#1 Shoup Fan
oneshoup.bsky.social
#1 Shoup Fan
@oneshoup.bsky.social
Interesting observations that in S Europe, landowners in general could overpower the planners and allow for higher densities for new greenfield apartment areas
December 3, 2025 at 6:23 AM
Have we hit peak peat? if so, that would only be the second energy source humans have peaked on (after whale oil)
Not sure though, maybe this is a temporary blip
December 3, 2025 at 4:38 AM
[There is no obvious image macro for Ann Clayborn from KSR's MARS Trilogy, but rest assured, some fight for Ares]
December 2, 2025 at 8:46 PM
It's really crazy to go back to early 90s pubs saying "well maybe we'll have millions of deaths a year forever"

People didn't believe the drop in '94. I think I found an old wired article, should've saved it.

How wonderful!
December 1, 2025 at 5:35 PM
Reading Crowley's LITTLE, BIG (1982). Lots of thoughts. I see why this helped create urban fantasy as a genre.

It's vision of the 199X NYC as a abandoned crime dystopia, very common 70s dystopia. Cyberpunk predicted a dystopian too crowded future.

Did any 70s/80s SF predict the urban renewal?
December 1, 2025 at 1:59 AM
I did not know he took another run at the ideas in NAKED SUN! I thought the last foundation books were bad and bounced
November 30, 2025 at 4:41 PM
There's a church in Mexico abandoned after it was surrounded by lava in the 1943 Paricutin eruption.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuevo_S...
November 30, 2025 at 4:20 PM
The wiki page for Passive Rewilding is great for cool pictures
Vallone dei Mulini in Italy looks crazy.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive...
November 30, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Maybe try CERBERUS by Wolfe? It's not the hardest of his but has a lot of the unreliable narrator stuff. Same with SOLDIERS OF THE MIST. Oh or maybe Fowler's WE ARE ALL COMPLETELY…?

For non genre, I think Tartt's EXRET HISTORY has a similar taste…
November 30, 2025 at 1:30 AM
Hard to match PIRANESI. GORMENGHAST is as gothic but I found it rather a slog. Wolfe is good, but of course difficult.

I am v v fond of Samatar's OLONDRIA, I think it is quite underrated and has a similar mix of humor and thoughtfulness
November 30, 2025 at 1:14 AM
Sometimes horses would die in the streets of NYC and if the city was busy no one would come pick it up for days as it rotted.

shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/1...
November 28, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Ahah! One more piece. Bull's WAR FOR THE OAKS (1987) does refer to the "fey", and given that it's one of the first self identifying urban fantasy books I think we're getting closer.
November 26, 2025 at 9:59 PM
GORMENGHAST 2025, the hottest weird Anime project of 1995
November 26, 2025 at 5:54 PM
PEGANA is pretty odd. I think it's now in a category of "works mostly discovered by moderns b/c Lovecraft talks about it" (strange that's a whole category).

Frauds and fiction is a rich subject, it's mind blowing how much fiction is influenced by stuff like the Cottingley Fairies etc.
November 26, 2025 at 12:53 AM
I do admire OSSIAN for being a super fraudulent work that blew everyone's minds and how dedicated MacPherson was to the whole deal when he was quickly called out.

Same with Iolo Morganwg, to some extent. Thomas Chatterton, very tragic. What was up in the UK to create so many poet forgers?
November 26, 2025 at 12:32 AM
In the 50s they were talking about filling in much of the SF Bay

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reber_P...
November 25, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Slightly off, I think it's that the US was the only country rich enough to have mad car ownership by 1920. England didn't hit 50% of household with one car until the 70s, 50 years after the US

The American elite aren't entirely to blame, the American masses are also bad
November 22, 2025 at 3:00 PM
Their coins are so cool. "Ah yes, ZEUS NIKE, Zeus the victor is putting his hand on the 8 spoked wheel of Dharma. He's cool with the Buddha and king Menander II is cool with both"

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menande...
November 20, 2025 at 4:06 PM
I have no strong opinion on Romantasy or any of the books mentioned in this article (haven't read 'em), but it's crazy how much you have to read to be informed. This person read 4k pages and rightly points out that's a small sample. hard to write criticism.

www.thedriftmag.com/escape-artis...
November 19, 2025 at 5:30 AM
The wikibox is going to have the US taking the place of venice in the wars of the league of Cambrai
November 19, 2025 at 1:18 AM
Doucet also reposts these graphs from Piketty. Are they still accurate? I haven't really kept up with the responses and responses to responses etc. on Piketty's work. [It's all housing]
November 14, 2025 at 5:43 PM
LMAO. From Doucet's review of Mike Bird's book THE LAND TRAP

progressandpoverty.substack.com/p/book-revie...
November 14, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Is this really ~1/5th of the state budget. What is step 2 here?
mobudget.org/intro-budget...
November 13, 2025 at 7:23 PM
The water view vs valleys setup in Seattle is quite old now. McGinn (left/The Stranger) vs Mallahan (mod/Seattle Times) had a pretty similar shape in 2009
(screenshot from cap hill blog b/c the Times down their map)
November 13, 2025 at 4:23 PM
November 12, 2025 at 8:57 PM