want it gone now.
    Between this and recent articles on Ibuprofen… suffer, people, SUFFER!
  • Texas lawmaker ridicules anti-abortion measures by filing anti-masturbation bill
    Jessica Farrar’s satirical Man’s Right to Know Act would set $100 fine for ‘emissions outside a woman’s vagina’ and require unnecessary medical tests A Texas lawmaker has filed a satirical bill to regulate “masturbatory emissions” as a riposte to a slew of anti-abortion measure.
    Bravo!! Utterly ridiculous how women’s bodies are ‘legislated’ (I may need to save up though…)
  • Why Female Cannibals Frighten and Fascinate
    “Go on—eat it.” With these words, the 16-year-old vegetarian protagonist in Julia Ducournau’s Raw is urged to consume meat by her older sister and classmates at her new veterinary school.
    Not a genre I’m familiar with but this article challenges the portrayal of women in film very smartly.
  • Trick or Treat: Conniving Behavior Discovered in Dogs
    Dogs have the ability to think through their actions and plan deceptions, according to a study in Animal Cognition.
    Nooooo! ‘Dogs are a bit like cats’ shocker! *sadface*
  • On The Frightening Realities of Being a Woman in 2017
    Hi guys! So for anyone who has spoken to me since January 1st, I have been banging on about starting a blog.
    Horrifying and hard to read. One for all men to read and pass on.
  • Ebook sales continue to fall as younger generations drive appetite for print
    Readers committed to physical books can give a sigh of relief, as new figures reveal that ebook sales are falling while sales of paper books are growing – and the shift is being driven by younger generations.
    I’ve definitely fallen back into buying physical books recently, not sure why though.
  • Vibrator maker ordered to pay out C$4m for tracking users’ sexual activity
    Canadian manufacturer We-Vibe collected data about temperature and vibration intensity, revealing intimate information without customers’ knowledge Sex toy maker We-Vibe has agreed to pay customers up to C$10,000 (£6,120) each after shipping a “smart vibrator” which tracked owner
    Funny? Sinister? Both.
  • Refugees made some of the nicest things we have
    What do Sriracha hot sauce, Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, Bambi and the Mini Cooper all have in common? They only exist thanks to refugees.
    Mostly so I can mentioned Queen again…
  • Into the woods: how one man survived alone in the wilderness for 27 years
    Christopher Knight was only 20 years old when he walked away from society, not to be seen again for more than a quarter of a century.
    Wow. I like my ‘me time’ but this is pretty extreme, and utterly fascinating.
  • This Article Won’t Change Your Mind
    “I remember looking at her and thinking, ‘She’s totally lying.’ At the same time, I remember something in my mind saying, ‘And that doesn’t matter.’” For Daniel Shaw, believing the words of the guru he had spent years devoted to wasn’t blind faith exactly.
    He’s right. It didn’t. Hmmmm.
  • Norway’s new pixelated banknotes are gorgeous
    Back in 2014, I posted that Norway would start using new banknotes in 2017 featuring an abstract pixelated design on the reverse of each note. Time did the only thing it knows how to do so here we are in 2017 and the bills will begin circulating later this year.
    OK, adding Norway to the list of places to move to (Canada remains #1).