Via Popped Culture

To be filed under: Things I never knew existed. The above image is the flower of none other than the Marshmallow plant. The “shrubby herb” is native to Africa and is often used for its medicinal properties. Who knew?

I’m loving these photos of storm troopers on flickr. Stéfan took a photo every day for a year of these two storm troopers involved in various scenarios. They’re so well done that initially I didn’t realize they were toys. I chose a photo to display here that makes it a little more obvious so no one else needs to go through my embarrassment. [via wildammo]

Today, One Will Come To Me: Volcano edition!

First off: Pronounciation. Personally, I have trouble even reading the word “Eyjafjallajökull” much less saying it. This seemingly random collection of letters is actually a literary ménage à trois, combining the Icelandic words for island(eyja), mountain(fjalla), and glacier(jökull). The name is actually representative of the glacier above the volcano, not the volcano itself, which is creatively and simply titled Eyjafjalla.

To assist in this very difficult pronounciation, here is a quick Youtube lesson, complete with catchy folksong. [via boingboing]

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On this, April 22nd, 2010, Earth Day turns 40 and while the very best way to celebrate earth day is probably to watch the David Attenborough narrated DVD masterpiece on an organic solar powered television, the next best is probably to click on links about interesting earth related things. Voila:

1. First, this crazy story about Mt. Toba, a volcano that used to exist in Northern Sumatra until it exploded some 78,000 years ago. Yes, that’s right–exploded! All that is left now is an enormous lake.  Mt. Toba didn’t just erupt when it went off, it went out with a very literal bang and nearly caused the extinction of the human race, barely before it began. [via eyeweekly.com]

2. About a year or so ago I went to see Werner Herzog’s Encounters at the End of the World over at the revue. It was an absolute awe inspiring experience and immediately made Antarctica a desirable destination. It was a perfect mix of desolate beauty and breathtaking humanity, a place where society’s brilliant outcasts congregate in their search for meaning.

That interest was sparked anew with Maggie Koerth-Baker’s feature on Boing Boing about the continent. While much less epic than Herzog’s masterpiece, it’s full of lush photography and features one of the best/most unique layouts I’ve come across.

3. Over at Gawker they’re celebrating the day with a photo gallery as well, the theme: places in the world that have yet to be fucked up by incessant human greed. Lovely.

4. The nexus of Earth Day operations, earthday.org, is asking the public to submit their own “acts of green.” So far they’re collected over 31 billion vows from people to make small changes in their lives for the benefit of the planet. I like this. I much prefer the promotion of ongoing “green” activities and real personal change than initiatives like Earth Hour that, in a way, promote the attitude that “if you turn out your lights for one hour, you’re doing your part to save the planet.” Environmentalism is about being conscious of your behaviour all the time, not just an hour a year. So kudos to Earth Day for encouraging ongoing environmentalism.

5. And finally, a little love for whale poop.

Now that my internship is totally finished, I’m excited to have more time to devote to my career. I’ve been looking forward to the end for some time, I loved the time there, but I’ve been excited to get my feet wet by doing some actual writing for actual money.

While I am vaguely looking for full time work, freelance is much more interesting to me. I realize to eek out an actual living is tough, but I’ve got a great side project to keep me afloat. Anyway, as part of this new plan this site needs to take on a more important role. A daily role. I’m looking to get into a routine here. I’ve realized that writing an essay every day just isn’t going to happen, so instead I’d like to do a more casual link round-up style post every morning.  Starting today.

1. The story of Poland’s fallen President has taken on a soap opera-esque twist this morning. The Washington Post is reporting that the leader of the opposition party is none other than former President Lech Kaczynski’s (evil?) twin brother!! dum dum dum…[via @mhousley]

2. Word came in this week that I got my press acreditation for NXNE this year, which I’m pumped about. The Stooges are slated to play a free show at Dundas Square, as are X. Also at the festival are Les Savy Fav, Mudhoney, Wavves, Japandroids and Sloan.

3. And as much as I’m excited for NXNE, I have to admit the line up for Cisco Ottawa Blues Fest is Bananas. Arcade Fire, Crowded House, Metric, Iron Maiden, Great Lake Swimmers, The Flaming Lips, Levon Helm, Weezer and Woodhands and many many more.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for he NXNE’s valiant effort, but they’re just not keeping up. What’s going on? Is it the lack of corporate branding that’s keeping the likes of Iron Maiden away?