Popmatters Reviews The Colonel’s Wife

I’ve been eagerly waiting to read the first advance reviews of The Colonel’s Wife, Rosa Liksom’s brilliant and disturbing novel, which I recently translated, and it’s extremely satisfying to see that the very first review, written by Hans Rollmann for Popmatters, is such an intelligent and thoughtful one.

The plot of the novel is rather thoroughly revealed in this article, though I hate to even mention it because the review is so worth reading, in spite of the spoilers.

The book will be published by Graywolf this fall.

Amazon’s Anti-Union Training Video

Lest you get the idea that working for Amazon might be fun and rewarding, check out this leaked internal training video on how to spy on your coworkers and spot the “early warning signs” that they might want to unite for their rights.

Found on Miss Cellania

 

Tammy Wynette: Yesterday

For Paul McCartney‘s birthday, here’s Tammy Wynette‘s short and very sweet cover of Yesterday.

Doesn’t it sound like it was written for her?

The song’s been on my mind, because we recently saw the really dumb, really fun movie Yesterday.

via Boing Boing

David Attenborough vs. the Bird of Paradise

It’s fun to watch David Attenborough repeatedly interrupted by this zany bird.

via Miss Cellania

You’re Recycling Wrong

Like a lot of places, Seattle has been trying to clean up its recycling act as the market for recyclables changes, and the market for used plastics is particularly problematic.

Here are 7 plastic recycling tips from the Guardian.

 

Forest 404

Forest 404 is a BBC radio drama about a future when recorded sounds of nature, the last vestiges of the natural world, are being erased to make room for more recent data. I’ve been listening to the podcast.

As is fitting, the sound design for the series is fantastic. And the story’s pretty good, too.

When you’ve finished the series, you can participate in an online study of how nature sounds affect mood.

Dramatic Brushes

It’s more dramatic with the sound on.

Thanks, Nag.

 

A Curious Container

I thought I would post something while lolarusa is away.

I was at a bar the other night when a young couple asked if they could sit at my table. They were both good looking, had accents I couldn’t quite place, and smelled like sandalwood. After some small talk they got down to business: they had something they thought I might be interested in.

The conversation and weirdness that followed is beside the point, other than I was a bit dizzy & dreamy when they left. I bought something from them with the stipulation that I must some day sell it for less than I paid for it. I said, wait, what? I have to sell it? She said yes, you must sell it for less than you paid for it. My price was ridiculously cheap.

It’s all very curious, and you should please make of this story what you will. Attached are pictures of the item, and know that that bottle seems to contain more than just sand. My question – well, one of my questions – is why me? What made them sit at my table?