frandroid: camilo cienfuegos in a broad-rimmed hat (anarchism)
A coincidental double-feature about Ukrainian history today!

The best podcast for Ukrainian history is obviously Timothy Snyder's fall 2022 Yale course, The Making of Modern Ukraine, which he taught in light of the Russian invasion.

But that's a pretty long thing to listen to! Romeo Kokriatski from Ukraine Without Hype has decided to also try his hand at a shorter version of it. He was aiming for one hour, he did it in two in 99: Ukrainian History 101. In a way I found it was somewhat complementary to Snyder's course, unless I have already forgotten large chunks of that! It was a good episode and I should listen to it again more closely so that it sticks... 8)

A more specific bit of Ukrainian history comes from Charlie Allison on
KPFA - Against the Grain: Ukrainian Anarchist. Allison wrote No Harmless Power: The Life and Times of the Ukrainian Anarchist Nestor Makhno published by PM Press, and he gives us a decent lecture summarizing it. I think as a podcast thing, Mike Duncan was a bit better than Allison talking about the more important aspects of Makhno's life during the Revolutions episode where he spent some time on him, but then again he wasn't trying to give a full biography.

My third recommendation today slightly touches on Ukraine but is more general. It's an episode of David Harvey's Anti-Capitalist Chronicles: [S5.5 E08] The Politics of Humiliation. Here Harvey discusses national humiliation, from the Opium Wars and Versailles, to the WWII settlement, the end of the Cold Wars, to the wars on Ukraine and Gaza. There's a funny bit in there about how Trump complaining about Fentanyl coming to the US from China is ironic considering the historical precedent of the Opium Wars... Anyway this was insightful and gave me much to think about, though I it missed a crucial element regarding Ukraine, aka Ukrainians' own aspirations.
frandroid: A key enters the map of Palestine (Default)
I bought seedlings, haven't planted them in the garden yet, and we're going away for a month on Wednesday. I also have a ton of indoor plants that need watering. Usually for one or two weeks we'll just flood them before we leave, but this is a longer stretch. One of my pothos' growth is now too intricate to simply lift the plant off the shelf without doing serious untangling work. Even getting some of the other plants out of its grip is going to be work.

My hosta has juuuuuuust sprouted a new branch this week for the first time in 4 years I think? Soon I'll get a beautiful flower that smells like piss. I've really been babying this plant in the last year, brought it closer to the office window too so that I don't forget about it. It's the most luxurious it's ever been; it's grown a new pair of leaves at every existing leaf node this spring.

F's palm has also had a gangbuster year.

My neighbour who I used to count on to water our plants doesn't want to do it anymore due to her back problems. She is already a desert creature who waters her plant by the teaspoon. (I'm almost not exaggerating.) This place is a huge dirty mess so I am a bit loathe to invite someone to come in here and water plants. We used to transfer most of our smaller plants to our neighbour when we'd be away...

I'm definitely leaving the larger pothos on its shelf. It drinks at least half a cup a day. Many of its leaves will probably die. Hopefully some of its branches will do as well. I will have to trim it and that's fine. This is my most vivacious plant and I've let it take over my bookshelf, and it's now expanding to the other bookshelves and has climbed all the way to the ceiling. Thankfully it's not the type of plant that could attach to the ceiling stucco and continue growing along that way!

Oh, and there are also the spider plants. I kind of hate these guys. I should find another type of indoor plant to complement my pothos. Maybe I should get into bamboo shaping.

I think I'll ask the coöp's facebook group to adopt some of my smaller plants while we're gone.

ETA: After posting this I was examining one of the branches of the monster pothos. Instead of cutting the plant when it reaches the floor, I curl it on itself so it climbs up again and I guide it so it wraps around its original stem. I tried to guide this particular branch and I had to untangle it from its neighbour a bit. I almost created a huge mess because I've only now realized that this branch is HEAVY and is staying in place in a fairly precarious balance. I restored the balance but seriously this branch must weigh a few pounds. It has a thick stem, both going up and down!!

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frandroid: A key enters the map of Palestine (Default)
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