The worst place on earth

A quick tour of the steel mill in the BaoGang Steel and Rare Earth Complex in Baotou, Inner Mongolia. Looks like a delightful place to work.

 

Airplanes vs apples - which will triumph?

What is missed

Testing for blinking frequency when exposed to smog
(click image to enlarge)

If you blink, you might miss it. You might miss the wet floor at the threshold, symbolically cleansing you before the meal begins. You might overlook the flower arrangement in the corner, a spare expression of the passing season. You might miss the scroll on the wall drawn with a single unbroken line, signaling the infinite continuity of nature. You might not detect the gentle current of young ginger rippling through the dashi, the extra sheet of Hokkaido kelp in the soup, the mochi that is made to look like a cherry blossom at midnight.

You might miss the water.

― Matt Goulding 

 

I’ll Keep Coming

Get ready for a pertinacious weekend with Low Roar.

 

 

An analysis of YouTube clickbait

I don't do YouTube so my clickbait is purely the title I give my posts. Mine tend to be straight forward, but some, like Updated People, give much less of a clear idea of what the post is about. However, considering my modest traffic I don't think that matters much -- for Flares noticeable bumps in traffic come from links, Instagram (a lot of my pictures get posted there) and off and on from Facebook (although I see the traffic from there, I don't see which post the traffic is going to). 

Also, occasionally an older post will get a bump, presumably from a link somewhere, but the limited traffic analysis tools I have don't allow me to see where it comes from. Regardless, I don't chase traffic, so while its nice to get the odd bumps here and there, it doesn't really matter much to me. Certainly not enough to test different titles and what-not.  

Posters for cartoon shorts

Click any image to enlarge

The old-timey movie going experience was more elaborate than today's trip to the multiplex (assuming people even bother going to movie theaters in these days of streaming services). It was full night of entertainment, with a feature film, a B film, newsreels and cartoon shorts. 

All were advertised to bring in viewers. Cartoons were a popular part of the package and these are posters of some of the cartoons of the day. These examples, and those after the jump, are from 100 Years of Movie Posters category Cartoon Shorts 1928-1964. There are many more examples at that link. 

Superstition

Get ready for a credulous weekend with Martin Miller and Paul Gilbert.