Street art from France
(the artist's site appears to be offline otherwise I'd link to it)
Remote
Steam Powered Frisbee 🥏
@SPF@hear-me.social
mastodon 4.7.3Guy living in New England, he/him
✅ #history, art, #retro pics, and #trivia
✅ #quotations and surprising eloquence spotted in the wild
✅ #baseball, especially the #Boston #RedSox
✅ #antifascism, but not really day-to-day politics (surplus outrage won't help anyone or make me a better citizen)
✅ local / New England stories
and ✅ nerdy jokes
182 Followers
437 Following
39 Posts
Joined July 05, 2023
all the poosts, none of the boosts:
"The Gale"
linocut print by Sybil Andrews
London, 1930
#linocut #printmaking #1930s #UK #sybilandrews #modernism #modernart
At the Cycle-Race Track (Au Vélodrome)
Jean Metzinger, 1911
Metzinger's earlier art had a bright impressionist style like Van Gogh's, and over time he moved toward what would become cubism. I really like the transparent and cubist elements here. But it's still recognizable as a cyclist!
#painting #cubism #cycling #metzinger #velodrome #bikes
I really like this #quote about trusting younger people even when you think they're off track. Voltairine de Cleyre was 41, and a veteran organizer, when she wrote:
"Progress has to do with all mankind, not alone with the calm, the wise, and the patient. There is youth in the world, and youth is generally neither calm nor patient; it does not like to sit in the rear rows and listen to mature considerations rendered in the tone of a stock-market quotation concerning questions that are burning up its heart ….
"There is feeling in the world, and a very great quantity of it; and those who do the suffering and the sympathizing may be expected to say and to do many things not within the limits of logic."
Voltairine de Cleyre, American anarchist and feminist, 1907
#genz #youth #activism #quotes #Anarchism #genalpha #ushistory
Dock Ellis, one of baseball's greatest personalities - and a damn fine pitcher for a few years - wore hair curlers on the field during warmups in 1973. The league commissioner ordered him to stop (because ... ?).
Ellis often called out racial prejudice in baseball and society. In this case he observed "They didn’t put any orders about [Yankees player] Joe Pepitone when he wore a hairpiece down to his shoulders.” American legend. 🫡
#baseball #1970s #blackhistory #hair #pittsburgh
#Rant: A writer on a pretty well-known website was disappointed during pregnancy to learn she was having a boy rather than a girl.
She talked on her YouTube channel about "gender disappointment," and received (surprise surprise) a mixture of support, reminders that gender ≠ sex anyway, and 'WTF is wrong with you.' Now, a year after the birth, she goes into detail about why she would have innately valued a daughter more.
In the end, she loves her 1-year-old little guy. Here's her conclusion: "The one person I do not need to share this story with, though, is my son. My gender disappointment is mine to continue to work through, not his burden to bear. I spent my entire pregnancy sitting with my grief about the gender of my child."
WHAT ABOUT ALL THOSE VIDEOS YOU POSTED, AND THE STORY YOU'RE PUBLISHING RIGHT NOW UNDER YOUR REAL NAME? He's gonna find out. You did not, in fact, "need to share this story" with the public at all. Acknowledge and work through your feelings with your partner, friends, family. I guess sexism and obliviousness really do go hand-in-hand. Poor kid.
"Speedway"
linocut print by Sybil Andrews, 1934
#motorcycles #motorsport #linocut #printmaking #1930s #sybilandrews #modernism #modernart #UK
Boosted by @flargh@mastodon.social
leaflet for a new play in Boston, c.1890
The "Museum" was a theater on Tremont Street. I can't find a date for this production, but they were in business from 1841-1903. More illustrations from the playbill are here: https://www.digitalcommonwealth.org/search/commonwealth:73669x78x
#boston #bostonma #massachusetts #playbills #PussInBoots #illustration #ephemera #theatre #cats #caturday #catsofmastodon #culturalhistory
Rómulo Betancourt, Venezuelan politician, 1958
photo by the great Leo Matiz
Despite how sinister this may appear, Betancourt was crucial to democracy's survival in Venezuela.
#photography #blackandwhite #venezuela #leomatiz #1950s #latinamerica
"There are different kinds of curiosity: one springs from interest, which makes us desire to know everything that may be profitable to us; another from pride, which springs from a desire of knowing what others are ignorant of."
- La Rochefoucauld, Moral Maxim № 173 (1678)
If he's implying that the second kind is worse, then pub #trivia must not have been invented yet in 1678. I want to know; AND I want to vanquish all challengers. Don't talk about my $25 gift card like it's some kind of vice.
#quote #quotes #quotation #larochefoucuald #pubtrivia #curiosity
The Empire Strikes Back
poster for release in Poland, 1983
by Miroslaw Lakomski
prints available here - I think the artist / artist's heirs get a cut?
https://www.projekt26.com/shop-polish-posters/p/miroslaw-lakomski-the-empire-strikes-back
#starwars #empirestrikesback #poland #polska #movieposter #filmposter #vintageposters #1980s #80s #yoda
RIP to Schlitz Beer, and its classic ads
🍺 1/3
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/schlitz-beer-pours-last-glass-rcna346065
#beer #schlitzbeer #Milwaukee #oldadvertising #oldadvertisements #1950s #americana
Bro, I take a multivitamin too but you don't see me hanging banners about it
Well well wellll ... look who just won a series against one of the best National League teams.
The #RedSox!
P.S. seriously though I share everyone's concerns. Grave concerns.
P.P.S. but if you can't be happy for wins, then stop pretending to be a fan
Replying to
@Nerde May I humbly suggest inviting NON-convicted felons to respond? The really successful criminals.
Wet 'n Wild Theme Park
Orlando, Florida
photo by Joel Sternfeld, 1980
#photography #joelsternfeld #colorphotography #florida #orlando #1980s #amusementpark
25 year old man found criminally responsible for the sexual abuse of a child who was 14 at the time, but he gets no punishment, because he was also the "victim" of extortion by the mother of HIS victim. The mother got jail time, deservedly IMO. Strange and sad case.
https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/ex-tampa-bay-rays-star-092454182.html
The nation of Nauru/Naoero may be following eSwatini and Türkiye by changing its English name to be truer to native pronunciation.
<<"Nauru emerged because Naoero could not be properly pronounced by foreign tongues, and was changed not by our choice, but for convenience," the government said in a statement explaining the change.>>
#geography #pacific #oceania #micronesia #Geotrivia #trivia #decolonial #decolonization
"Ah, but it is incredible how often things force one to do the thing one would like to do."
~ Hercule Poirot
(Agatha Christie, 1935)
#quote #quotes #quotation #psychology #necessity #agathachristie
Replying to
@Faintdreams@dice.camp the last vowel can be closer to a short "i"
BAW-stin
but it's not exactly an i. When I'm trying to mask my accent, for one reason or another, then I say BAW-stun. It's seldom a true "o".
The most common mistake outsiders (and comedians) make is they think we stretch words out like Haaaahh-vid or Fenway Paaaahk. That's wrong. The whole dialect is very fast by American standards. We drop some Rs, Ts, and Gs as a way to shorten the words, not to make room for elongated syllables. For example, there's a subway station called Government Center. It's pronounced very quickly with about 3 and a half syllables, like "Gum(ah)mintcenna".
Replying to
@briankrebs@infosec.exchange Am I reading this right that the other 493 firms are showing about 19% annual growth for seven years? That's still quite high
The #RedSox are not quite as bad as they've looked. Please enjoy these rationalizations:
They're 5-5 in their last 10 games, which is better than the Yankees over the same stretch, even though the Sox played tougher teams. Small sample size; but it points in the right direction.
The Red Sox run differential, which is predictive of wins and losses, for the season so far is exactly 0 after today's game. That suggests they are playing *like* a .500 team, but in reality they have one of the worst records in the American League. By contrast, the Blue Jays have the same bad record as the Red Sox but their run differential is -25, which suggests they truly aren't playing well.
Prediction: Boston will be firmly in third place in the division by the end of May.
This is like the ending of a slobs vs. snobs comedy from the early '80s: a Bosnian ball boy ran off with the Italian goalkeeper's notes in a World Cup qualification game.
Was it fair play? I'm not sure. Was it funny? Yes
This is so goddamn stupid that it's hilarious.
Hey, boomers-at-heart in Boston police and city hall – the St. Patrick's parade has never been orderly and sober, *especially* back when you were young 35 years ago.
You're just looking for something to have a moral panic about. Go after drunk drivers, and help anybody who overindulged. Otherwise, chill out
#boston #massachusetts #stpatricksday #drinking #moralpanic #bostonweekend
I love that someone, a priest no less, is choosing to steal baseball cards. In 2026. From a store that sells everything.
Some of us love the game a little too much ⚾
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/priest-episcopal-pittsburgh-stealing-baseball-card-rcna263069
Replying to
@darthnull@infosec.exchange @mnalis@mastodon.online @briankrebs@infosec.exchange Other sources/calculators say the nominal *increase* in the whole index has been 172% over the same time period, equal to 16.45% growth per year. (So $100 invested in January 2019 is $272 now.)
If we strip out the Magnificent 7 firms, maybe that's where 132% increase comes from. Annual growth in the neighborhood of 12% as @darthnull@infosec.exchange said.
Everyone seems to be talking about a thought experiment: "What would the US stock market look like if AI didn't exist?" It's a good question. But cutting out only those seven firms wouldn't really isolate the effects. It's complex and probably impossible to answer, because other non-AI firms are affected by all that borrowing and spending.
I know it's not Halloween season, but:
#labyrinth #80smovies #costumes #fantasy #davidbowie #goblins #halloweencostume
Replying to
@chrisgervais@hachyderm.io I think the hitting will stabilize. We never replaced Bregman's production but the overall lineup should be pretty good.
My concern is that closing a gap in the standings against the Blue Jays or (bleh) Yankees is gonna be really hard even with good luck
The USA's advantage is they get to make up rules that only apply to the other teams. Then they simply declare that "Operation Tremendous Penis No Matter What My Ex-Wives Tell You" has ended in "total victory." Excellent beer and BBQ in the clubhouse after.
Venezuela will be the first team in WBC history to negotiate and accept bribes in real time during the game (brought to you by Fan Duel™). Although the squad is well-funded, the players have to share five gloves between them. 40% of the lineup applies for asylum in the other dugout. And yet, the team survives!
The Dominican Republic is in a great tactical position: win or lose, they can still mock Puerto Rico for not making it as far. And then assault some Haitian migrant workers just for the hell of it. #1 fan vibes in the WBC.
Italy plays well despite going through twelve different managers in the first two innings. Their on-field communication suffers when northerners and southerners colorfully insult each other instead of paying attention. No one's quite sure where their travel budget went; but the clubhouse buffet is world-class.
Italy's Columbus-ing baseball now. Can't have shit in the West Indies
#WBC #wbc2026 #worldbaseballclassic #Italy #PuertoRico #baseball
Boston Legacy FC's inaugural game is kicking off (1pm) vs. Gotham. If you're a cordcutter, you can watch over the air on channel 5. It's also on ESPN.
LET'S GO
#boston #massachusetts #NWSL #legacyfc #bostonlegacy #gothamfc
Replying to
@ErikJonker@mastodon.social Mix of accurate and inaccurate, but enough was right to be eye-opening
What a way to win a baseball game 1-0!
Any one of these catches could be a season highlight, but the third is the best (9th inning, no less)
https://www.mlb.com/gameday/824054/video/jo-adell-robs-three-home-runs-against-the-mariners
Do you know so much yourself that you call the meanest ignorant?
[...]
Do you think matter has cohered together from its diffuse float, and the soil is on the surface, and water runs and vegetation sprouts,
For you only, and not for him and her?
~ Walt Whitman, "I Sing the Body Electric," 1855