Been Reading This Week - May 10

I'm often not sure how I find time to read; yet apparently, somehow, I do. Here's some books that I'm either currently deep into or just finished.

• Beyond Death: The Chinchorro Mummies of Ancient Chile by Bernardo T. Arriaza
• The Twice-Born: Life and Death On the Ganges by Aatish Taseer
• Cambrian Ocean World: Ancient Sea Life of North America by John Foster
• The Waste Makers by Vance Packard
• Last Orgy Of the Divine Hermit by Mark Leyner

Been Listening This Week - May 10, 2026

Where I let you, the discerning music lover, know a little about what I've been listening to over the past week, presumably so you can sneer in self-righteous disgust about it. 

Kudos to the artists, though; music can be very helpful.

The not-quite-comprehensive List:

• Bivouac by Jawbreaker
• Killed By Deaf: A Punk Tribute To Motorhead by various artists
• No Grave But The Sea by Alestorm
• Enter: The Conquering Chicken by The Gits

Artwork Of The Week - May 10, 2026

Where I post an artwork (by me) that I'd like to draw attention to (for a week), and write a little extra information about it.

This week's artwork: Party Of One

A 2025 mixed-media depiction of an African White-backed Vulture in flight. You may think that you aren't familiar with this bird, but if you've ever seen vultures in a nature documentary on TV or the Web, there a much-better-than-even chance that they were members of this very species. As Africa's (formerly) most common vultures, they were mundane sights at the carcasses of large animals almost anywhere on the continent, meaning that they frequently appeared in the countless documentaries starring Africa's charismatic megafauna.

Yet, despite being being prolific background players, they get very little recognition or much chance for the spotlight. Although I've seen several documentaries focusing on Africa's vultures (and good for them!), I've never seen or heard of one that focused on this species in particular, or even had much of anything to say about it other than that it was "abundant." (Sadly, that's no longer the case; along with several other African vultures, it's currently classified as "Critically Endangered.") 

And that is why I chose a White-backed Vulture as the subject of this painting, and why I depicted it in such stark terms. There are no other vultures in the composition, nor any other animals, nor even a background but a blank sky. When you view the painting, it's just you and the vulture, hanging in the sky, quite unconcerned with you, and leaving you to take or leave it as you will. Even background players have their own lives to lead.