as a part of the “new african photography” series, nigerian photographer george osodi studied his homeland’s traditional monarchs.  via al jazeera:

“[There are] frequent clashes among different ethnic groups,” says Osodi. “Lots of people have lost trust in their identity. I felt it was important that we see this diverse culture as a point of unity instead of seeing it as something that should divide us as a nation.

“The easiest way I could approach this was to look at the monarchy structure in the country because they are closer to the people than the governors.”

check out the documentary below (directed by katharina von schroeder), which follows george on his visits with the kings and only queen of the country while also touching on the problems around the niger delta.  to see some of mr. osodi’s pics from the project, click here.

related: the forgotten

since my mom had me playing scrabble at a young age, i was naturally attracted to today’s mental exercise (via the great puzzle site the master theorem).  details via the puzzle’s creator:  

There are lots of games and puzzles that I’m into, but Scrabble tops the list of challenging ways for me to show off my hardcore anagramming skills. And what better thing to be known for?

I’ve spent hours plotting and scheming to get the very best words in the perfect spots so I can knock out my lexical opponents. My favorite way to earn points is to layer word upon word so that each of my moves actually creates a couple words at once. 

Again, I’m pretty good. How do you think you would fare against me? 

You might not want to invite me to a game of Words with Friends quite yet. 

This is today, 
M

take a close look at the scrabble board above (click on it for a closer look) as well as m’s message.  then, use your deductive skills to figure out the one-word answer to this puzzle.  if you need some help, look out for a hint on atolemdro’s facebook page.

more brain teasers: when shouldn’t you trust love? | the stable marriage problem | see if you can solve this math square | who is right? the professor or the student? | the integer called bleen | genius logic | einstein’s riddle

“Teatro alla Scala”

I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me…When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves or figments of their imagination, indeed, everything and anything except me.

liu bolin‘s art reminded me of the above quote from ralph ellison’s invisible man (1 of my favorite books ever).  bolin hides in plain sight using meticulous planning & full body paint (no photoshop).  he does this in part as a commentary on a conflict between civilization and development (like when companies/gov’ts flourish at the expense of or with indifference toward the lives that helped shape it or will be affected by it).

check out some of his art below (click for closer looks + captions) with even more here.  what do you think about the project, both artistically and as a form of social critique?

via ted.

via open culture:

In the fall of 1979 Bob Marley and his band, the Wailers, went on tour to promote their album, Survival. It turned out to be the second-to-last tour for the reggae star, who had been diagnosed two years earlier with cancer. But in late 1979 Marley appeared to be in excellent form. Lucky for us, a camera crew was there to record one of his shows. The film above was shot at the Santa Barbara County Bowl in California on November 25, 1979, just 16 months before Marley’s untimely death at the age of 36. It was released on DVD in 2003 as Bob Marley: The Legend Live.

here’s the set list from the 90-min clip (video time code in parenthesis):

1.Positive Vibration (1:20)
2.Wake Up and Live (6:30)
3.I Shot the Sheriff (11:45)
4.Ambush in the Night (16:20)
5.Concrete Jungle (20:10)
6.Running Away (25:10)
7.Crazy Baldhead (28:40)
8.Them Belly Full (33:20)
9.Heathen (36:42)
10.Ride Natty Ride (41:15)
11.Africa Unite (45:25)
12.One Drop (49:55)
13.Exodus (54:00)
14.So Much Things to Say (1:00:10)
15.Zimbabwe (1:03:40)
16.Jamming (1:07:45)
17.Is This Love (1:12:45)
18.Kinky Reggae (1:16:00)
19.Stir It Up (1:19:35)
20.Get Up Stand Up (1:23:15)

related: marley | video: nas & damian marley “patience”

via the latimes:

Phillip Patterson, a 63-year-old resident of Philmont, N.Y., a town near the Massachusetts border, may be an unlikely scribe for the Bible. He is not especially religious, for one thing, though he does go to church.  A retired interior designer whose battles with anemia and AIDS have often slowed his work, he began the monumental task mostly out of curiosity.

In 2007, Patterson’s longtime partner, Mohammed, told him about the Islamic tradition of writing out the Koran by hand. When Patterson said that the Bible was too long for Christianity to have a similar tradition, Mohammed said, well, he should start it. 

“I hadn’t counted on the fact that it would be so beautiful,” Patterson told the AP. “Or that it would be so exhilarating. And so long.”

this reminded me of a young malcolm x copying an entire dictionary while in prison.  the process of not only reading the book, but actually writing it out gave him a fresh commitment to the words/knowledge it held.  from phillip’s account on the book of proverbs, we can see that he went through a similar experience:

Having never before read the Book of Proverbs, I had a picture in my mind of trite lessons that parents sometimes used to justify their own actions, “spare the rod and spoil the child” leaps to mind. I hadn’t considered the possibility that those particular pages offer a handbook for right living.

Through this entire experience of handwriting the King James Bible, I have come across many ideas that are timeless. Timeless because the problems facing us in this young century have not changed much over these thousands of years. The only thing that seems to have changed is the weapons we’ve invented in order to afflict ourselves – so sad.

Perhaps it is difficult for an individual within the security of his or her home to affect significant change in the world at large. It is possible, however, to begin to begin change within one’s self.

Proverbs speaks greatly of vanity on the cellular level of the soul. It conversely offers remedies that open windows out to the fresh air of personal salvation. For me it’s a place to start. My own question revolves around how far I’m willing to go.

phillip is scheduled to write the final verses from revelation today at his church, st. peter’s presbyterian in spencertown, ny.  below, you can find some photos taken by laura glazer throughout the process.  for more info, check out this website.  first spotted at the paris review.

by skurtur (via street art utopia).  if an angel spilled god’s paint all over the earth, would you pull out your umbrella like the adult or just bask in it like the kid?

previously: mo’ money, mo’ problems | smug shrinks humanity | the greatest street fighter | you can only ride this once

In a way, you are poetry material; You are full of cloudy subtleties I am willing to spend a lifetime figuring out. Words burst in your essence and you carry their dust in the pores of your ethereal individuality.

- lovely words by franz kafka, taken from his letters to milena jesenská.  my favorite part is the bit on cloudy subtleties.  those nuances that make people/things unique.  unlike kafka, we’re not always willing to spend a minute, much less a lifetime, figuring them out.  why not?  part of it could be not caring enough, being too busy or maybe just being scared of what we might find underneath the uncertainty.  whatever the reason to avoid it, we should remember that within those subtleties are the materials needed to better understand the world around us and the people within it (yourself included).

choreographed dancing underwater is cool enough on its own, but the mother-son dynamic makes this video even more graceful.  details via director conor horgan:

A short dance film, written and performed by David Bolger (choreographer and artistic director of CoisCéim Dance Theatre, Dublin) along with his 76-year-old mother, Madge Bolger. The film was shot in the Marian College swimming pool, where Madge worked as a swimming instructor for many years and where she taught David to swim.

related: making deep end dance

• how the amount of food compares across countries/your household
• common staples across countries
• processed/packaged vs. organic/grown
• any favorite items from your home country

for more on the project, check out their book “hungry planet: what the world eats”.  via fstoppers.

maya angelou‘s poetry joins jean-michael basquiat‘s art in “life doesn’t frighten me.”  the children’s book seeks to give kids strength in the face of things like scary animals & the dark:

Shadows on the wall
Noises down the hail
Life doesn’t frighten me at all
…
I go boo
Make them shoo
I make fun
Way they run
I won’t cry
So they fly
I just smile
They go wild

Life doesn’t frighten me at all.

listen to angelou read her poem (full lyrics here) as you scroll through some of basquiat’s accompanying illustrations (via brainpickings).  to see more, grab the book from your library/book store.