This Week on Runicfire: March 4 – 10

This Monday we open with a set of links to articles on prison reform, the plight of the VFX industry, and the potential ramifications Obama's pending decision on the Keystone oil pipeline may have on the environment.

On Wednesday I'll be putting up a brief piece on filmmaking.

And Friday shall feature Part II on "Telling Time in the Renaissance:" my series on how the people of the Italian Renaissance kept track of time. You can find Part I here.

Enjoy the week, and stay tuned!

Telling Time in the Renaissance, Part I: A Change in Calendars

Time is a slippery beast. You may believe otherwise, if you live in today’s West. Here, the moments march lockstep in time with the news ticker, Twitter feeds and the stock market bell—every event branded with a number. The precision of industry disguises the artifice that is our experience of time.

In the world of our ancient forbears, however, we had less evidence of time’s passage. The seasons flowed one into another with each year’s refrain, and the phases of the moon signaled the strength of the tides. When those cultures saw fit to measure these intervals, they faced a panoply of decisions in the face of the elements. As civilizations grew, they sometimes saw fit to change those decisions and alter their measure of time. The Renaissance saw at least one such change to fruition.

This Week On Runicfire: Feb 25 – Mar 4

We kick off this week with a roundup of interesting links on Monday, regarding such diverse topics as the film industry, the use of the Wii in medecine, and the hardships Moroccan women face in the wake of a changing political economic climate.

Wednesday's post will touch on the art of superheroines, and how we can improve it.

And on Friday I shall continue blogging on research for my novel, via a short essay about calendars and timekeeping in the Renaissance.

Be well, and please stay tuned!