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I’m curious about basically everything, and I tweet about everything I’m curious about. It’s the tweets about socially contentious things that get the most engagement, which gives some people the impression that I’m *trying* to be contentious. I’m really just being curious
The first question, of course, is what are chillies even? how many kinds of chillies are there? what is the definition of a chilli? let's dig into the etymology of the related words ok so chili – aztec word capsicum – french botanist word pepper – maybe sanskrit/persian https://t.co/LLJ6I6L6Y3
(It's interesting to think about the far-reaching effects of WW2. Masaru and Akio met during WW2. If not for WW2, there might not have been a Sony. If not for Sony, maybe no Sony Walkman. And since Sony was an influence on Apple, if not for WW2...? Butterfly effects are wild.) https://t.co/RP2fuOpgnm
Arabic calligraphy has the best aesthetics of all the languages IMO if I could learn one script overnight for purely aesthetic expression, it would have to be Arabic, no contest. They have the *best* curves, and a very interesting, non-linear relationship with space https://t.co/HQgK8bhc7v
My favorite 'cold email' – in 1934, by Robert Pirosh, a copywriter who dreamed of becoming a screenwriter. This letter led to him becoming a junior writer at MGM, and 15 years later he won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay for the war film Battleground. I too like words 😍 https://t.co/2XLpKhlVcv
Learning ‘bout Jamaica today. - South of Cuba, west of Haiti - Land area 15x the size of Singapore - Pop: 2.9m Columbus arrived in 1494; bringing disease that killed many. Spanish rule England wrested it from the Spanish in 1655 In 1660, pop was 4,500 white, 1,500 black 🤔 https://t.co/mRD5RwJegQ
Great post by @altimor with a useful coinage: the Tough Tomato principle. Tomatoes were bred to be tougher than “ideal” to withstand the industrial tomato-harvesting process. Incentive systems everywhere similarly create tough tomatoes in *all* sorts of contexts https://t.co/3XBc6GXEjR
Hutchinson Guitar Concepts makes the most beautiful guitars in the world. Art. He works WITH the body of the instrument, not ON it. He respects negative space. Tempo. Rhythm. Pacing. Scale. Few artists appreciate the soul of their work this well. If he did tattoos I'd fly to him https://t.co/gPXmMVGqWl
The Scotch Whisky Association must be a quite an interesting organization. Here's their take on Brexit. LOL at their 404 page. Their CEO Karen Betts used to be the British ambassador to Morocco & was a lawyer in HK before that. She has to always be photographed holding a scotch😂 https://t.co/MuSfB4CL8P
We begin with Mr. Alfred Dunhill [1872–1959]. He was born in Hornsey, London, and his father ran a saddlery in Euston Road (picture unrelated). Seems like the critical part of the story is, Alfred witnessed the rise of the automobile, and modified his dad's biz to meet it https://t.co/OuiUp3vHCt
- Korean battery market = US$125m - majority of batteries are imported - Bexel has ~25% market share vs Energizer ~40% - Digital door lock co iRevo ships their product with Bexel batteries I enjoy this sort of wholesome local content 😍 there's a certain homely vibe to it https://t.co/QEZTr14juJ
it's interesting how much ancient mythology has been repurposed by corporate entities versace uses the medusa starbucks uses the siren nike is the goddess of victory maserati uses the trident of neptune (based on a hometown statue) https://t.co/Xg6x78Ousj
Nutella is made by Ferrero, the Italian company that also makes Kinder Bueno, Kinder Surprise & Ferrero Rocher. Ferrero is a very secretive company– Michele Ferrero (son of Pietro Ferrero, the founder) was the richest man in Italy ($20B), yet you don't really hear much the family https://t.co/XjTTOsMjiw
I want to do a thread about Srinivasa Ramanujan, the mathematician. He lived a short but brilliant life of 32 years. He was born in 1887 in Erode, and he lived and died in Kumbakonam – not too far from where my grandparents were from https://t.co/nxQm6im0Bl
Googled “manifest destiny” and was tickled to find this painting by John Gast: American Progress (1872). That’s Columbia, she was a personification of the USA who predated Lady Liberty... and SHE’S LAYING TELEGRAPH CABLES!! And also driving the indigenous people off their land https://t.co/wrFcnfkdCy
oh, turns out these folks also make pewter tableware for the movies! See, this is why I love investigating things. There are always surprising and fascinating connections! I appreciate how proud they are of their work https://t.co/vGgOSolRnf https://t.co/5SiUeduJhQ
I've been thinking a lot about webs recently. webs of knowledge webs of behaviors, habits webs of cause-and-effect relationships webs of Twitter threads webs of identity webs of interpersonal relationships webs of associations https://t.co/UTw65vyzJ8
