Friday Varia and Quick Hits

In North Dakota, when the temperature is set to spike into the mid-teens, we get out our “mild winter weather gear.” Temperatures in the upper-20s and maybe even the 30s like this weekend is our way of teasing the snow-bound east coast. With any luck, I’ll have an outdoor run on Saturday.

The springlike weather will undoubtedly distract me from pressing tasks. To share my distraction, I offer you this springlike gaggle of quick hits and varia:

• While Douglas Boin’s epic review of Mary Beard’s new book is locked behind a paywall, you can get a behind the scenes view here.

• Athens’ new kiosks?

• If I was an undergraduate who wanted to do cool research, I’d work with Kostis Kourelis.

• A Brave New War looks interesting.

• A famous hotel in Aleppo has gone the way of the Pizza Hut in Jamestown, ND.

• Dystopian refugee topographies.

• The most remote settlement.

• A two part article onNorth Dakota after the boom.

• After Oil, a short, free book from the Canadian Petrocultures folks.

• More dystopia: the ruins of the Costa Concordia.

• Go read my friend Heidi’s new “award winning” poem here.

• I love being an Eagles fan; it’s almost as cool as being a Sixers fan.

• I just can’t stop watching Palin’s endorsement of Trump. If you haven’t watched it yet, go here. 

• What I’m reading: E.H. Carr, What is History?New York 1961.

• What I’m listening to: Notorious B.I.G., Freestyle Tape.

I keep telling him…

 “If you’re cold, I’m cold.”