Trickster god Loki, show dedicated to the brother of Thor
Spinoff series from Marvel out today is Loki, which will premiere on, where else, Disney+ , originally slated to start June 11, 2021 is is now available with a new episode coming each Wednesday. The only way to watch Loki on Disney, currently, is via subscription. In the new trailer below Tom Hiddleston appears as the title character and the clip reveals just a bit more about his new role.
Taking place in a Marvel-esque alternative universe, with a shadow of Umbrella Academy attitude we see Loki approached by Mobius, embodied by the inimitable Owen Wilson, the upshot helps to put right the timeline that was disturbed via the Tesseract influence from The Infinity Saga
Loki takes the Marvel universe into yet another version of alternative directions, and yet it manages to feel fully believable within its own invented genre.
The bonds between fathers and sons, as seen through the eye of their mothers
The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, already holds so many titles: she is a wife, a mother, feminist, activist, and now will be adding author to her list of accomplishments. Just a few days ago, the couple announced the birth of their daughter, with reference to both grandmother and great-grandmother naming her Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor.
Fittingly, today, June 8th, 2021, marks the the release of Markle’s first children’s book.
The Duchess sweetly dedicates the book to “the man and the boy who make my heart go pump-pump”. “Lili” also holds a special place in her heart as her own mother Doria Ragland gave her the childhood nickname “Flower”. The Lilly flower happens to signify happiness and rebirth which gives their daughter name lots of symbolism and meaning to royal family’s newest (‘lil) addition.
The inspiration for the Duchess of Sussex’s first book started from a poem Megan wrote for Prince Harry after their son Archie was born for Father’s day. The poem then evolved into a story, the book will capture the special bond and relationship between fathers and sons from all walks of life, as described by mothers.
As news relating to the upcoming release of Markle’s debut book, reports began to surface speculating potential plagiarism with another children’s book “The Boy on the Bench” by Corrinne Averiss. The only real similarity between the two titles is they both have the word “bench”, aside from this, Averiss took to Twitter to defend the Duchess stating “I don’t see any similarities”.
“The Bench” includes illustrations by Christian Robinson, a Caldecott Award winner, who has worked with both Pixar and Sesame Street Workshop. Markle and Robinson worked together to make sure the final product was inclusive and shared a universal message every kind of family could relate to.
In a statement from Random House Children’s Books, Markle said “Christian layered in beautiful and ethereal watercolor illustrations that capture the warmth, joy, and comfort of the relationship between fathers and sons from all walks of life,” and continued to say “This representation was particularly important to me, and Christian and I worked closely to depict this special bond through an inclusive lens.
My hope is thatThe Bench resonates with every family, no matter the makeup, as much as it does with mine.”
— Random House Children's Books (@randomhousekids) May 4, 2021
“The Bench” will mark the latest venture for the Duchess after stepping back from the Royal Family and moving to the United States in 2020. Prince Harry and Meghan have also launched a podcast in partnership with Spotify Archewell Audio. The two also have plans to work on a Netflix documentary based on the Invictus Games which the Prince founded back in 2014.
The “Pro-Vlogger” look popularized on YouTube now available to all…
Above: The stunning Portrait mode from the Camera app is now optimized for video calls in FaceTime. Photo Credit / Apple
If you are a prolific FaceTime user or if you don’t use it as much as you would if the aesthetics were a bit better (read: more flattering selfie styles) you are in luck. In a twist which takes advantage of tech that was initially created to make portrait mode a reality in the iPhone camera app is now coming to FaceTime on iPhone and also on iPad.
The maturation of features across platforms is paying big dividends
Portrait mode was added to the camera app as a way to get a DSLR style “prime lens” look with “bokeh” which is a Japanese term for the beautiful background out of focus blur that a long lens focused on the subject in the foreground will produce.
The computational fireworks required to produce this effect are nothing short of…. well check out Apple’s description:
” It’s a depth-guided, people-focused segmentation mask generated from a proprietary Apple neural network trained to detect people. It separates an individual in the foreground from whatever is in the background, with greater detail and clarity than with the depth map alone. It achieves this clarity in part because the matte image has higher resolution than the depth map.”
So this effect, which has been in the iPhone camera app since iOS 12 is now, likely due to the ever beefier potentials of the proprietary Apple neural network can now, starting with iOS 15 and iPadOS 15 be applied to video. Live.
New features in FaceTime help users look and sound their best. – credit: Apple
This, like so many other upgrades revealed today at the WWDC2021, is a great idea. High end YouTube videographers know it’s a great idea which is why they buy special DSLR camera with prime lenses just to get the very beautiful and flattering effect of a sharp subject in the foreground and a compressed, blurred “bokeh” effect in the background.
New features in FaceTime help users look and sound their best.
Not only visual but also audio upgrades are coming
They are also adding another obviously useful feature “spatial audio”, which creates the effect of having the perceived source location of each speaker match where they appear on the screen.
This is combined with “new microphone modes” which can reduce background noises and audio interference when in a chaotic sound environment and, alternatively when appropriate pickup an entire soundscape all at once.
All in all these improvements to both the visual experience, and the audio are a much needed change from the often ugly reality of bad-webcam zoom style meetings we all endured during 2020.
And with the front facing camera, lighting and software beautifications constantly getting better, we can, at least those with great internet and high end devices, look forward to a much more sensually pleasing level of FaceTime interactions.
Additional new upgraded features for FaceTime include, but are not limited to:
A new grid view that makes it possible to do a “zoom” like stack of equal size boxes.
SharePlay which is a somewhat odd sounding option to share “Apple Music, watching a TV show or movie in sync, or sharing their screen to view apps together”. Additionally, sharing can include anyone using an iPhone, iPad or Mac and if shared playback controls are active any of the parties that are sharing can play, pause or jump ahead.
Users can now share experiences with SharePlay while connecting with friends on FaceTime, including listening to songs together with Apple Music, watching a TV show or movie in sync, or sharing their screen to view apps together. SharePlay works across iPhone, iPad, and Mac, and with shared playback controls, anyone in a SharePlay session can play, pause, or jump ahead.
There’s an expanding list of sources that can be used, including, of course, Apple TV, but also third party services that opt in, and currently, according to Apple the list already includes: Disney+, ESPN+, HBO Max, Hulu, MasterClass, Paramount+, Pluto TV, TikTok, Twitch, and many others
As the sun begins to peak out and early summer finally shines among us, June, as it has been for years, is the perfect month to be designated for Pride Month. Although large public celebrations like parades may still be stalled for most parts of the world because of the still looming pandemic, there are nevertheless plenty of opportunities to celebrate and proudly wave that beautiful rainbow flag (literally and metaphorically).
Pride can and never will be be canceled!
There are many ways to show your support/allegiance and to champion the LGBTQ+ community, particularly during Pride Month, (although Pride should really be a constant). One such way is through the classic form of words and images on pages, as reading and learning should never be considered less than desirable and always be savored.
There are hundreds of LGBTQ+ books out there and although it can be extremely hard to choose which ones to spotlight, we’ve chosen a few with accompanying book descriptions to kick off June 2021 Pride.
Jack Guinness wanted to have a tangible way for us to see and praise the long and “glorious” history of the LGBTQ+ community and created the website QueerBible.com in 2016, the online community solely devoted to celebrating queer heroes both from the past and the present.
The new 2021 book pays homage to queer heroes that paved the path, both unsung heroes and queer icons, which readers will get learn and see them in a fresh light.
The illustrated collection of essays include contributions fro the likes of Elton Jonhn, Tan France, Gus Kenworthy, Paris Lees, Russell Tovey, Munroe Bergdorf. As well as honoring timeless queer icons such as Susan Sontag, David Bowie, Sylvester, RuPaul, and George Michael.
Readers can learn the beginning queen activism in late 19th century Europe to the pivotal Stonewall Riots of 1969 to the current.
The text features more than 300 pictures from more than 70 photographers and 20 archives. Looking at family life, protests, marches, celebrations, mourning and Pride – you can to literally SEE queer history.
“We are Everywhere” shows readers how they can and must honor LGBTQ+ post history in order to shape a more liberated future.
Sarach McBride would become the first transgender person to speak at a national political convention and later became the first openly transgender Delaware state senator and national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign.
Yet before all that she struggled with the decision to come out.
“Tomorrow Will Be Different” is chronicles her journey.
Her book, a powerful memoir, that is informative, heartbreaking and also extremely powerful as she writes about her identity and the battle for equal rights and what it means to be trans.
In her book “One Life” she shares for the first time ore intimate information about her life on and off the soccer field and begs the ultimate question, if we all have just one life – what are we going to do?
After the 2011 World Cup, Rapinoe felt discouraged by how very few athletes were open about their sexuality. As a result, she decided to disclose publicly she was gay and from then on used her platform to help advocate for marriage equality.
Her story follows some of the most important moments in her life and career including her realization she was gay in college, her experience with soccer coaches and the backlash / disputes she received when she took a knee during the national athem in 2016 in solidarity with NFL player Colin Kaepernick, how she met her fiancé Sue Bird and her process during the US Soccer Federation over gender discrimination and equal pay.
Disney’s prequel to show a whole different side to the well-known evil character
Oscar winner Emma Stone is playing as the new role of villain- Cruella de Vil in the upcoming live-action version of the Disney’s iconic “101 Dalmatians”. Glen Close, who played the same role back in the 1990’s version to the cartoon is also on the scene, this time as producer.
The first official trailer has been launched and by the looks of it, there is a dark punk feeling as fans get a sneak behind the back story of a younger Cruella.
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According to Disney, the synopsis for the 2021 version: “In 1970s London, young fashion designer Estella de Vil becomes obsessed with dogs’ skins, especially Dalmatians, until she eventually becomes a ruthless and terrifying legend known as Cruella.”
“Cruella” is scheduled for theatrical release on May 28, 2021.
The first teaser trailer Warner Bros. just released for the upcoming drama highlights a truly star-studded ensemble cast. Although the video clip below doesn’t give audience much of a taste of what the movie will be about, we do get to see the stars that include: Don Cheadle, Benicio del Toro, David Harbour, Jon Hamm, Ray Liotta, Kieran Culkin, Brendan Fraser, Noah Jupe, Julia Fox and Amy Seimetz.
The new crime thriller will first premiere at Tribeca and shortly after be released onto the HBO Max streaming platform, written by Ed Solomon that brought us “Bill and Ted“. The film is also directed by Steven Soderbergh, who is responsible for numerous hit movies including: “Ocean’s Eleven“, “Erin Brockovich“, “Traffic”, “The Informant! ” with Matt Damon, “The Laundromat” and so many others.
The film is set in the 1950’s Detroit and centers on a group of small-time criminals that are brought together to steal what they thought was just a simple document. Inevitably the plan goes down horribly wrong and now the group is set out to search for who hired them in order to discover the real purpose of whats going on.
With the annual Tribeca Film Festival just a few weeks away, the 12-day outdoor celebration will be held June 9 through June 20 and will be one of the first major festivals within North America to hold such a large in-person event coming out of the pandemic.
Soderbergh in a statement, “A year ago I was on lockdown in Tribeca,” and continued “So I never imagined we could return 12 months later with a new movie screening for a live audience in our neighborhood. I’m VERY happy.”
“No Sudden Move” is currently scheduled to premiere at Tribeca on June 18th and will be then be released to stream on HBO Max in the U.S. starting July 1st. Watch the teaser trailer below:
The first sneak peak trailer for Marvel Studios’ “Eternals” has dropped welcoming the next epic Superhero movie. The film is based on the comics of the same name that follow a group of eclectic god-like beings from another planet, an immortal race that have been on Earth living secretly for thousands of years. The heroes team up in order to protect humanity from a new threat, one of mankind’s oldest enemy, The Deviants.
Massive amounts of eyeballs watched the “Eternals” trailer, 77 million global views within the first 24 hours, which reportedly now marks the highest numbers for a Disney movie during the past 14 months.
The Academy Award winning director of “Nomadland” Chloe Zhao will direct and also co-wrote the screenplay for the upcoming movie.
The new team of Super Hereoes as part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) will be the third Phase 4 movie and will boase major star power including: Angelina Jolie, Salma Hayek, Gemma Chan, Kit Harington, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Barry Keoghan and Brian Tyree Henry
Check out the official first-look trailer for Marvel Studios’ “Eternals”:
Above: Photo Credit Lynxotic collage with Photo by Sadman Sakib on Unsplash
Visible in the Western U.S. states early Wednesday
This kickoff to the Lunar eclipses for the year will be the fantastically named “Super Flower Blood Moon”. Although the visibility during the eclipse will vary across the nation, the west coast will have a great, bright vantage, where clear skies oblige.
Also, unlike solar eclipses the Lunar variety is completely safe to view with the naked eye. Just watch your forecast as clouds vs. clear skies will be the determining factor when it comes to visibility.
The “flower” moniker is perhaps less significant than it sounds, but no less poetic. Call the flower moon due to that simple fact that it occurs in late May, coincident with the spring bloom.
Although there were four penumbral lunar eclipses in 2020, they were less spectacular that what is anticipated for the one we will get on May 26th. That’s because this month’s total lunar eclipse will have a more obvious darkening phases as the moon passes through the umbra, Earth’s inner, darker shadow.
The eclipse will be at least partly visible in the Americas, Australia, New Zealand and Asia, while the total phase will only be seen from some of these locations. In the case of North America, the eclipse’s total phase, the time during which the moon turns orange or red in color, will only be seen from the western U.S., British Columbia, Alaska and parts of western Mexico.
Alternatively, if the full Super Flower Blood Moon has got you curious but you are not in the ideal spot to view from your backyard, livestreams will be hosted by observatories and astronomers around the world.
The west coast is the best coast for this moon
The rest of North America will only see the first part of the eclipse before the moon will set in the western sky. There will still be something worth seeing but it will be a partial view of the entire event.
If you are in the Los Angeles area Wednesday morning these are points worth noting:
Total duration: 4 hours, 6 minutes
Penumbral begins: 1:47 a.m. Wednesday
Partial begins: 2:44 a.m. Wednesday
Full begins: 4:11 a.m. Wednesday
Maximum: 4:18 a.m. Wednesday
Full ends: 4:25 a.m. Wednesday
Moonset: 5:52 a.m. Wednesday
If you are a photographer please be aware that the moon, at any time, is hard to capture without powerful telephoto lenses. A cell phone will retrieve an image but the distant orb will be far more visible with magnification.
The moon has many meanings and astrologically the event is significant also
Any discussion of all things lunar, blood moons and eclipses would certainly be congruent with a taste of the astrological perspective. We have it on good authority that this will be a Sagittarius full moon. There haas been prognostication that this will be a very challenging and “difficult” full moon eclipse, there are also signs that it will mark triumphs for some in the career dept., even accolades and awards.
A “major project” could be coming to a happy conclusion. As is always the case with Full moon lunar eclipses, if things are unclear and seem oddly incomplete, waiting 30 days can often bring the resolution that you are awaiting.
Above: Photo Collage / Lynxotic / Oregon State University Press
Lessons to how we can better listen to the wisdom of plants
A blend of scientific, indigenous and personal experiences is where author Robin Wall Kimmerer memoir will take readers as she explores the relationship between humans and nature.
Robin’s first book, was also a collection of essays “Gathering Moss“. Her Second will follow suit and dig deeper into the genre while expanding the subject matter by way of a series of personal essays. She is devoted to focusing our attention on restoring ecological communities and humans’ relationship with land.
The view that Natural resources are not unconditionally “given” and should not be viewed as property but instead “gifts” from mother nature is a persistent thread of the narrative.
“I think now that it was a longing to comprehend this language I hear in the woods that led me to science, to learn over the years to speak fluent botany.”
Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer
Kimmerer is a botanist, teacher and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, and with that pedigree she is able to write about her lessors from plants, animals and nature from both a scientific and spiritual perspective.
With her wealth of knowledge she has appeared in many YouTube videos as a guest speaker including below in “Gifts of the Land”.
We’ve provided a closer look at Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerers, along with a description, provided courtesy of Bookshop.org (and the publisher), and added some links for a variety of options where to purchase.
Braiding Sweetgrass:Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teaching of Plants
As a botanist and professor of plant ecology, Robin Wall Kimmerer has spent a career learning how to ask questions of nature using the tools of science. As a Potawatomi woman, she learned from elders, family, and history that the Potawatomi, as well as a majority of other cultures indigenous to this land, consider plants and animals to be our oldest teachers.
Drawing on her life as an indigenous scientist, and as a woman, Kimmerer shows how other living beings–asters and goldenrod, strawberries and squash, salamanders, algae, and sweetgrass–offer us gifts and lessons, even if we’ve forgotten how to hear their voices.
In reflections that range from the creation of Turtle Island to the forces that threaten its flourishing today, she circles toward a central argument: that the awakening of ecological consciousness requires the acknowledgment and celebration of our reciprocal relationship with the rest of the living world.
For only when we can hear the languages of other beings will we be capable of understanding the generosity of the earth, and learn to give our own gifts in return.
What you didn’t even know you needed: a zombie heist movie!
Director Zack Snyder has been hard at work. As most are patiently awaiting the upcoming “Justice League” movie to drop on HBO Max on March 18, 2021, another entertainment gem has landed on our laps.
Now “Army of the Dead” is here and will follow to an online audience on May 21st after first going for the live in theater crowds, newly legal across the USA.
The initial theatrical only stint will be the widest release in company history after limited engagements for Oscars hopefuls in recent years. Naturally, this has caught the attention of the entire entertainment industry
A new teaser trailer for the next action packed film by Snyder, this time for the Netflix streaming platform has dropped called “Army of the Dead”.
According to Netflix, the film will follow a group of fearless mercenaries who decide to take the ultimate gamble during a zombie outbreak in Las Vegas. The group breaks away from the quarantine zone to pull off one of the wildest heists ever attempted.
“It is a full-blown, balls-to-the-wall zombie heist movie, so it’s genre-on-genre in a great way,” Snyder told EW.com. “So you expect pure zombie mayhem, and you get that, 100 percent. But also you get these really amazing characters on a fantastic journey. It’s going to surprise people that there’s a lot of warmth and real emotion with these great characters.”
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The movie will be released to stream on Netflix on May 21, 2021, with plans to make the film into a franchise in the form of a prequel anime series.
Starring Dave Bautista, Ella Purnell, Ana de la Reguera, Matthias Schweighöfer, Tig Notaro, Nora Arnezeder, Hiroyuki Sanada, Raúl Castillo, Michael Cassidy, and Garret Dillahunt.
Singer Grimes made a cameo and was present alongside partner Elon Musk on the recent Saturday Night Live episode. The artist posted photos taken backstage, including with musical guest Miley Cyrus, a few days later, adding that she was recently hospitalized due to a panic attack.
This isn’t the first time Grimes has been open and shared information about her mental health issues, explaining in a 2012 interview she struggled with bad social anxiety and sometimes experienced panic attacks.
Grimes played Princess Peach in a Super Mario type themed sketch. It was also revealed the two went to a crypto-themed after party. Its not exactly clear if social anxiety or other factors played into those situations.
The artist also posted the following on her Instagram page:
Forgot to post these cuz I somehow caused myself to have a panic attack and went to the hospital yesterday which tbh was quite scary and I suppose it’s a good time to start therapy 😑😑😑. But nonetheless – wowwwww @mileycyrus is good live and so chill! So grateful to the SNL team for being so kind and letting me sneak in as princess peach snd so proud of my beautiful E (which I know will upset the grimes fans so I apologize in advance) but he killed it
National Alliance on Mental Health
Grimes sharing her struggles only helps to highlight the reality that millions of Americans face daily with mental health issues. The month of May also happens to be mental health awareness month. Now you are not alone. If you are struggling and need support. The NAMI HelpLine can be reached Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.–8 p.m., ET. 1-800-950-NAMI (6264) or info@nami.org
Sometimes it seems like the truth is hidden. Not just hidden but deliberately withheld while obfuscation and misdirection are everywhere. If you want to learn about how to survive, how to live and prosper, more and more it feels like the superficial sources (including “free” online articles) are pushing an agenda.
And don’t even think about social media – we all know where the interests of Facebook lie. In fitness they call it “no pain – no gain” and the mental equivalent of that is reading. Not that it has to be painful! Quite the contrary. But it is the act of digging deeper, of passing over the fist 50 google search results, or, hell, switching to a different engine, it’s the extra effort that often reveals the gold.
Based on all of the above it only makes sense to put together a list of new, hot and meaningful books you may not have seen. With so much going on in all our lives, even the proven authors and the clearly fascinating can escape our notice. Accordingly, with the help of descriptions by Bookshop.org and the various publishers, below a selection of the cream of the current crop, along with options showing where they can be procured…
So if you are a beginner an intermediate or even advanced learner that wants to know more, these are the best books to really dig into the phenomena and explosion of information and viewpoints. To make it easier they are featured front and center, below, along with descriptions, provided courtesy of the Bookshop (and the various publishers), and with some links for a variety of options of where to purchase.
Fortunately, we are still a nation of skeptics. Fortunately, there are those among us who study pandemics and are willing to look unflinchingly at worst-case scenarios. Michael Lewis’s taut and brilliant nonfiction thriller pits a band of medical visionaries against the wall of ignorance that was the official response of the Trump administration to the outbreak of COVID-19.
The characters you will meet in these pages are as fascinating as they are unexpected. A thirteen-year-old girl’s science project on transmission of an airborne pathogen develops into a very grown-up model of disease control. A local public-health officer uses her worm’s-eye view to see what the CDC misses, and reveals great truths about American society.
A secret team of dissenting doctors, nicknamed the Wolverines, has everything necessary to fight the pandemic: brilliant backgrounds, world-class labs, prior experience with the pandemic scares of bird flu and swine flu…everything, that is, except official permission to implement their work.
Michael Lewis is not shy about calling these people heroes for their refusal to follow directives that they know to be based on misinformation and bad science. Even the internet, as crucial as it is to their exchange of ideas, poses a risk to them. They never know for sure who else might be listening in.
The Bomber Mafia: A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War
In The Bomber Mafia, Malcolm Gladwell weaves together the stories of a Dutch genius and his homemade computer, a band of brothers in central Alabama, a British psychopath, and pyromaniacal chemists at Harvard to examine one of the greatest moral challenges in modern American history. Most military thinkers in the years leading up to World War II saw the airplane as an afterthought. But a small band of idealistic strategists, the “Bomber Mafia,” asked: What if precision bombing could cripple the enemy and make war far less lethal?
In contrast, the bombing of Tokyo on the deadliest night of the war was the brainchild of General Curtis LeMay, whose brutal pragmatism and scorched-earth tactics in Japan cost thousands of civilian lives, but may have spared even more by averting a planned US invasion. In The Bomber Mafia, Gladwell asks, “Was it worth it?” Things might have gone differently had LeMay’s predecessor, General Haywood Hansell, remained in charge.
Hansell believed in precision bombing, but when he and Curtis LeMay squared off for a leadership handover in the jungles of Guam, LeMay emerged victorious, leading to the darkest night of World War II. The Bomber Mafia is a riveting tale of persistence, innovation, and the incalculable wages of war.
Billie Eilish is a phenomenon. With distinctive visual flare and darkly poignant lyrics that are unparalleled among music icons of the 21st century, Billie is a musician who stands out from the crowd. Between her record-shattering award-winning music and her uncompromising and unapologetic attitude, it’s no surprise that her fanbase continues to grow by millions month after month. She is that rare combination of wildly popular and highly respected for her prodigious talent, a once in a generation superstar. Now in this stunning visual narrative journey through her life, she is ready to share more with her devoted audience for the first time, including hundreds of never-before-seen photos.
This gorgeous book will capture the essence of Billie inside and out, offering readers personal glimpses into her childhood, her life on tour, and more. A must-have for any fan.
The Anthropocene is the current geologic age, in which humans have profoundly reshaped the planet and its biodiversity. In this remarkable symphony of essays adapted and expanded from his groundbreaking podcast, bestselling author John Green reviews different facets of the human-centered planet on a five-star scale–from the QWERTY keyboard and sunsets to Canada geese and Penguins of Madagascar.
Funny, complex, and rich with detail, the reviews chart the contradictions of contemporary humanity. As a species, we are both far too powerful and not nearly powerful enough, a paradox that came into sharp focus as we faced a global pandemic that both separated us and bound us together. John Green’s gift for storytelling shines throughout this masterful collection. The Anthropocene Reviewed is a open-hearted exploration of the paths we forge and an unironic celebration of falling in love with the world.
From preeminent math personality and author of The Joy of x, a brilliant and endlessly appealing explanation of calculus–how it works and why it makes our lives immeasurably better.
Without calculus, we wouldn’t have cell phones, TV, GPS, or ultrasound. We wouldn’t have unraveled DNA or discovered Neptune or figured out how to put 5,000 songs in your pocket.
Though many of us were scared away from this essential, engrossing subject in high school and college, Steven Strogatz’s brilliantly creative, down-to-earth history shows that calculus is not about complexity; it’s about simplicity. It harnesses an unreal number–infinity–to tackle real-world problems, breaking them down into easier ones and then reassembling the answers into solutions that feel miraculous.
Infinite Powers recounts how calculus tantalized and thrilled its inventors, starting with its first glimmers in ancient Greece and bringing us right up to the discovery of gravitational waves (a phenomenon predicted by calculus). Strogatz reveals how this form of math rose to the challenges of each age: how to determine the area of a circle with only sand and a stick; how to explain why Mars goes “backwards” sometimes; how to make electricity with magnets; how to ensure your rocket doesn’t miss the moon; how to turn the tide in the fight against AIDS.
As Strogatz proves, calculus is truly the language of the universe. By unveiling the principles of that language, Infinite Powers makes us marvel at the world anew.
Eric Ripert is the chef and co-owner of the acclaimed restaurant Le Bernardin, and the winner of countless Michelin stars, well known for his exquisite, clean, seafood-centered cuisine. But lately, Ripert has found himself reaching for vegetables as his main food source–and doing so, as is his habit, with great intent and care. In Vegetable Simple, Ripert turns his singular culinary imagination to vegetables: their beauty, their earthiness, their nourishing qualities, and the many ways they can be prepared.
From vibrant Sweet Pea Soup to Fava Bean and Mint Salad, from warming Mushroom Bolognese to Roasted Carrots with Harissa, Eric Ripert articulates a vision for vegetables that are prepared simply, without complex steps or ingredients, allowing their essential qualities to shine and their color and flavor to remain uncompromised. Complete with gorgeous photos by renowned photographer Nigel Parry, this is a necessary guide for the way we eat today.
Was it really a knock on Crypto, or was there a hidden plug in the details?
Elon’s big night in NYC was awkward, as expected and he should probably keep his day job. The highlight, for pretty much everyone on earth (not sure about mars), was the Weekend Update segment where Musk appeared as Lloyd Ostertag, a crypto “expert” dressed in professorial garb.
Watch the clip below, and you will notice that, although the punchline was a dis’ on Doge, saying, or rather “admitting” that it’s a “hustle”, a detailed listening to Musk’s entire speech reveals some gems that go in the opposite direction, for those that follow crypto, and, well, money.
The dollar is just as real (or unreal) as DogeCoin
In a comedy skit looking like it was designed to avoid scrutiny by the SEC, the writers at SNL, presumably with Musk’s help, decided to put a negative spin on both mentions of DOGE during the show. First, in an exchange with his Mom, Maye, Musk sheepishly grins and nods after she says she “hopes it won’t be DogeCoin” referring to her Mother’s day gift.
He eventually capitulates and, after saying that DogeCoin is “about as real as that dollar” he “concedes” that “it’s a hustle”.
Elon Musk, as LLoyd Ostertag on Saturday Night Live, May 8th 2021
Later, in the “Weekend Update” segment Musk plays “Lloyd Ostertag” who calls himself the “DogeFather” – and the anchors ask repeatedly, in a somewhat dismissive tone, “what is DogeCoin?”. The gag is that he, as Ostertag, eventually capitulates and, after saying that DogeCoin is “about as real as that dollar”, “concedes” that “it’s a hustle”.
While the bulk of his appearance in the segment does reconfirm and support his actual views, in a smirking and slightly deprecating way, as Ostertag”, it also underscores a deeper truth that cryptocurrencies are “as real as the dollar” (some would say more real). However, in the end, the punchline is a negative way to sweep all of that away, with a nod to Buffet, Munger and the SEC, thereby toeing the line and insuring himself one less courtroom headache.
DOGE has the last laugh? Is Crypto dead? Doubtful…
As of Sunday, May 9th, DOGE is hovering around .51 cents. The Muskian peak was .74 cents on May 7th. This means that, although there was a decline on the “news” that Musk would not break the SEC rules by blatantly pumping DogeCoin on live national TV, the coin is still up approximately 33% for the week, 734% for the last month and 19,446% for the last year. And, according to Elon Musk, aka Lloyd Ostertag, aka the DogeFather, it is “about as real” as that dollar in your pocket.
Sometimes, lost in all the hype and hoopla are gems that just don’t quite make it into the forefront of the mainstream. We make it our mission to keep our eyes open and be on the hunt for just those kinds of gems. Perhaps it’s an idea, or a thread of meaning, or maybe just something that is boiling under the surface about to explode like a geyser in Yellowstone Park.
Here are a few books, and the idea of a physical book itself is also one of those overlooked genius things that seems to slip past us everyday, and these are just the kind that only the eagle-eyed may have noticed previously. To make it easier they are featured front and center, below, along with descriptions, provided courtesy of the Bookshop, and some links for a variety of options to purchase.
Infinite Powers: How Calculus Reveals the Secrets of the Universe
From preeminent math personality and author of The Joy of x, a brilliant and endlessly appealing explanation of calculus–how it works and why it makes our lives immeasurably better.
Without calculus, we wouldn’t have cell phones, TV, GPS, or ultrasound. We wouldn’t have unraveled DNA or discovered Neptune or figured out how to put 5,000 songs in your pocket.
Though many of us were scared away from this essential, engrossing subject in high school and college, Steven Strogatz’s brilliantly creative, down-to-earth history shows that calculus is not about complexity; it’s about simplicity. It harnesses an unreal number–infinity–to tackle real-world problems, breaking them down into easier ones and then reassembling the answers into solutions that feel miraculous.
Antitrust enforcement is one of the most pressing issues facing America today–and Amy Klobuchar, the widely respected senior senator from Minnesota, is leading the charge. This fascinating history of the antitrust movement shows us what led to the present moment and offers achievable solutions to prevent monopolies, promote business competition, and encourage innovation.
In a world where Google reportedly controls 90 percent of the search engine market and Big Pharma’s drug price hikes impact healthcare accessibility, monopolies can hurt consumers and cause marketplace stagnation. Klobuchar–the much-admired former candidate for president of the United States–argues for swift, sweeping reform in economic, legislative, social welfare, and human rights policies, and describes plans, ideas, and legislative proposals designed to strengthen antitrust laws and antitrust enforcement.
Klobuchar writes of the historic and current fights against monopolies in America, from Standard Oil and the Sherman Anti-Trust Act to the Progressive Era’s trust-busters; from the breakup of Ma Bell (formerly the world’s biggest company and largest private telephone system) to the pricing monopoly of Big Pharma and the future of the giant tech companies like Facebook, Amazon, and Google.
She begins with the Gilded Age (1870s-1900), when builders of fortunes and rapacious robber barons such as J. P. Morgan, John Rockefeller, and Cornelius Vanderbilt were reaping vast fortunes as industrialization swept across the American landscape, with the rich getting vastly richer and the poor, poorer.
She discusses President Theodore Roosevelt, who, during the Progressive Era (1890s-1920), busted the trusts, breaking up monopolies; the Clayton Act of 1914; the Federal Trade Commission Act of 1914; and the Celler-Kefauver Act of 1950, which it strengthened the Clayton Act. She explores today’s Big Pharma and its price-gouging; and tech, television, content, and agriculture communities and how a marketplace with few players, or one in which one company dominates distribution, can hurt consumer prices and stifle innovation.
The Curse of Bigness: Antitrust in the New Gilded Age
From the man who coined the term net neutrality, author of The Master Switch and The Attention Merchants, comes a warning about the dangers of excessive corporate and industrial concentration for our economic and political future.
We live in an age of extreme corporate concentration, in which global industries are controlled by just a few giant firms — big banks, big pharma, and big tech, just to name a few.
But concern over what Louis Brandeis called the curse of bigness can no longer remain the province of specialist lawyers and economists, for it has spilled over into policy and politics, even threatening democracy itself. History suggests that tolerance of inequality and failing to control excessive corporate power may prompt the rise of populism, nationalism, extremist politicians, and fascist regimes.
In short, as Wu warns, we are in grave danger of repeating the signature errors of the twentieth century. In The Curse of Bigness, Columbia professor Tim Wu tells of how figures like Brandeis and Theodore Roosevelt first confronted the democratic threats posed by the great trusts of the Gilded Age–but the lessons of the Progressive Era were forgotten in the last 40 years. He calls for recovering the lost tenets of the trustbusting age as part of a broader revival of American progressive ideas as we confront the fallout of persistent and extreme economic inequality.
The classic that launched the environmental movement
Rarely does a single book alter the course of history, but Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring did exactly that.
The outrcrythat followed its publication in 1962 forced the banning of DDT and spurred the revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water.
Carson’s passionate concern for the future of our planet reverberated powerfully throughout the world, and her eloquent book was instrumental in launching the environmental movement.
This is without question one of the landmark books of the twentieth century. The introduction, by the acclaimed biographer Linda Lear, tells the story of Carson’s courageous defense of her truths in the face of a ruthless assault form the chemical industry following the publication of Silent Spring and before her untimely death.
Above: Final Official Trailer / A Quiet Place Part II
Will you venture out into theaters to watch Part 2…?
Over a year of release date delays, “A Quiet Place Part II” is almost on its way to theaters, Paramount Pictures has a May 28, 2021 release date and has released the final official trailer for the sequel. Along with the trailer, below is a featurette with a sneak peak of what’s to come, along with some behind the scenes/ commentary.
Director and costar of the first movie, John Krasinski comes back in front of camera to personally invite audiences to scream alongside fellow horror fans.
“It was always designed for a theatrical experience,” Krasinski promises. “It’s much bigger. It’s a much scarier movie.”
“You want to watch it in the dark,” star Emily Blunt adds, “jump and leap and gasp together.”
“A Quiet Place Part II” was initially scheduled for a 2020 theatrical release, but, as we all know, 2020 plagued movie theaters as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Paramount, therefore opted to delay the movie a full year until 2021.
“A Quiet Place Part II” will be released exclusively in theaters and will not be featuring the title for VOD and streaming. Instead, with Paramount’s new agreement, the movie will be in theaters and then provide streaming the streaming option on Paramount+ 45 days after its premiere in theaters, some time in July.
The bonds between fathers and sons, as seen through the eye of their mothers
The inspiration for the Duchess of Sussex’s first book started from a poem Megan wrote for Prince Harry after their son Archie was born for Father’s day. The poem then evolved into a story, the book will capture the special bond and relationship between fathers and sons from all walks of life, as described by mothers.
As news relating to the upcoming release of Markle’s debut book, reports began to surface speculating potential plagiarism with another children’s book “The Boy on the Bench” by Corrinne Averiss. The only real similarity between the two titles is they both have the word “bench”, aside from this, Averiss took to Twitter to defend the Duchess stating “I don’t see any similarities”.
“The Bench” includes illustrations by Christian Robinson, a Caldecott Award winner, who has worked with both Pixar and Sesame Street Workshop. Markle and Robinson worked together to make sure the final product was inclusive and shared a universal message every kind of family could relate to.
In a statement from Random House Children’s Books, Markle said “Christian layered in beautiful and ethereal watercolor illustrations that capture the warmth, joy, and comfort of the relationship between fathers and sons from all walks of life,” and continued to say “This representation was particularly important to me, and Christian and I worked closely to depict this special bond through an inclusive lens.
My hope is that The Bench resonates with every family, no matter the makeup, as much as it does with mine.”
The Duchess of Sussex, Meghan Markle, already holds so many titles: she is a wife, a mother, feminist, activist, and now will be adding author to her list of accomplishments.
— Random House Children's Books (@randomhousekids) May 4, 2021
“The Bench” will mark the latest venture for the Duchess after stepping back from the Royal Family and moving to the United States in 2020. Prince Harry and Meghan have also launched a podcast in partnership with Spotify Archewell Audio. The two also have plans to work on a Netflix documentary based on the Invictus Games which the Prince founded back in 2014.
Unlike what they say about missing sleep, stress can build up over weeks, months even years. True to the “silent killer” moniker it can eventually kill you. After basically the entire world has been in an extra stressful situation due to covid and the economic fallout from the preventative measures taken to stop it, we all need to begin finding ways, not only to reduce the current stress levels, which are likely high, but to work off the effects of the accumulated stress that has been building for at least a year.
And that is not accounting for the “normal” stresses we all face individually in our own worlds, lives and due to our own unique problems.
Enter the practice and lifestyle benefits of yoga. Estimates of the origins of Yoga peg the beginnings at at least five thousand years and believe the practice could have been developed as long ago as ten thousand. The study of yoga goes beyond just the familiar “pretzel poses” and encompasses a way of life and philosophy that is universal.
According to the “Yoga Sutras of Patanjali” (wikipedia: Sutra in Indian literary traditions refers to an aphorism or a collection of aphorisms in the form of a manual or, more broadly, a condensed manual or text. Sutras are a genre of ancient and medieval Indian texts found in Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism.) there are eight “limbs” to the path of yoga:
1. yama (moral restraints) – how we relate to others 2. niyama (observances) – how we relate to ourselves 3. āsana (posture) – how we relate to our body 4. prāṇāyāma (breath extension) – how we relate to our breath or spirit
5. pratyāhāra (sensory withdrawal) – how we relate to our sense organs 6. dhāraṇā (concentration) – how we relate to our mind 7. dhyāna (meditation) – moving beyond the mind 8. samādhi (meditative absorption) – deep realization and inner union (quoted from http://ashtanga-yoga-victoria.com/what-are-the-eight-8-limbs-of-yoga/)
As can be seen from the list above there are many levels of thought and action that can all coalesce to form a bulwark against stress and to improve the enjoyment of life as a whole. Wherever you begin and at whatever level your journey brings you to, any interaction with these thoughts, actions and choices can enhance your life in some way.
Even the simplest meditation or reflection on our breathing and its connection to our inner spirit can cause an instantaneous reduction in stress and psychic pain. Below we’ve put together a variety of books that could represent a first step toward discovering how yoga, in whatever level or aspect your choose to explore, can reduce stress and help you take a huge step on the road to recovery.
Descriptions are courtesy of bookshop.org and the individual publishers:
A stand alone practice companion and beautiful coffee table book, Yoga: A Manual for Lifeis for anyone interested in yoga, mindful movement and meditation, and exploring how these practices fit within the modern world.
As well as an extensive guide to poses, this book features a number of picture-led sequences with specific targets in mind: to combat stress and fatigue, to ground, to uplift, to inspire creativity and to sleep better.
These sequences are underpinned with essays on yoga’s relationship with different aspects of life, such as yoga and discipline, yoga and self-care, and yoga and difficulty.
Peppered throughout the book are mindful life hacks–simple ways to take yoga’s message of radical self-care off the mat and into daily life. Click here to see “Yoga: a Manual for Life” also available on Amazon.
Are you seeking balance, healing, and a calmer mind? Unlike active styles of yoga that focus on stretching and movement, restorative yoga emphasizes mindful rest by using props to support your body in complete comfort and relaxation–no flexibility required!
Whether you already practice yoga or are just getting started, Restorative Yoga is your step-by-step guide to deepening the connection between your body and mind. Click here to see “Restorative Yoga” also available on Amazon.
Yoga: Relaxation, Postures, Daily Routines
Click here to see “Yoga” also available on Amazon.
Yoga is a popular physical, mental, and spiritual discipline that originated in ancient India.
Various traditions of yoga can be found in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, and in recent years Western culture has embraced yoga’s power of simplicity, stillness and mental poise.
This accessible new book focuses on a series of exercises, body motions and self-disciplines that offer the benefits of yoga to everyone.
Featuring specially commissioned practical photography, step-by-step instruction, and an introduction to the entire scope of the system of yoga. Click here to see “Yoga” also available on Amazon.
Restorative yoga offers the body a chance to rest deeply and revitalize. Whether you are feeling weak, fatigued, stressed from daily activities, or simply need to slow down and tune into your body, this wonderfully adaptive practice is essential for well being.
Many of the practices are simple and accessible for people of all ages and in all states of health, using props that are readily available–like pillows and chairs. These deeply relaxing poses help you. Click here to see “Restore and Rebalance” also available on Amazon.
Yin yoga offer remedies to the stresses of your busy yang life. Each restorative pose targets your deeper fascia and connective tissues, helping you experience increased flexibility and improved joint health.
Yin yoga also focuses on deep breathing and longer hold times, allowing you the time and space to clear your mind and enhance your mental acuity.
These meditative poses will help you attain a renewed sense of mindfulness and physical well-being, making them the perfect complement to an active yang lifestyle and helping bring you back into balance. Click here to see “Yin Yoga” also available on Amazon.
Sleep Recovery: The Five Step Yoga Solution to Restore Your Rest
Insomnia is reaching epidemic proportions: more than half of us will suffer from a sleep problem during our lifetimes.
In this practical, compassionate guide, renowned yoga teacher and sleep specialist Lisa Sanfilippo shows how to sweep out sleep saboteurs and rest wreckers, putting in place sustainable strategies that will boost your energy during the day, and help you access a good night’s rest.
As we began this article above sleep was mentioned and, in contrast to our initial statements, recovery is also possible and yoga is one way that improvement, that so many of us desperately seek, is available. We hope you enjoyed this selection of books to help combat stress and ask that you please visit us again and also our sister sites Cherrybooks and InforMinx.
Made for Love, is a new half-hour dramedy series streaming now on HBO Max. The first three episodes were released on April fools day, (not sure if this is significant) and there are seven more episodes that will come out in a subsequent 2 bundles all available as of April 15th.
Although there may be a familiar vibe for those who enjoyed “Palm Springs”, the Hulu production, there are also some meaningful differences. “Made for Love” is mining the rich ground where love and disaster intersect. The united front in the face of chaos is no longer central to the themes.
The twin or triumvirate of themes, all dark yet at times ridiculously amusing are woven well. Those that have an appetite for the dystopia of tech and romance will be right at home and feel an affinity for the tone.
From HBO: Made for Love is a darkly absurd and cynically poignant story of love and divorce. It follows Hazel Green (Cristin Milioti), a thirty-something woman on the run after 10 years in a suffocating marriage to Byron Gogol (Billy Magnussen), a controlling tech billionaire.
Synopsis: “A woman is on the run after 10 years in a suffocating marriage to a tech billionaire, who has implanted a monitoring device in her brain, allowing him to track her, watch her and know her “emotional data” as she tries to regain her independence.”
Above: Emilia Clarke in “above Suspicion” Credit: HULU
After 2019’s ‘Last Christmas RomCom, finally some gritty drama and action from the G.O.T. star
Coming just hours ahead of the new trailer for “Black Widow“, we are gifted with two films coming soon with the most dynamic female actors in action and drama. Long synonymous with Game of Thrones, Emilia Clarke is now branching out and, after the cute but less weighty “Last Christmas” outing in 2019, we now can feast on her upcoming role via the brand new trailer for her upcoming thriller, “Above Suspicion”.
With a release scheduled for next month, the film also stars Fargo‘s Jack Huston as a crime partner – and Jackass star Johnny Knoxville, who rounds out the main desperado ensemble.
Phillip Noyce (Salt; Netflix series What/If) helmed the project and it was written by Chris Gerolmo. “Above Suspicion” is actually based on a true story and “one of the most notorious crimes in FBI history”.
According to the official synopsis: “This gritty crime-thriller stars Emilia Clarke as Susan Smith, a young woman desperate to escape a seedy life of crime and drugs in a Kentucky coal mining town. When a newly minted FBI agent named Mark Putnam recruits Susan as his informant for a high-profile case, she believes her bad luck may finally be changing. But as Susan and Putnam’s relationship deepens, so does the danger, setting them both on a collision course with deadly consequences.”
Above: Emilia Clarke in “above Suspicion”
Above Suspicion will open in US cinemas and on-demand on May 14. A UK release date is not yet confirmed.
Sex, Drugs, Florida, Strip Clubs, what can go wrong?
“Zola” emerged initially as a tweet thread (of approximately 148 tweets) which captivated and vent viral at the time, say around late 2016. The thread was Aziah Wells’ firsthand account of what Rolling Stone has called “The Greatest Stripping Saga ever Tweeted“, which began with an idea, inspired by her work-friend, that it might be fun and profitable to try to make money dancing at strip clubs…
It’s actually spawned a feature film – one that attempts to bring online mash-up ethos and and mind-set to the big screen. Staring Taylour Paige and Riley Keough this genre obliterating dark, wild stab into now had its initial run at Sundance (2020) and has gained adherents enough to gain a theatrical release now that the lock-down is finally abating.
This new trailer will give more than a taste of what’s in store with Zola arriving in theaters (exclusively, at least initially) this summer.
The Dystopian drama will proceed after almost 2 year hiatus
Hulu’s biggest hit series will continue starting on April 28th. After Season 3, almost two years ago, the much loved drama starring Elisabeth Moss will finally return. The series, which was based on the classic novel by Margaret Atwood, revolves around Moss’s character, June, who lives in a world called Gilead, a.k.a. “The Devine Republic, a totalitarian patriarchal theocracy, which belonged to the former continental United States in the Novel. The dystopian society portrays a place where women are oppressed and only used in society for their fertility.
Above: The Handmaid’s Tale Credit: HULU
As per Hulu: In the upcoming fourth season of The Handmaid’s Tale, June (Elisabeth Moss) strikes back against Gilead as a fierce rebel leader, but the risks she takes bring unexpected and dangerous new challenges. Her quest for justice and revenge threatens to consume her and destroy her most cherished relationships.
Synopsis as per IMDB: The Handmaid’s Tale is the story of life in the dystopia of Gilead, a totalitarian society in what was the United States. Gilead is ruled by a fundamentalist regime that treats women as property of the state, and is faced with environmental disasters and a plummeting birth rate.
The trailer (below) reveals a constant struggle for justice against a seemingly hopeless established oppressive order.
The movie makes waves in its portrait of the iconic jazz singer
Grammy nominated singer Andra Day appears in her first lead acting role in the new Hulu film “The United States vs. Billie Holiday”. The film has already earned the actress two Golden Globe nominations, for best original song and for best actress in a motion picture drama.
The film’s cast also includes Trevante Rhodes, Garrett Hedlund, Natasha Lyonne, and Da’Vine Joy Randolph.
The film has been met with some criticism, in the mean time, as some that have already watched the film point out the movie fails to fully encapsulate the vibrance and stardom of Billie Holiday. Yet others offer praise in how the film explores the singer’s rough up-bringing and shines a light on the treatment of African Americans living in a Jim Crow America during the 1940’s.
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The movie follows the jazz singer, chronicling how the government went after her for her ballad, an anti-racist song titled “Strange Fruit” that spoke about the lynching of African American people and racism. For fear that its popularity would spark a civil rights movement, Holiday became the target by the Federal Department of Narcotics with much of the film focusing on her drug addiction as government tries to quiet and derail the star.
“The United States vs. Billie Holiday” streams on Hulu starting February 26, 2021.
