• • • to set a mood • • •
• • • some of the things I read while eating breakfast • • •
Mark Twain’s unpublished story, “The Incident of Scoundrel’s Notch”, was based on Twain's growing paranoia that he was—or had been—the Headless Horseman.
— Fake Atlas Obscura (@notatlasobscura) December 28, 2018
The Hidden French Tunnel Sculpture That Took 30 Years to Complete
Artist Daniel Monnier spent a couple of decades away before returning to complete his vision.
Daniel Monnier in 2019, reflected in his polished limestone mirror.
NIGHT IS FALLING AROUND DANIEL Monnier. Sitting on a small plastic stool, the 78-year-old, all-but-retired sculptor is patiently chipping away at the limestone wall of a tunnel-like path that runs along the Lot River between Saint-Cirq-Lapopie and Bouziès, in southern France. He’s carving the edges of what will soon be a polished limestone “mirror,” reflecting the river and the sky—if he calculated the angles right and the calcite crystals in the rock cooperate. “In this type of work there’s always surprises you aren’t expecting,” he says. “It’s not a bathroom mirror.” A few feet away, the first half of his project, a bas-relief of carved waves, fish, and rippling stone circles that covers 60 feet of the rock face, shines in the lamplight. He never thought he’d get to finish this work; after all, it had been more than 30 years since he started it.
That Monnier has been able to return to the work at all was due mostly to chance. A year earlier, on June 25, 2018, he recalls, a young man who worked as a guide on the boats that tour the Lot River was riding his bike at dawn when he ran into Monnier taking pictures of the original bas-relief. “We’ve completely lost track” of the artist, the man told Monnier, who hadn’t been back to see the work in 25 years. When the young man—Monnier does not recall his name—learned who he was speaking to, he was shocked. “He would have fallen in the river,” the sculptor laughs.
The site of the work is now a popular hike between two idyllic French towns.
Monnier didn’t realize how popular his bas-relief had become in his absence. What had been a deserted path when he began and ceased working on the sculpture had become a popular tourist trail, and the story surrounding the unsigned work had grown to take on a life of its own.
A FEW DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS 1984, Monnier was hiking from his home in Toulouse to visit family in Sainte-Foy-la-Grande, a village near Bordeaux—a trek of more than 120 miles. He wanted to avoid roads and decided to follow a small, intriguing dotted line on his topographical map. Along it, perhaps half-way to his destination, he discovered what felt like a secret tunnel. Along the Lot River, hidden at the base of the cliff, a path had been carved out of the rock to connect two small villages. The path was deserted and humid. Plants hung from the ceiling, water dripped along the walls. “It was wonderful,” says Monnier, who had been a sculptor for over 20 years at that point. He pulled out a pencil and drew, directly onto the wall, two lines, roughly 60 feet apart. The stone was “like an elephant’s stomach,” he says, smooth enough to draw on. …
In an early manuscript, Pinnochio began life as Tunnelpeter, a renegade toy who escaped into the Catacombs of Rome and was borne on a palanquin carried by uniformed rats.
— Fake Atlas Obscura (@notatlasobscura) December 28, 2018
Collision course: why are cars killing more and more pedestrians?
For drivers, roads are safer than ever – but for people on foot, they are getting deadlier. Car companies and Silicon Valley claim that they have the solution. But is that too good to be true?
In 2010, the small community of specialists who pay attention to US road safety statistics picked up the first signs of a troubling trend: more and more pedestrians were being killed on American roads. That year, 4,302 American pedestrians died, an increase of almost 5% from 2009. The tally has increased almost every year since, with particularly sharp spikes in 2015 and 2016. Last year, 41% more US pedestrians were killed than in 2008. During this same period, overall non-pedestrian road fatalities moved in the opposite direction, decreasing by more than 7%. For drivers, roads are as safe as they have ever been; for people on foot, roads keep getting deadlier.
Through the 90s and 00s, the pedestrian death count had declined almost every year. No one would have confused the US for a walkers’ paradise – at least part of the reason fewer pedestrians died in this period was that people were driving more and walking less, which meant that there were fewer opportunities to be struck. But at least the death toll was shrinking. The fact that, globally, pedestrian fatalities were much more common in poorer countries made it possible to view pedestrian death as part of an unfortunate, but temporary, stage of development: growing pains on the road to modernity, destined to decrease eventually as a matter of course. The US road death statistics of the last decade have blasted a hole in that theory. (A similar trend has been observed with regards to the country’s cyclists: a recent analysis found that cyclist fatalities decreased through the 80s, 90s and 00s, but since 2010 have increased 25%, with 777 cyclists killed in 2017.)
Trouble, albeit of a less dramatic sort, has also been brewing in the UK and western European countries, long seen as bastions of pedestrian-friendly (and cyclist-friendly) conditions. Through the 70s and 80s, these countries’ fatality rates were just as bad as America’s, or worse. But, since then, their progress has been more substantial and more enduring. The problem is that, since 2010, that progress has mostly sputtered to a halt. In general, the fatality numbers are not going down. “There’s immense frustration,” says Philip Gomm, of the RAC Foundation, a UK organisation that studies road safety issues. “Things were getting better, and now they’re not.”
In almost every country in the world, regardless of national prosperity, it remains on average more dangerous, per mile of travel, to be a pedestrian than to be a car driver or passenger. Worldwide, more than 700 pedestrians die every day, disproportionately in poorer countries. At least four times that number are seriously injured. We talk a great deal about how cars congest our cities and pollute the atmosphere. We talk less about how they keep killing and maiming people simply trying to get from A to B on two feet. …
Prepare to spend a while; it’s The Long Read.
PAPER AND BIODEGRADABLE ALTERNATIVES AS BAD AS PLASTIC SAYS GREENPEACE
Greenpeace USA has released a report that warns consumers to be sceptical of ‘plastic alternatives’ offered by big companies as the solution to the planet’s plastic problem.
Graham Forbes, Greenpeace USA Global Project Leader, called initiatives by companies like Nestle, Unilever and Pepsi Co. such as switching to bioplastics, or increasing recyclability of their packaging “false solutions”. It states that it is “time to declare peak plastic” and asks big companies to make dramatic moves to change the way that they package their products.
A ragpicker collects recyclable material from a garbage-strewn beach in Mumbai.
Greenpeace USA Senior Research Specialist, Ivy Schlegel, is the author of the report. In a press release accompanying the report, she said “Multinational consumer goods companies continue to promote so-called sustainable alternatives that would put unacceptable pressures on natural resources”. She added that, to solve the plastic crisis, it was essential for companies to “invest significantly in reusable and refillable delivery systems”.
Under fire from Greenpeace are companies who, despite initiatives to increase solutions for their packaging at the end of its life, still continue or even increase the manufacture of products wrapped in single-use packaging. Forbes said, “Moving to bioplastic, paper, 100% ‘recyclable’ packaging, incineration and chemical recycling all but guarantee this environmental crisis will get worse”. …
5 Infuriating Luxuries Only Available To The Ultra-Rich
Mega-rich people have problems too. Like “Ugh, what do I do with all this money?” or “What was my third butler’s name, again?” Fortunately, that first dilemma can always be solved by wasting said money in maddening (for the rest of us) ways. For example …
5. Luxury Bunkers For The Apocalypse (Or Vacationing)
We already know that when the apocalypse finally happens, the coolest of the cool kids will be chillin’ in New Zealand with Peter Thiel. But what about the rich who can’t afford a spread in Middle-earth, or who simply prefer to ride out doomsday in the States? Are they supposed to endure the end of the world and the presence of ordinary people too?
Nope. Thanks to the Survival Condo Project>, the wealthy won’t have to die alongside the poors. Instead they’ll ride out Armageddon in luxury bunkers full of rarefied, super-filtered air and every imaginable convenience, from a movie theater to (*gasp*) programmable bidets. If watching Paul Blart: Mall Cop for the 365th time with Kevin James isn’t your thing, you can also chuckle at the deformed mutants on the surface through a live HD feed on your living room windows.
Located in a decommissioned missile silo somewhere outside Concordia, Kansas, the complex features 15 stories of doomsday swank. It’s equipped with its own power system, hydroponic gardens, fish farm, rations, and “various firearms” for the special-forces-trained security team, in case zombies break in (or Mark Wahlberg gets too rowdy). While the nuclear holocaust wipes out the less fortunate, residents can visit the spa, library, gym, pool, video game arcade, golf simulator, and general store. You know, the essentials.
If you’re ready to shell out between $1.5 million and $3 million for your very own survival condo, you’re out of luck for now. The Kansas complex is sold out, but the developer has plans to pimp out other abandoned silos. Meanwhile, the existing survival condos aren’t going to waste while their owners wait for the end of the world. They’re being used for fun and unique family getaways! Several owners have already spent time in their (nuclear) winter homes, which turned out to be “better than Disney.” Yeah, enjoy them before James and Wahlberg stink up the place. …
Banksy launches homewares shop in dispute over trademark
Banksy launches homewares shop in dispute over trademark
Artist opens Gross Domestic Product for sale of ‘impractical and offensive’ merchandise.
Police officers and members of the public gather outside Gross Domestic Product in south London.
In the run-up to a potentially record-breaking auction of his work at Sotheby’s, to be held on Thursday, the street artist Banksy said he had been forced into taking the unusual step of opening his own homewares store following a legal dispute with a greetings card company.
Gross Domestic Product mysteriously opened in Croydon on Tuesday on the site of a former carpet shop. It will trade for the next two weeks – though will never open its doors, with all sales being made online.
Banksy said the motivation behind the venture was “possibly the least poetic reason to ever make some art” – a trademark dispute.
“A greetings card company is contesting the trademark I hold to my art,” he said in a statement. “And attempting to take custody of my name so they can sell their fake Banksy merchandise legally.”
The famously anonymous artist said he thought the card company was “banking on the idea” he would not show up in court to defend himself.
Disco ball made from used police riot helmets.
He plans to sell a range of merchandise, which is described as “impractical and offensive” and includes disco balls made from used police riot helmets.
Other items in the shop, which will have its lights on for 24 hours a day, include sofa cushions with the inscription “Life’s too short to take advice from a cushion” and a gravestone bearing the inscription: “You have now reached your destination.” …
Men explain toxic masculinity to me, a man writing about toxic masculinity
“You shouldn’t write about toxic masculinity because it doesn’t exist,” the ponytailed man in the coffee shop said.
1.
At a coffee shop in Chicago not long ago, while quietly reading through printed galleys of the memoir I had spent the previous five years writing, I was interrupted by a man with long grey hair pulled back into a ponytail. He looked to be in his mid-50s and had the sun-weathered face of a man who’d probably spent a good deal of time working outdoors. “Are those galleys?” he asked, leaning over the table to eyeball the pages spread out before me.
I looked up at him, surprised and somewhat taken aback by the intrusion, but I forced a smile and said they were indeed galleys.
He moved in closer and asked what the book was about.
“It’s a reckoning with toxic masculinity,” I answered.
His eyes narrowed. “I hate that term,” he said, using his hands to emphasize his disdain. “You shouldn’t write about toxic masculinity because it doesn’t exist. You should write about nourishing masculinity. You should write about…”
The man’s instructions came emphatically and rapid fire, one after the other, about all the things I should write about instead of toxic masculinity, a thing he seemed to be insisting didn’t exist while simultaneously proving that it did.
2.
According to the American Psychological Association, “masculinity ideology” is a certain set of descriptive, prescriptive, and small-minded perceptions about boys and men. There are, of course, differences in masculinity ideologies—some that are less small-minded, less restrictive than others—but there is also a particular constellation of standards that have held sway over large segments of the population for quite some time. Often, this particular ideology idealizes anti-femininity, achievement, eschewal of the appearance of weakness, and adventure, risk, and violence. Collectively, these are now referred to as “traditional masculinity ideology.”
3.
I didn’t set out to write a book about masculinity.
4.
I certainly didn’t set out to write a book about toxic masculinity.
5.
I set out to write a story that I had been trying to tell for 20 years, a story that felt like it defined me in near-countless ways, a story about losing a father and becoming a father, about violence and rebellion, about work and friendship and loss, about trying to disappear myself—over and over again—with cocaine and vodka and pills. …
Video Goodnesses
and not-so-goodnesses
and not-so-goodnesses
As Trump continues to lash out over impeachment proceedings, The New York Times reports on his cruel proposals for punishing undocumented immigrants and turning away asylum seekers.
THANKS to Comedy Central and The Daily Show with Trevor Noah for making this program available on YouTube.
“Just because you admit to your crime in public doesn’t mean it’s not a crime.”
Why are people confusing Trump’s honesty for innocence? Trevor weighs in.
The President hasn’t formulated much of a plan to defend himself against impeachment, unless you count freaking out on Twitter as a plan.
THANKS to CBS and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert for making this program available on YouTube.
The acclaimed actor returns to The Late Show to thrill us with a sneak peek at the new season of ‘Mr. Robot,’ and tease us with stories from the set of the new James Bond film.
Everyone in Trump’s orbit gets sucked into his mess including the “adults in the room” like Bill Barr. Watch as Republicans try to deflect by name-dropping the Bidens more than someone who’s trying to sneak into a DNC fundraiser.
THANKS to TBS and Full Frontal with Samantha Bee for making this program available on YouTube.
Congresswoman Ilhan Omar was one of the first representatives to call for Trump’s impeachment. Shockingly, white women wound up getting the credit. Sam goes to DC to meet with Congresswoman Omar, set the record straight, and see if the Squad is accepting new members.
Seth takes a closer look at Trump wanting to dig a trench around the southern border and fill it with alligators and snakes.
THANKS to NBC and Late Night with Seth Meyers for making this program available on YouTube.
CAUTION: Some language may not be appropriate for work or children.
Here’s me commentary on an epic bear fight up in the Canada.
ビール箱を3個ご用意いたしました！ I gave him three beer boxes!
Nivikkana Iskandar, of Greenland, declared herself “Empress of the North Pole”—and attempted to invade a land mass that didn’t exist.
— Fake Atlas Obscura (@notatlasobscura) December 21, 2018
FINALLY . . .
How Profit and Prejudice Built a Family’s Human Skull Collection
Fowler & Wells created a “Phrenological Cabinet” on the racist belief that skulls held secrets about human nature.
A sketch of the Phrenological Cabinet from a February 1860 edition of the New York Illustrated News.
ON APRIL 15, 1841, THE day before his execution, Peter Robinson welcomed an artist to his New Jersey prison cell. A possible inspiration for Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart,” Robinson was sentenced to death for killing his creditor and hiding the body beneath his floorboards. He turned away clergymen offering to pray for him, but he didn’t seem to mind the artist, who had been sent by a family of skull-obsessed pseudo-scientists. Whatever his hesitations about preserving his soul, he submitted willingly to the messy procedure of preserving his head as a plaster cast.
Robinson was hanged the following day. The authorities delivered his body to friends and family, as he had requested, hoping to evade the corpse-hungry medical school market. The artist, meanwhile, delivered the cast of his head to the New York firm of Fowler & Wells.
The brothers Orson and Lorenzo Fowler, their sister Charlotte, and her husband Samuel Wells were phrenologists who believed the size and shape of the human skull contained secrets about human nature. They eagerly acquired cranial “specimens” of infamous men like Robinson. Their collection was enshrined in the “Phrenological Cabinet,” a display of casts, busts, portraits, and skulls that eventually grew to nearly 2000 items.
Photograph of Samuel Robert Wells, Charlotte Fowler Wells, and Lorenzo N. Fowler standing in the doorway of 753 Broadway, probably in the 1880s.
Founded in the 1830s, Fowler & Wells built a booming brand from books, pamphlets, public lectures, and “readings” of the heads of both living and dead. The idea that meaning of any kind could be assigned to cranial contours today seems like quackery, at best. In the 19th-century United States, however, there was a fever for the field, and none spread it more zealously than Fowler & Wells. …
The Rasclava, a doughnut-like dish popular in Baltic states, supposedly contains unclaimed souls, and has been condemned by the Catholic Church for over 500 years. The methods for harvesting this essential ingredient vary according to the baker.
— Fake Atlas Obscura (@notatlasobscura) December 28, 2018
Ed. More tomorrow? Probably. Possibly. Maybe. I have absolutely no idea.