Tyromancy, "Zombie" Viruses, & Mapping Middle Earth
Hello there :)
Welcome to issue seventy four of Manufacturing Serendipity, a loosely connected, somewhat rambling collection of the unexpected things I’ve recently encountered.
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Speaking of coffee, grab yourself a suitable beverage my loves, let’s do this thing…
Part I: Serendipitous finds…
The Fruit Shaped Bus Stop Shelters in Nagasaki, Japan
These are delightful! The small town of Konagai in Nagasaki Prefecture has a number of whimsical bus stop shelters shaped like fruits:
Today, there are 5 kinds of fruit-shaped bus stops; strawberry, watermelon, cantaloupe, orange and tomato. The area of the highway is now referred to as “Tokimeki Fruits Basutei Dori”, or “Tokimeki Fruit-shaped Bus Stop Avenue”.
The Un-Brie-Lievable History of Tyromancy
“Tyromancy, or the practice of telling fortunes with cheese, was first officially mentioned in the second century in the writings of Greek historian and professional diviner Artemidorus of Daldis (also known as Artimedorus of Ephesus) on dream interpretation. He apparently didn’t think cheese was a great invention: he noted at the time that the food signifies “trickery and ambushes” and that tyromancers sullied the work of true diviners like sacrificers and liver examiners. Tyromancers, he argued, were more in league with those who practiced evil types of divination, including dice diviners and necromancers.”
Ancient “zombie” viruses locked in Siberia’s permafrost could spark new pandemic
“Humanity is facing a bizarre new pandemic threat, scientists have warned. Ancient viruses frozen in the Arctic permafrost could one day be released by Earth’s warming climate and unleash a major disease outbreak, they say.
Strains of these Methuselah microbes – or zombie viruses as they are also known – have already been isolated by researchers who have raised fears that a new global medical emergency could be triggered – not by an illness new to science but by a disease from the distant past.
[…]
“The crucial point about permafrost is that it is cold, dark and lacks oxygen, which is perfect for preserving biological material,” Claverie told the Observer last week. “You could put a yoghurt in permafrost and it might still be edible 50,000 years later.”
[…]
However, it is not melting permafrost directly that poses the most immediate risk, added Claverie. “The danger comes from another global warming impact: the disappearance of Arctic sea ice. That is allowing increases in shipping, traffic and industrial development in Siberia. Huge mining operations are being planned, and are going to drive vast holes into the deep permafrost to extract oil and ores.
“Those operations will release vast amounts of pathogens that still thrive there. Miners will walk in and breath the viruses. The effects could be calamitous.”
Mapping Middle-earth: The lopsided demographics of Tolkien’s universe
Emil Johanssen, creator of the the LOTR Project (which I’d also recommend checking out) has analysed the demographics of the 982 characters that populate The Hobbit, the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Silmarillion, and other posthumously published works.
It is quite the sausage fest:
“82% of Tolkien’s characters are male. Hobbits come closest to parity, with 30% women, followed by Men (which is what Tolkien called the human race in his books), where the imbalance is 87% versus 13%.
Females are rarer still among Elves, and are not attested among Orcs, at least not in the canon. That doesn’t mean Tolkien didn’t give the matter any thought. In a letter from 1963, he wrote to an inquiring fan that “there must have been Orc women.”
Yet he was of more than one mind: In the posthumously published story The Fall of Gondolin, the Orcs were created by sorcery out of slime. Other theories expressed across Tolkien’s works suggest that Orcs are fallen Elves or the offspring of unions between Elves and beasts.
Dís is the only female Dwarf named by Tolkien, and even then only in a genealogy that honors the deaths in the Battle of the Five Armies of her two sons, Fíli and Kíli. Sprinkled throughout Tolkien’s work are indications of why Dwarf-women are so invisible: Only about one-third of Dwarves are women; they keep to themselves inside their subterranean halls, and when they do travel abroad, they disguise themselves as Dwarf-men (which is not particularly difficult, considering, according to one source, they have beards). Because the other races saw so few Dwarf-women, legend had it that Dwarves were born of stones.”
The actors who are the best (and worst) at their jobs
The Hustle digs into critics’ reviews and box office data to determine the most “loved” and “unloved” actors:
“Stars who grace the silver screen generally either have to be a hit with fans (measured by box office revenue) or a hit with critics (measured by positive reviews). Some actors excel in both categories. Others’ success is predicated almost entirely on one of these two factors. And some fall flat on both fronts.”
“The photography of Thandiwe Muriu deconstructs Africa’s unique mix of vibrant cultural practices, textiles and beauty ideologies. In her Camo series, she creates surreal illusions that are not digital manipulations, and confronts issues surrounding identity and self-perception, while seeking to redefine female empowerment through the application of her choice of materials, such as textiles and common household items.
The historical Ankara wax textile defines Thandiwe’s work. At the forefront of her practice is using textiles to make her subjects disappear and serve as a canvas for reflection on the question of identity and its evolution over time.”
Part II: Books I’m Reading Right Now
Very Cold People, Sarah Manguso — a coming-of-age story set in a town in New England, whose prim facade conceals a legacy of sexual violence.
LaserWriter II, Tamara Shopsin — set in Tekserve (the 1990s NYC Mac repair shop), this novel is a glorious voyage back in time with a cast of wonderful characters.
Part III: Things I’ve Been Watching
Our Flag Means Death (Season One), BBCiPlayer — I absolutely loved this queer pirate rom-com series, and I’m hoping the BBC get season two soon. Go and watch it immediately if you haven’t already.
DEVS, Disney+ —I’m very late to the party with this one! I’m guessing it might be too slow for some, and some characters definitely feel mis-cast, but overall, I enjoyed this big tech drama.
Culprits, Disney+ — yet another series about yet another heist. This, like all the others of its ilk, is slick, violent, and has plot holes a plenty, but I guess it’s entertaining if you like that sort of thing (heists, not plot holes). Unhappily there are a *lot* of weird continuity errors which I found super-distracting. Maybe skip this one?
Part IV: What I’ve been up to…
How is it possible that it is almost February?! I feel like January has flown by. This fortnight I’ve been busy preparing to deliver my Ideation Course (session one was this week, and it was a joy); launching the new cohort of the PR Pitch Writing Course I’m running with Britt Klontz, and thinking about what other projects I’d like to do this year.
I also got to spend a lovely weekend with my Dad and Diana in Devizes, attended an online writing workshop with Tania Hershman, and set the world to rights over drinks with my friend Steve.
What’s next?
I am excited about:
A potential new project that’s in the works (which I really hope I get to do!)
Continuing to run my Ideation course
Preparing for the PR Pitch Writing workshops I’m running with Britt Klontz
Playing with the lego I got for Christmas
Shameless self-promotion
There’s still time to bag yourself a ticket for the PR Pitch Writing Workshop series I’m running with Britt Klontz in March! Full course details can be found here & you can book your spot here.
There are a handful of tickets left for WTS Fest London (or at least there were when I wrote this!). Join us for a day of brilliant talks from brilliant women and non-binary folks.
I’ll be speaking at the Digital PR Summit in April this year, and the line-up is incredible. You can buy tickets here.
That’s all from me for now :)
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Big love,
Hannah x
PS Wanna find out more about me and my work? Head over to Worderist.com