A few links related to some of my favorite things: kissing, food, goth rock, Stonehenge, and acoustics.
Same-sex couple share first kiss at Navy homecoming. I just keep looking at that picture and thinking what a short time ago it was that "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," was still in effect. It's nice to have a reminder that progress happens.
Fuck Calories (And Other Dietary Heresies)! Krista Scott-Dixon of
Stumptuous has written a short e-book about nutrition and eating. From my quick skimming of it, I suppose I'd describe it as being like Michael Pollan's Food Rules only funnier, more foul-mouthed, and with a bit of a Paleo-diet slant. (I remain skeptical of the "grains are evil!" stance taken by this book, although I'd probably agree that they're overabundant in the typical American diet.) Anyway, the book is free (in exchange for your email address), and certainly an entertaining read.
A very Nephilim Christmas? I thought bandfic was a relatively recent phenomenon, but it turns out that Melody Maker was turning out satiric portrayals of the antics of Fields of the Nephilim back in the late 80's. In this early installment (which I'd love to see someone illustrate in the style of Torchwood Babiez), the young Neffs put on a school nativity play. (Warning, link contains crude and infantile humor, mild blasphemy, and disturbing imagery involving Carl McCoy and mashed potato.) While this is a complete fiction, I'm pretty certain that McCoy's lyrics occasionally inspired conversations like this when the Neffs were in the studio:
NOD: I bring you glad tidings - 'ere, Carl, what are "tidings"?
CARL: Never mind. I fink its something to do with the sea.
PAUL: Wot, you mean like seaweed or something? Behold, Mary, I bring you seaweed!
TONY: Yeah, and while we're at it Carl, wots a "manger"? Or "myrrh?" We ain't got none of that down our end!
OTHERS: Yeah! Tell us, Carl!
CARL: Look, I dunno - I mean, its a mystery, right? In olden days, people just said these fings but nobody asked wot they meant cos they were religious mysteries...
Hearing the Past. This Radio 4 documentary looks at (er, listens to?) researchers who are combining archaeology and acoustics to reconstruct what the past would have sounded like. It's all very cool, but my favorite bit is the discovery that Stonehenge has a resonant frequency of about 47Hz, which most likely would have caused it to emit a deep bass hum under appropriate conditions. You can hear a reconstruction in the documentary. (The presenter, bless him, compares it to listening to Depeche Mode. Another goth rock fan!)
Anyway, I'm off to Florida in a little while, so I'd better get back to the serious business of deciding what to load onto my iPod and Kindle for the trip. Wishing you all very happy holidays!