Friday Odds & Sods is Slightly Soggy but Still Crisp

Apologies, Dear Reader, for last weeks omission in posting.  Alas, the calls of sordid commerce proved an overwhelming distraction.  Fortunately, I have received some much needed down time, allowing a return to more idle pursuits.  Chief among these, of course, is the enjoyment of returning spring weather, but never fret, I have also taken a few moment to provide this weeks Odds & Sods.

• From the Antipodes Department, a website that should be useful for anyone undertaking an subterranean expedition to China this spring
• And turning to our Metropolitan Division, two looks at the housing situation in New York, first on the ironies of gentrification in Little Italy and second at the Ozymandias-like building habits of the rich.
• It is taken as an article of faith in Our Innovatively Disruptive Modern Era that the crowds are wise, that sharing is caring, and that the combined efforts of an infinity of monkeys out does the work of every Shakespeare.  In that spirit, the best pieces of fakery ever to be posted on Wikipedia.  

Friday Odds and Sods is Up Against It

With warmer if soggier weather slowly seeping in, I find myself in a much more upbeat frame of mind as this week comes to an end.  Our ancient ancestor realized, after all, that spring was a time for renewal and rebirth, and after a winter like last one I could do with a bit of both.  While Fitzgerald may have said there were no second acts in American life, that certainly does not leave out the possibility of making a fresh start that incorporates the best of what has come before.  Apologies for the verbosity, but the pleasant weather has given me the freedom to take long walks that allow me to indulge in my favorite pass time, idle speculation.  Hoping that they will give you some pleasure on a sunny spring weekend wherever you are, I present this weeks Odds & Sods.

• Continuing with our apocalyptic theme from last week, two stories of decline and fall on a more personal level, Muhammad Ali and Evan Bayh
• An interesting account of the use of dogs in Dante's Divine Comedy
• While the standard narrative of the Civil Rights Movement is of non-violence overcoming the South's prejudice, this article provides another perspective with a history of Black self-defense in the early 20th Century
• Finally, a pleasant tune for a Saturday in March

Friday Odds & Sods is in Like a Lion

Snow falling in March is something that I, as a son of the Sunny South, have very little experience of.  At any rate, such precipitation is hardly the harbinger of spring that I have been expectantly scanning the horizon for.  Nevertheless, we continue on, if for no reason than for want of a better alternative.  Such thoughts, I am sure, will dissipate with the snow that now lines the sidewalks, but until then, stay warm with some more Odds & Sods.

• For those interested in the mindset behind current events in the Middle East and elsewhere, I recommend these two articles about the attraction of the Caliphate in Muslim thought and the allure of the apocalyptic mindset in general.
• Continuing with the theme of the world's end, an amusing bit of literary archaeology unearths a depiction from 1906 of an abandoned New York in 2015.
• A less cataclysmic story, but one that fits into the category of decline and fall, in this case of the newspaper industry and the barbarian kingdoms arising in their place, such as the Daily Mail Online.
• To close out the week, a song about endings