Matador Network's Blog, page 2302

Watch the history of the earth

When I was a kid, a bunch of Buddhist monks came through our town and spent weeks creating an intricate, massive, beautiful sand mandala. Their work was painstaking: they were using toothpicks on this giant circle with a 30-foot radius. Then, once they finished, they sat back to enjoy their work for a bit, and then took out straws and blew the whole thing away. I remember asking my mother why they would do that, and she told me it was the whole point: to show that nothing is permanent, and that everything that’s beautiful exists only in the span of a couple of moments.

Which is why it feels natural to me that the history of the planet earth should be depicted through the medium of sand art, by artist Jin Ly. If you’ve never seen sand art, check it out: it’s an artform that requires rapid but precise hand movement, and is incredibly cool to watch. [image error]

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50 things you probably didn’t know about the 50 states

A few years back I took a month-long train trip around the United States. After an unsettling experience, where a slightly unhinged woman sitting next to me explained how the NSA was beaming porn directly into her head for four hours straight, I decided that I needed to come up with an effective way to get people to leave me alone. The answer I came up with? Rattling off extraneous trivia about random things. It worked out perfectly for me, because I kind of love trivia.

So if you’re like me and need to keep crazy people from telling you about watching NSA porn (or, you know, if you’re just into state trivia), check out Mental Floss’s video on 50 great pieces of trivia on the 50 states. It should keep the crazies at bay for at least a little while. [image error]

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1 more reason to end marijuana prohibition: Environmental impact from pot farms

Pretty eye-opening Google Earth footage here and some common-sense analysis by environmental sociologist Anthony Silvaggio, who narrates this flyover of the impact from industrial scale pot growers. Bottom line: Because marijuana prohibition has created a situation where present-day laws are all over the map, there is no legitimate industry regulation.

According to some estimates, the 3-6 gallons of water necessary to grow each plant–when multiplied by thousands of plants in industrial scale operations–may account for 20% to 30% of the net flows of local waterways in low-water years.

As with everything else, do you know where your ‘produce’ comes from?

Feature image by eggrole.

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The social conscience of the Oscars

WHEN THE ACADEMY AWARD nominations are announced every January, there are inevitable outcries from the people watching: “No way that movie was better than this other one I saw!” “I can’t believe they snubbed her again!” “When are they going to nominate that incredible voice-over performance?”

But every so often, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences does something historically or socially valuable, as in 1939 when African-American actress Hattie McDaniel was awarded Best Supporting Actress for Gone With the Wind, or when Marlee Matlin — who is deaf — won Best Actress in 1986. To see someone accept such a glamorous, high-profile award in American Sign Language was a landmark moment in disability representation.

Paying enough attention to the Oscars, however inconsistent they may be, can sometimes mean seeing something progressive and important on international television.

This year, many of the nominated films highlight significant and underrepresented issues. The most prominent is Steve McQueen’s beautiful, tragic adaptation of Solomon Northup’s 1853 autobiography 12 Years a Slave, now nominated for nine Academy Awards. McQueen’s movie is a brutal tale of the kidnapping, enslavement, and abuse that Solomon — a former free black man in the pre-Civil War US — undergoes at the hands of several white men and women. The director, lead actor Chiwetel Ejiofor, and writer John Ridley don’t shy away from some of the most horrific acts of torture in any historical feature ever: the rape and beatings of a young female fieldhand (Patsey, played by Lupita Nyong’o) and Solomon’s lynching at the hands of a psychotic plantation overseer. In refusing to flinch at these sights, 12 Years a Slave has been called the “Schindler’s List of slave films,” in that it matches aesthetic beauty to a story of deep sadness, humanity, and ultimately, of hard-earned freedom.

Another major awards contender, Dallas Buyers Club, deals with the HIV/AIDS crisis in the form of a partnership between homophobic sleazebag Ron Woodroof (first-time Oscar nominee [!!] Matthew McConaughey) and transgender HIV-positive Rayon (Jared Leto). The Academy has a history with HIV-related social activist films, giving significant wins and nominations to films like Philadelphia, Longtime Companion, and How to Survive a Plague. But few movies have brought the deep-seated, ignorant discrimination of the LGBTQ community in US society (and, as the film explores, our federal and state policy) to the fore so openly. As Woodroof evolves from opportunistic leech — selling off-the-grid pharmaceuticals to HIV/AIDS victims around the world — to unintentional Queer Rights advocate, the movie earns as many smiles as it does tears. It seems to be a happier world when the Rayons and the Ron Woodroofs can work for the betterment of humanity.

Perhaps the most important and surprising human rights concerns of the 2014 nominees crop up in the Best Documentary category. Joshua Oppenheimer’s truly disturbing The Act of Killing shows the 1965 Indonesian genocide and continuing historical oppression of the country from the perspective of several key murderers, militants, and psychopaths living without punishment. Oppenheimer’s movie has made such an impact around the world that human rights complaints have been filed since with multiple international policing organizations; and his documentary’s subjects, including “king gangsters” Anwar Congo and Herman Koto, experience moments of poetic comeuppance for their unspeakable crimes.

Another amazing film in the same category, The Square, provides a complex discussion of the ongoing Egyptian revolution that began in 2011. Jehane Noujaim’s film is in fact the most illuminating and honest presentation of a frightening, chaotic situation in modern-day Egypt — watching the movie, one gets the impression of watching a key historical document.

That the Academy should nominate these films, along with several other social-issue movies — like Philomena, about child abuse and corrupt clergy in the Catholic Church; and Dirty Wars, Jeremy Scahill’s investigative documentary on America’s covert military operations around the planet — in 2014 should not be dismissed. The Oscars are one of the most-watched programs on international television, so to see these and other prominent subjects highlighted in the nominated movies means more people will be introduced to the problems at hand — awareness will be raised.

Admittedly, there are years where watching the awards ceremony feels like a trial of our collective patience and interest. But in 2014, it just might be that tuning into the Academy Awards could change your life and others’ lives for the better.

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7 signs you're from Pittsburgh

Photo: clyde

1. You are and/or know a yinzer.

Pittsburgh, like the cities of Boston and New York, has its own dialect — most recognizable by the word yinz (plural for “you,” derived from “you ones”). Thus the yinzer is a Pittsburgh native who speaks with the accent and vocabulary unique to this area. You can tell a yinzer by the vowels: double Es become I, and Os are always a nasal AH sound. A yinzer preparing for a Sunday out will say, “Hey yinz, I’m gonna go take a shaher before we go dahntahn n watcha Stillers n’at.”

The yinzer is a dwindling breed. My parents are yinzers, yet I am not. Luckily, there are still a few parts of the city where the accent is alive and well. A map of Pittsburgh highlighting yinzer habitat would look much like a bullseye, with high yinzer activity taking place in the city and outlying areas. The suburbs are sadly mostly yinzer-free.

2. You save a parking spot outside your house with a lawn chair.

In many of the older city neighborhoods, street parking is scarce, and not many homes have driveways. Simple solution: Claim the space in front of your house with an old lawn chair. Nobody will dare move it. Yinzer code.

3. Everything you eat has fries on it.

In Pittsburgh, we love our fries. But we prefer them not on the side, but on top of our food. On all our food. Of course you’ll see this at Primanti Bros., the most famous dive restaurant chain in the Burgh — imagine chewy Italian bread loaded with grilled meat, melted cheese, crispy fries, and vinaigrette coleslaw. But the Pittsburgh steak salad, found everywhere, also better come topped with a mountain of golden fried potatoes.

4. You bleed Black and Gold.

You can’t survive socially in Pittsburgh without some knowledge of how our teams are doing. My husband learned this quickly when he moved to Pittsburgh from England. After years of thinking American football was just a pansy version of rugby, he quickly became a fan of our beloved Steelers. Otherwise, what would he talk about on wintry Monday mornings? Soon, that carried over into baseball and (his favorite) hockey.

Most yinzers follow our teams passionately, to the point where most people you see outside are wearing some form of Pittsburgh sports clothing. Added benefit: You’ll never forget where you are.

5. You can change over three lanes of busy traffic in six seconds.

Heading into the south side of the city from the north, you must cross the Fort Duquesne Bridge. You enter from the left and exit on the right all in about 300 feet. Oh, and there’s also people entering from the right that must exit left. No sweat.

Immediately after exiting the bridge, you then must merge onto the Fort Pitt Bridge from the right, and cross three lanes of traffic to enter the tunnel on the left, while avoiding the traffic entering from the left that needs to exit right. This time, you might have about 400 feet. A true yinzer can do this all with a Primanti’s sandwich in hand and not even drop a fry.

6. You know the view from Mt. Washington is the best skyline vista in the country.

I mean, just look at it.

7. You’re proud of where you’re from, even if nobody else gets it.

The name Pittsburgh often conjures images of smog, smokestacks, and steel mills. This is the Pittsburgh of the past. Today’s Pittsburgh is clean and green — there’s mountain biking in the city’s large parks and kayaking on the three rivers. World-class hospitals in the Burgh employ some of the best doctors in the country, and even Google’s moved into the neighborhood.

Though the mills closed a long time ago, my city owns its heritage. The industrial history lives on in the collective personality of the citizens. We’re proud of who we are: A down-to-earth,

friendly, great big small town.

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How to f*@# up your trip to London

Photo: Doug Wheller

London is objectively one of the coolest cities on the planet. It’s one of those rare places — like New York, Paris, and Tokyo — to which every world traveler worth his or her salt should go. That said, there are a lot of ways to fuck up a trip to London, and a lot of travelers fall prey to them. Here’s how to ruin your trip to the best city in the world.

Mistake British reserve for unfriendliness.

This is the most common charge I hear leveled against Londoners, and it’s also the most baffling. It tends to come from Americans, who are used to friendliness being packaged in a more outgoing, bubbly kind of way. And that’s not how the English look at the world — they tend to be a little more wry, a little more ironic, and a little less open with their emotions.

Americans often mistake this for unfriendliness or rudeness, and that’s just not right. The English are really cool, friendly people when you get to know them, and if you start off thinking you’re being snubbed or insulted, you’re going to sour your interactions for the rest of your trip.

Whine about the weather.

It rains in London. Bring an umbrella. Suck it up.

Complain about the food.

London has pretty poor culinary reputation in American popular culture, and, while it’s not a Paris, New York, or Tokyo, this is mostly undeserved. There’s some delicious food in London — try the Indian, Pakistani, and Middle Eastern food on Brick Lane, or the literally perfect MEATLiquor, which serves exactly what its name promises — but the fact is, while in London, you’re going to be spending a lot of time in pubs. English pub culture is the best, but pub food isn’t good anywhere, so your mushy shepherd’s pie is hardly a surprise.

Be a teetotaler.

Look, there are lots of great places to be sober. London isn’t one of them. It has one of the best drinking cultures on the planet, and you should absolutely partake. Pub culture is my personal favorite — sitting in a nook and drinking low-alcohol beer for hours at a time while talking with friends is about as good as it gets for me. But the bar, club, and music scenes in London are incredible too.

Pub-wise, you can go pretty much anywhere in the city. If you can, avoid Wetherspoon pubs, as they’re franchised and are basically the same no matter where you are. Which isn’t to say they’re bad, just that you should try as many as you can, and get some variety in there. You won’t have any trouble finding them.

As for the charge about the beer being warm, don’t be a dick — cask ales are delicious, and unlike American brews like Coors Light, British beers don’t advertise their temperatures as the key selling point. (You have no control over the temperature, Coors! Stop pretending you do!) There are still cold light beers on tap in most pubs — order those instead.

For bars and nightlife, I prefer the Shoreditch neighborhood in East London, but there are cool spots in Soho and Brixton as well. There are places virtually everwhere in the city, but — especially if you’re an American like myself — remember to not dress like a complete fucking slob. This is London — you should never wear shorts (ever), and when you go out, don’t wear sneakers or t-shirts.

Don’t read up on your history before you go.

London is such a treat for readers and history fanatics that it’s baffling to me that there are people who go without learning about the city ahead of time. It has existed as a city for 2,000 years (with some settlements apparently well before that), so virtually every neighborhood, pub, and street corner has had something significant happen in it. My neighborhood, Spitalfields, was where Jack the Ripper hung out and, you know, murdered prostitutes. A friend of mine living in Bloomsbury was right next door to the Senate Building, which is what George Orwell based the “Ministry of Truth” building on in Nineteen Eighty-Four. My girlfriend lived a block down from 221B Baker Street — the nonexistent home of Sherlock Holmes.

You obviously can’t read everything about London before going, but at least read some Wikipedia articles about the neighborhoods you’re planning on visiting, and if possible, some works of fiction where London plays a central role: From Hell for the comic book or crime fans, virtually any Dickens for the literary types, or Neverwhere for the Neil Gaiman/modern fantasy readers.

Be afraid of being a tourist.

As in any major city, the residents have a love/hate relationship with tourists, and a lot of travelers are very uncomfortable with being identified and treated as a tourist. But London has so many great tourist attractions that this is a good way to ruin the trip. Get your picture taken in front of Big Ben, take a guided tour on top of a double-decker bus, visit the Tate Modern. This isn’t the time to be a snob — enjoy the city. Just be courteous to the people around you.

As a tourist, one of the best places to be in London is at a football game. English football fans make American football fans look tame, and the songs they’re constantly singing make the game so much more fun than pretty much any other sporting match.

Limit yourself to one area.

London has always been a bit of a balkanized city — residents tend to prefer the North Bank or the South Bank, the East End or the West End. That makes each neighborhood and area relatively distinct, which in turn makes the city a huge treat for travelers. Don’t just stick to Central London. You can’t afford it anyway, and there’s too much else to see. Go everywhere you can. You can pick the London you’re going to fall in love with. [image error]

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6 reasons to protect our oceans

Photo: Philippe Guillaume

I’M FROM TORONTO, but for two years I lived on an island in the Caribbean. There, the locals say that from any point on the island you’re never more than 14km away from the sea. The ocean, of course, becomes a big part of the lifestyle; people make their living from fishing, while surfing, diving, and family outings to the beach are commonplace activities.

One of my fondest memories of Martinique is from last year, when I had the opportunity to witness migrating humpback whales and wild spotted dolphins in the open water. I was so excited — I squealed, I pointed, I photographed; I’d never seen anything like it.

Today, I live on another, not-so-Caribbean island: Great Britain. I’m nowhere near open water, but I still feel a connection to the sea. My Martinique experience brought home exactly how precious our oceans are — and how much there is to protect. I care deeply about ocean conservation; here are six reasons you should too.

1. Oceans are the largest ecosystem on Earth and harbor tremendous biodiversity.

Earth’s oceans make up over 90% of the habitable space on the planet, and researchers believe that 50-80% of all life is found underwater — and we’ve barely seen any of it. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, only 5% of the ocean has been explored, potentially leaving thousands, if not millions, of species undiscovered.

Read more about marine conservation: The 5 biggest crises facing our oceans today

Protecting the ocean means protecting all of the Earth’s ecosystems. Beaches, lakes, rainforests, swamps — all rely directly on the health of the ocean. Without it, they will surely suffer too.

2. Oceans are the lifeblood of Earth — if they go, we go with them.

The ocean regulates temperature, generates half the oxygen we breathe, absorbs carbon dioxide (which reduces the effects of climate change), influences the weather, and essentially supports all living organisms on Earth. It’s often the means by which our food and shelter are transported from one place to another. Even more basic than transporting our food, the ocean supplies us with food — one-sixth of the protein we eat, in fact.

3. The ocean is home to some of our oldest and most unique species.

The first species of shark appeared over 420 million years ago, and sea turtles practically live forever (by human standards, anyway). But ocean species also happen to be the most vulnerable. For example, according to the World Wildlife Fund, there are only around 300 North Atlantic right whales left in the world, and threats like coral destruction, ocean acidification, and invasive species are only exacerbating the problems faced by marine life.

4. Future generations of travelers will only read about the marine habitats and beaches we enjoy.

Photo: NOAA’s National Ocean Service

Take good photos, because the next generation will probably need them for textbooks. For example, scientists predict that without drastic change, the long-term survival prospects of most of our remaining coral reefs look bleak.

Sure, travelers of the future may be able to see wildlife in zoos or aquariums — but it’s just not the same. It’s like claiming that eating at a Moroccan restaurant in London is the same as exploring the souks of Marrakech.

I want my descendants to be able to benefit from the same kind of life-altering marine wildlife experiences that I had in Martinique.

5. Coral reef destruction will eventually mean no more diving / snorkeling.

Let’s get selfish for a second: I’ve never seen the Great Barrier Reef, but I would really like to one day, and surely there are plenty of people in the same boat. Diving tourism is extremely popular, and it implies that people truly do value the ocean and marine life, even if only for the reason of enjoying it on a dive trip.

Yet, there are a number of significant threats to coral reefs. One-quarter of the world’s reefs have already been destroyed due to pollution and climate change, as even marginal increases in ocean temperature throw off the delicate balances that keep reefs thriving. At the same time, part of this destruction is caused by travelers themselves — taking pieces of coral as a souvenir, more or less ‘invading’ these places rather than respectfully visiting them. But all people need is a little awareness, which brings me to my next point…

6. You should be concerned about ocean conservation because you can make a difference.

Make informed decisions about which tour companies you use, avoid purchasing souvenirs that exploit marine wildlife, take care of the beach you surf or tan on. Stop using as many plastic products, and only purchase seafood that is certified as sustainable. Educate yourself, because learning about ocean conservation will help you make choices that protect our planet’s most important resource.

This post is sponsored by Contiki, the world leaders in youth travel. Share where you feel closest to nature for a chance to win one of three spots on a Costa Rica Unplugged adventure. Enter the Storytellers: Costa Rica contest here.

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7 endearing images of young people swapping clothes with their parents

WHETHER YOU MAKE fun of the way your parents dress, or secretly can’t wait until you can don your own pair of “Mom Jeans,” this gallery goes beyond “Who wore it best?” I found the following images to be not only an interesting thesis for a photo essay, but sweet examples of parent/child relationships. It’s something to think about it next time your parents criticize your choice of clothing (or vice-versa).

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How to piss off an atheist

Photo: Just Ard

Let’s be honest: We atheists can be pretty easy to piss off. We’re known for being shrill, obnoxious, condescending, and way too willing to pick a fight.

But guess what? You’ve still gotta deal with us. Our numbers increased from 1% of the American population in 2005 to 5% in 2012, and we’re growing in much of the rest of the world as well. If the current trend continues (it will), we’ll all be living in Scandinavian-style atheist utopias someday.

Until then, here are some things you should not do if you want to peacefully coexist with us.

Try to convert us.

Look, most of us have tried the whole religion thing. We’re probably not interested. We’ve grown up seeing the institutional abuse of, say, the Catholic Church, or right-wing political Evangelicalism, and we’ve thought, “You know what? I’m just gonna skip all that mess.”

So when you try and pull us into your particular brand of belief, we’ve usually already made up our minds, and are totally done with organized religion. For some of us, there are very personal histories behind leaving religion. Take the time to learn about that instead.

Tell us we’re going to hell.

Guys, seriously: That threat doesn’t mean anything to us. We don’t believe in hell. We don’t believe in God or the Devil, so it’s basically like saying, “You’re gonna be trampled by a herd of unicorns.” Yeah, no we’re not.

In fact, talking to us in the language of your church in general — calling something we do a sin, for example — is not particularly productive. Many atheists are totally willing to talk to you about your religious beliefs. In fact, given how much we don’t believe in them, it’s kinda shocking how willing we are to talk about religion. Tell us what you believe. Don’t project your beliefs onto us. We should be able to be civil.

Lump us all together.

If you’re starting a conversation with an atheist by saying, “But you guys all believe…” then you’re already wrong. Atheism is the lack of a belief in a God. That’s it. It’s that one act of unbelief that unites us. There’s not necessarily a single common thread otherwise.

Ayn Rand, the libertarian nutcase, was an atheist. So was Joseph Stalin, the communist despot. So was neoconservative Christopher Hitchens. Noam Chomsky, the anarchist, is sometimes identified as an atheist. We can literally have any range of beliefs or opinions outside of our lack of belief in God. Ask us about them, don’t assume you know them.

Say we’re nihilists.

I mean, some of us are. But not all of us believe that life, the universe, and everything are meaningless. Some of us (myself included) believe there are countless ways to fill your life with meaning without belief in a god, and we happen to lead very meaningful, fulfilling lives. It is possible that people get along fine in life by living a different way than you do.

Deny science.

Look, I know when it comes down to a matters of belief, a certain amount of faith is involved, and you may believe some things that aren’t in any way “provable.” We can’t disprove the existence of a god any more than you can prove the existence of one.

But — some things are provable. Like evolution. And climate change. And while there are still plenty of scientific and metaphysical questions yet to be answered, these are not among them. We can have thoughtful conversations, but not if you refuse to be reasonable.

Tell us atheist societies “don’t work.”

Yeah, we’ve heard of Nazi Germany and the USSR. Yes, we know that technically their ideologies were atheistic (though Christopher Hitchens made good arguments that cults of personality share a lot of characteristics with religious societies).

These are hardly the only atheistic societies in history. Buddhism is, in many senses, an atheistic religion. Modern liberal societies — including, you know, the United States — are based on secular principles. Societies without God can work, and pulling out two ugly examples is opening a Pandora’s box you shouldn’t touch unless you want to get an earful about the Inquisition, the Crusades, or Afghanistan under the Taliban.

Tell us you need God to be kind / compassionate / a good person.

If you knew which of your friends were atheists, you wouldn’t say this. Atheists can be kind and caring people without the help of a god or a religion or a possible punishment in the afterlife because, believe it or not, kindness is inherent in some people, and not in others, regardless of religious creed. What you’re basically telling us is, “You can’t be fully human without religion.”

Be disrespectful of our beliefs.

Actually, this should go for everyone. Obviously, there are some beliefs that are impossible to respect (*cough*creationism*cough*nihilism), but for the most part, there’s no reason people shouldn’t be able to believe different things and live together peacefully, as long as their beliefs aren’t hurting anyone.

But atheists can have a huge chip on their shoulder about their beliefs. Sometimes this comes from a history of traumatic experiences with religion, sometimes it comes from complete and total frustration with the irrationality we may (sometimes hypocritically) perceive in other belief systems, but regardless, the best way to deal with it is to start off on respectful ground and then work to the places we disagree. [image error]

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A feel-good way to close out the 2014 Winter Olympics: Make a fake torch run

I’VE BEEN A fan of Improv Everywhere since my first pantless subway ride in 2009 (yes, that’s exactly what it sounds like) — some of their stunts are ridiculous, but what I like about this comedy group the most, is that they are all just about having a good time, and making other people happy.

I find this video to be appropriate to watch as the Olympics come to a close. People around the world have enjoyed watching the achievements of athletes, despite criticisms surrounding Sochi going into the event. It reminds us all that, political issues aside, the Olympics is a time for people around the world to come together, and celebrate the awesomeness of athleticism.

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