What a week. It’s Q4! The year is looking like it will end strong for Snowbird. Started working on a super interesting project this week, there’s a bit of a snowbird brand refresh coming soon and some interesting ideas about the state of culture - more on all of that in future issues.
But first, here’s this week’s art-as-a-habit-and-not-just-a-hobby. This is one of the most interesting birds I’ve come across - it’s called the Secretary Bird. They’re related to eagles, but can mostly be found standing at around four feet tall as they mostly move on foot and will fly only when necessary. The most metal thing about these birds is that they love eating snakes and even the most venomous kinds will get stomped by their incredibly powerful legs. Find one in your nearest bird park!
And now, here are the finds for this week:
- CHINATOWNS I remember the first time I tasted a dragonfruit was at a small stall in Chinatown in NYC - it rocked my world. Throughout history, the diaspora from China has travelled the world to forge livelihoods, giving rise to distinctive Chinatowns. Over time, each Chinatown has evolved. This is a piece of gorgeous visual journalism that looks at Chinatowns across Asia.
- UNDEPENDABLE The story of the 21st century is clearly that of unpredictability. Nowhere is this more evident than in the seasons and cyclical rhythm of nature. But what happens when even those become undependable? From something as benign as cherry blossoms eluding eager tourists in Japan to devastating impact of changes in the monsoon season for farmers in Sri Lanka. “The collapse of reliable seasons—the sense that you can’t count on or predict what the world will be like by looking at the calendar—is a deep and under-discussed part of the climate predicament.”
- DIVINTY Technology has transformed how we spend, study, live, eat — even how we sleep. And for the 6.75 billion people around the world who consider themselves religious, technology is also changing their faith. How people worship, pray, and commune with the divine is transforming from Seoul to Lagos.
- MAIN CHARACTER I’ve just wrapped the newest season on Industry and was left gobsmacked by how each character brings about such drama into their own lives. But it is a logical extreme what people are encouraged to do all the time. So much of the instagram-insipriational-industrial-complex compels us to “be one with, speak and act our truth”. But there are reasons why romanticising your own life is philosophically dubious, setting up toxic narratives and an inability to truly love.
- SOLAR SURGE China's massive wind and solar energy capacity additions are straining the energy grid, prompting a shift in focus towards energy storage solutions. Energy storage technologies, particularly battery storage, are crucial for balancing the grid, mitigating market volatility, and ensuring the effective use of renewable energy.