Peter Cook – Wikiwand
In 1961, Cook opened The Establishment, a club at 18 Greek Street in Soho in central London, presenting fellow comedians in a nightclub setting, including American Lenny Bruce. Cook said it was a satirical venue modelled on "those wonderful Berlin cabarets … which did so much to stop the rise of Hitler and prevent the outbreak of the Second World War"
Actieve versus niet-actieve mensen. Hoe zit dat nu juist? – Jan Blommaert (en z’n gedachten)
Het begrippenpaar “actief – niet-actief” klinkt buitengewoon objectief maar het is opvallend hoe de begrippen meteen ook moreel worden geëvalueerd. We kunnen dat zo stellen: "Actieve mensen zijn goed bezig; niet-actieve mensen zijn parasitair en moeten geactiveerd worden." Bovendien zijn deze begrippen ook politiek ingekleurd, en wel op deze manier: "Actieve mensen hoeven geen solidariteit tentoon te spreiden tegenover niet-actieve mensen; deze laatsten worden “in de hangmat gehouden” door socialisten en vakbonden."
Danish numbers
Danish has a rather weird number system.
The Crushing Disappointment of L’Arpège – Eater
Throughout my three-hour meal, a small Pomeranian accompanying a diner sitting behind me barked regularly (albeit at reasonable volume). Waiters ran into each other as if it was everyone’s first day. A staffer set a stack of dirty glasses and empty wine bottles on a trolley inches from my table—and left it there. A runner blew his nose a few feet away; seconds later, he handed me a small casserole dish. There was no toilet paper in the bathroom.
The Staggering Impact of China’s ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative – The Atlantic
Unlike the United States and Europe, China uses aid, trade, and foreign direct investment strategically to build goodwill, expand its political sway, and secure the natural resources it needs to grow. Belt and Road is the most impressive example of this. It is an umbrella initiative of current and future infrastructure projects. In the next decades, China plans to build a thick web of infrastructure around Asia and, through similar initiatives, around the world.
We Can’t Stem the Tide of Language Death – Los Angeles Review of Books
In fact, pitch plays such a huge role in Seenku that it can be “spoken” through music alone, most notably on the traditional xylophone. At last month’s Eid al-Adha celebrations in Burkina Faso, I witnessed a Seenku speaker approach a xylophone player and hold a conversation, but the musician never once opened his mouth: all communication was through the rapid-fire notes he played on the xylophone. This xylophone language accompanies all cultural activities in the village, including funerals, initiation rites, and even traditional healing, but fewer and fewer people are able to understand it. Young people are increasingly reliant on Jula, a major regional language, which gives them access to the city and all that it entails. Before long, the xylophone language will become simply music, aesthetically pleasing but devoid of the immense knowledge that it has contained for generations.
Google and the Resurgence of Italian Design – prototypr
It brings a welcome relief to the ponderously serious design that we see from many other companies, Apple most notably, where there doesn’t seem to be much fun in the design process. And that comes through in the resulting products.
De boemerang van #metoo – De Standaard
Vrouwen gebruiken #metoo om verschillende soorten ongepast gedrag aan te klagen: van obscene commentaren over billenknijpen tot seksuele intimidatie en aanranding. Dit is onfair voor de beide uiteinden van de keten. Wie als zesjarige betast of gepenetreerd werd, vindt wellicht niet dat zijn verhaal recht wordt aangedaan door een hashtag die ook verwijst naar vuilgebekte mannen, zonder onderscheid te maken.
