Commonplace Reading - Issue #13

Adam Tinworth

Aug 27, 2016 — 3 min read

Welcome to the Bank Holiday. For your reading delight I present:

• modern dystopias

• some historical perspectives

• the good, the bad and the trashy of social media

And some sex and rafting to finish it all off. But not at the same time. Probably.

Such fun!

And you've got three days to enjoy all this!

Dystopias Now

I Went on a Weeklong Cruise For Conspiracy Theorists. It Ended Poorly.

This starts off entertaining and informative. And then takes a twist towards the dark side, and becomes distinctly unsettling. Great reporting.

Ikea's 2017 Catalog Is A Terrifying Glimpse Into The Tiny Apartments Of The Future

Read this to the end - the power of it accumulates along the way.

Historical highlights

Lost cities #10: Fordlandia – the failure of Henry Ford's utopian city in the Amazon

I love these little glimpses into fogotten corners of history. This is the tale of the 1920s motor tycoon trying to build his ideal city in South America. It does not go well.

Seldom-seen photos show what America looked like in the 1940s…in color

Stuff like this keeps cropping up - and it never fails to amaze me how much difference colour makes to our view of the past.

Man Breaks Up With 'New York Times' Crossword Puzzles on Twitter

Once in a while, as I'm despairing of Twitter, something like this comes along to remind me how great it can be.

Popular Youtuber Creates Repulsive Propaganda Music Video For North Korea

The student whose pictures with Usain Bolt have lit up the internet is the one who really won gold

Kiss and tell used to take time. And now it can happen wile the kissing is still in progress. Who'd be a celebrity?

Blizzard changes Overwatch "gg ez" messages into something very different

This is a great, automated solution to trolling. Sure, the trolls will find ways around it - but it'll teach a few a lesson.

Pub(l)ic Service

How to Tell Your Partner About Your Fetish

Shared as a public service. You can spank me… I mean "thank me" later.

And… relax

The Klarälven River

As the summer draws to an end and work beckons, put those full screen, crank up the volume and dream of travelling for a week on a log raft. Dreamy.

This is what holidays look like - in case you've forgotten already,

See you next week - when I'll be in Asia…