All posts by She Seeks Serene

My Journey of Reimagining Life, Love and Education

The New York Times Book Review – October 29, 2023

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THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW (October 29, 2023): This week’s issue features  “A Haunting on the Hill,” by Shirley Jackson; ‘I Feel a Human Deterioration’ – making sense of the violence and loss in Israel; Is It Time to Pull Up Stakes and Head for Mars? – Probably not, Kelly and Zach Weinersmith argue in “A City on Mars”….

A Fitting — and Frightening — Homage to ‘The Haunting of Hill House’

Apparitions, black hares and time warps festoon the pages of Elizabeth Hand’s “A Haunting on the Hill,” set in the same moldering mansion as Shirley Jackson’s classic horror novel.

‘I Feel a Human Deterioration’

Etgar Keret at home in Tel Aviv. “I think that this entire nation is going through PTSD,” he says.

The Israeli writer Etgar Keret has spent the last few weeks trying to make sense of the violence and loss around him. So far, he can’t.

Is It Time to Pull Up Stakes and Head for Mars?

This is a black and white illustration of our solar system.

Probably not, Kelly and Zach Weinersmith argue in “A City on Mars.”

By W. M. Akers

A CITY ON MARS: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through?, by Kelly and Zach Weinersmith


Face it, folks. Earth is finished. It’s overheated, overcrowded, overregulated. It’s the ultimate fixer-upper, a dump we inherited from our parents that we’d be cruel to pass on to our children. It’s time to pull up stakes. It’s time for Mars.

Or maybe not.

Lighting out for the solar system is an appealing fantasy, but “A City on Mars,” an exceptional new piece of popular science by the “Soonish” authors Kelly and Zach Weinersmith, suggests we shouldn’t be so quick to give up on Earth. Forceful, engaging and funny, it is an essential reality check for anyone who has ever looked for home in the night sky.

Travel: A 630-Mile Driving Tour Of The Faroe Islands

Lucas T. Jahn Films (October 27, 2023) – An exploration of 10 of the 18 Faroese Islands, from Viðoy in the north to Suðuroy in the far south. In total, more than 1000 km were driven during the 16 days.

The Faroe Islands is a self-governing archipelago, part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It comprises 18 rocky, volcanic islands between Iceland and Norway in the North Atlantic Ocean, connected by road tunnels, ferries, causeways and bridges. Hikers and bird-watchers are drawn to the islands’ mountains, valleys and grassy heathland, and steep coastal cliffs that harbor thousands of seabirds.

Saturday Morning: News And Stories From London

Monocle on Saturday, October 28, 2023: Terry Stiastny and Carlota Rebelo discuss overnight developments in the Israel-Palestine conflict and the new US House Speaker, Mike Johnson.

Plus, Monocle’s Alexei Korolyov meets the feminist non-binary choir taking Austria by storm. Join Monocle on Saturday every week for a review of the latest news, arts, and culture in the week’s global papers.

The New York Times — Saturday, October 28, 2023

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Israel Intensifies Gaza Strikes and Says It Is Expanding Ground Activity

Clouds of gray smoke rise amid buildings.

Cellular and internet service abruptly vanished for much of the territory, stoking fears that a full-scale invasion was imminent — or already underway.

Saudi Arabia Warns U.S.: Israeli Invasion of Gaza Could Be Catastrophic

Israeli troops during an artillery drill in southern Israel on Monday.

In discussions with their American counterparts, Saudi officials have framed a ground war as a potentially devastating blow to stability in the Middle East.

U.S. Airstrikes Contain Twin Messages to Iran, American Officials Say

The airstrikes were the latest gamble by the United States to modify Iran’s behavior, few of which have worked in the past.

Dave Chappelle and the Perils of Button-Pushing Comedy

His comments on the Mideast conflict have been the subject of news reports, but the polarizing coverage has ignored how comics have treated the situation.

Finance Preview: Barron’s Magazine – Oct 30, 2023

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BARRON’S MAGAZINE – October 30, 2023 ISSUE:

It’s Time to Stop Crying About Bonds—and Buy Them Instead

It’s Time to Stop Crying About Bonds—and Buy Them Instead

Treasuries have had one of their worst three-year stretches on record. Why it can’t get much worse.

Investors Are Worried About U.S. Spending. That’s No Reason to Avoid Bonds.

Investors Are Worried About U.S. Spending. That’s No Reason to Avoid Bonds.

Rising levels of national debt are scary, but higher rates make government bonds your friend.

Big Money Pros Are Split on the Outlook for Stocks. But They Are Fans of Bonds.

Big Money Pros Are Split on the Outlook for Stocks. But They Are Fans of Bonds.

Nearly half of poll respondents consider the U.S. stock market overvalued at current levels.

Byron Wien Had Wall Street’s Attention. The Creator of the 10 Surprises List Dies at 90.

Byron Wien Had Wall Street's Attention. The Creator of the 10 Surprises List Dies at 90.

The longtime market strategist vowed never to retire and worked right up until his death.Long read

HSAs Are a Powerful Tool—for Nearly Everyone, Study Finds

HSAs Are a Powerful Tool—for Nearly Everyone, Study Finds

The Voya Financial analysis assumes employers are contributing to workers’ health savings accounts.

Reviews: ‘The Week In Art’

The Week In Art Podcast (October 27, 2023): This week: the first Kyiv Biennial since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year is taking place in various locations across the wartorn country as well as a host of neighbouring European states.

We talk to the co-curator, Georg Schöllhammer, about this year’s event. As refugees and displaced people continue to dominate the news, a global sound art project, Migration Sounds, aims to explore and reimagine the sounds of human migration and settlement.

We speak to Stuart Fowkes, the founder of Cities and Memory, who has conceived the project with the University of Oxford’s Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (Compas). And this episode’s Work of the Week is Rebirth of a Nation, a mural made for Brixton Underground Station in London by the Ethiopian-Italian artist Jem Perucchini, which is unveiled next week. Jessica Vaughan, the senior curator of Art on the Underground, tells us about the commission.

The Kyiv Biennial continues to unfold into 2024, visit 2023.kyivbiennial.org

Cities and Memory’s Migration Sounds project, citiesandmemory.com/migration; compas.ox.ac.uk

Jem Perucchini: Rebirth of a Nation, Brixton Underground Station, London, from 2 November.

Israel-Hamas War: The Threat Of Hizbullah

The Economist (October 27, 2023) – Hizbullah has been shooting rockets across the Israel-Lebanon border. If it intervenes in the Israel-Hamas conflict, it could lead to serious escalation.

Video timeline: 00:00 – The origins of Hizbullah 01:06 – Its political rise 02:00 – How big a threat is it?

Tours: Italianate ‘Maison Bodega’ In Minneapolis

The Local Project (October 27, 2023) – Liz Gardner of creative studio Bodega Ltd. buys and renovates this heritage house as she had aspired to, having admired it from afar for many years.

Video timeline: 00:00 – Introduction to the Dream House 00:27 – A Hybrid Building In A Historic Location 01:08 – A Walkthrough of the Space 02:03 – The Process of Obtaining the Space 02:35 – The Original Live Work Space Brief 03:40 – Specific Requirements and Constraints 05:22 – An Interesting Material Palette 06:39 – A Focus on Lighting 07:34 – Creating an Accomodation Space

Perched on a hill in a leafy neighbourhood near downtown Minneapolis, the home illustrated a unique style of architecture and boundless potential to renovate. Liz had always felt a long-term draw to the property after witnessing it having been on the market and taken off years prior to her and her partner acquiring it. She describes the building as being dreamlike and perfectly contrasting the hustle and bustle of the city. To her, the dwelling is an anomaly – its style cannot be easily identified.

Exuding notes of Italian-style architecture and a twist of contemporary features, this physical state of the building mirrors the way in which her and her team inhabit it. Amid a location known for its historical heritage homes, Maison Bodega reflects both the past and the present. Looking to the future she, and partner Josef Harris, buys and renovates the house, transforming it into a home and creative space known as Maison Bodega. Taking various design cues from the existing architecture, the hybrid live-work space is a thoughtful blend of heritage and modern interior design sensibilities that caters to parties, workshops, family life for Liz, Josef and their dogs and, most recently, a house tour with The Local Project. Downstairs, the kitchen is undoubtedly a social space.

The New York Times Magazine – Oct 29, 2023

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THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE (October 29, 2023): The latest issue features The Scientists Watching Their Life’s Work Disappear; Can We Save the #Redwoods by Helping Them Move?; ‘It’s Like Our Country Exploded’: #Canada’s Year of #Fire and #ClimateChange Is Keeping Therapists Up at Night….

The Scientists Watching Their Life’s Work Disappear

All the photographs in this article are black-and-white. David Obura holds finger coral.

Some are stubborn optimists. Others struggle with despair. Their faces show the weight they carry as they witness the impact of climate change.

Interviews by Catrin Einhorn

Amid the chaos of climate change, humans tend to focus on humans. But Earth is home to countless other species, including animals, plants and fungi. For centuries, we have been making it harder for them to exist by cutting down forests, plowing grasslands, building roads, damming rivers, draining wetlands and polluting. Now that wildlife is depleted and hemmed in, climate change has come crashing down. In 2016, scientists in Australia announced the loss of a rodent called the Bramble Cay melomys, one of the first known species driven to global extinction by climate change. Others are all but certain to follow. How many depends on how much we let the planet heat.

Can We Save the Redwoods by Helping Them Move?

Redwoods with foliage in a violet specturm. All of the photographs in this article have special color treatment to highlight the foliage.

The largest trees on the planet can’t easily ‘migrate’ — but in a warming world, some humans are helping them try to find new homes.

By Moises Velasquez-Manoff

When Philip Stielstra retired from Boeing in 2012, he needed something purposeful to do. He and his wife, Gay, were casual golfers, but Stielstra, an antiwar activist in college who refused to fight in Vietnam — he worked in a post office instead — wanted a pastime with bigger stakes. Before leaving his job, he received an email from the city of Seattle: The Parks and Recreation Department needed “tree ambassadors.” Tree canopy cover had receded in the city, and the department was responding by promoting an appreciation for its remaining trees. The volunteer ambassadors would learn about these trees and lead residents on walking tours to marvel at them. Stielstra, despite being a self-described introvert, signed up.

Architecture: A Scotland Farmhouse In Hebrides

House & Garden (October 27, 2023) – Saffron Aldridge and Scarlett Supple welcome us into their Scottish farmhouse located on a remote Hebridean island. This traditional farmhouse has been restored as a joint effort between business partners Aldridge & Supple, and sits perched above a tidal pool gazing over the surrounding Hebridean moorland.

As we tour the interior, we begin to appreciate the calm and comfort injected into this remote homestead — a stark contrast to the vast landscape of mountains, moors and machair. With startling features, such as the farmhouse’s tall windows and double-height ceilings, Aldridge & Supple forged a symbiotic relationship between the surrounding nature and interior.

‘Your whole relationship is with the nature outside,’ says Aldridge. ‘It’s very important that the inside and the outside work together.’ Watch the full episode of ‘Design Notes’ as we tour Saffron Aldridge’s remote farmhouse nestled in the Hebridean hills.

#SaffronAldridge #Garden #InteriorDesign #DesignNotes