September 15, 2017
Codswallop and hogwash
The study of languages has long been prone to nonsense. Why is linguistics such a magnet for dilettantes and crackpots?
Baritone sax + dancing feet = Leo P
Liquid cats and didgeridoos? Must be Ig Nobel Prize season...
Top Boffins looking at whether cats are liquid or solid, why old men have big ears, and the effects of playing the didgeridoo have on sleep apnea were among the laureates at the 2017 Ig Nobel Prizes. (Previously) [more inside]
McDonald's Store in Hot Coffee, MS
McDonald's Store is a family business in the town of Hot Coffee, Mississippi. They sell shoes and brooms and ice cream and PVC fittings and hoop cheese and souse. They've been open since 1967. They just repainted.
Dead at 91.
Harry Dean Stanton died peacefully Friday afternoon at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in L.A. The legendary actor's career spanned more than 6 decades. His credits also include "Repo Man," "Cool Hand Luke," "Paris, Texas," "Alien," "Wild at Heart" and "Twin Peaks."
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Font Detectives Ferret Out Fakery
We know about Calibri and the Pakistani government, but there's a lot more. There are font detectives and there are repository of fonts and their histories. Fascinating stuff.
What's a Westworld?
Almost nobody watches Emmy-nominated shows: A new survey of 500 people finds that of this year's Emmy-nominated shows that don't air on broadcast TV, Netflix’s “Stranger Things” was the most-watched, viewed by 21% of respondents. Netflix’s “Master of None,” Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” and FX’s “Atlanta” tied at 5% each for the least-watched of all nominees — although “Master of None” exceeded all nominees in “never heard of” responses, at 76%.
Wiffle ball is serious.
To this day, the company insists, “we don’t know exactly why it works—it just does!” That folksy answer is charming, but a scientific one can foster even greater admiration for this curious ball and the sport that makes use of it. "The Contentious Physics of Wiffle Ball" from The Atlantic via Object Lesson
Maybe a little obsessive
Max Landis, known for writing Chronicle, American Ultra, and Victor Frankenstein (as well as being John Landis' son), has written a 150 page living document detailing his Carly Rae Jepsen conspiracy theory. Click here to take a long, deep dive into the world of the Jepsen Pattern. [more inside]
"They are the Walter White of Middle Earth."
In a lengthy tweet chain beginning here, author Matt Wallace digs into Middle Earth's ugly secret: Seriously, though, can we finally talk about how Lord of the Rings is one epic PR story covering up Middle Earth's secret drug wars?
Obamacare changes: Many won't find out until it's too late
With the advertising budget slashed recently by 90% for the Affordable Care Act, and the enrollment period cut nearly in half, volunteers are using social media and state-by-state grassroots organizing to get out the word about the changes, hoping to go viral with a few key details before enrollment starts on Nov. 1st. There are concerns that vital information, particularly about the change in enrollment closing date (now Dec. 15th in most states, versus Jan. 31st last time around), won't be available widely enough. Some states are targeting barbers, bartenders, and radio shows in hopes of reaching the public. A strongly-worded letter has been sent to the administration. [more inside]
Bettering the web
The Internet Health Report is an open-source initiative from Mozilla to "document and explain what's happening to the health of the internet" across five indicators: open innovation, digital inclusion, decentralization, privacy and security, and web literacy. Release 1.0 of the living document is scheduled for 2018.
A Good Little Monkey
"His behavior is familiar. He ponders, he puzzles things out. While he eats he eats at a table; where he sleeps he sleeps in beds. If attended to in hospital, it’s by a doctor, not vet. Since the ape and homo sapiens may claim a common ancestry, he and his audience are kin. This is not so much a matter of the gene-pool as of attitude: his moods are moods we share. The well-meaning mischievous monkey, the child whom curiosity imperils but cannot kill, the creature from another world so much at home in the human one... The narrative starts with displacement; George has to cross the sea. Born in Africa, he cannot stay. That Hans Augusto Reyersbach and Margarete Waldstein, his Jewish co-creators, had a narrow escape from the Nazis, fleeing across the ocean in 1940, is surely no coincidence." [more inside]
You raised my hopes and dashed them quite expertly, sir. Bravo!
It’s Schrodinger’s President! Chuck and Nancy have a deal with Trump on DACA…or do they? Republicans are outraged at Trump’s unilateral caving…or are they? Trump likes to wait for the facts before commenting on a terrorist attack…or does he? Back channels are working on cooling down the North Korea nuclear crisis…or are they? The GOP attempt to repeal the ACA is dead…or is it?
the dreary steeples of Fermanagh and Tyrone emerging once again
Some waves are just not meant to be ridden
A slab, in surfer jargon, is a nearly unsurfable wave that occurs when a swell moves abruptly from deep water across a shallow reef or rock. The result is a fast-moving, immensely powerful tube that breaks below sea level, with a lip that's sometimes 10-foot-thick or more. When a swell is big enough, slabs produce waves that defy imagination, beautiful monsters capable of flinging surfers like toy dolls in a hurricane. [more inside]
Muskoka mystery
Nearly 20 years ago, four seniors vanished in Ontario's cottage country. Now, a joint investigation by CBC's The Fifth Estate and The Walrus magazine into recently unsealed documents offers new insight into
one of Canada's most notorious cold cases. [Disturbing content]
Providing temporary public open space . . . one parking spot at at time.
Happy PARK(ing) Day, everybody! Every third Friday in September, people around the world reclaim metered parking spaces and transform them into public space. Why? To "call attention to the need for more urban open space, to generate critical debate around how public space is created and allocated, and to improve the quality of urban human habitat." Check out the #parkingday and #parkingday2017 hashtags for more!
"Nobody else has come to check on me."
"I have not seen the Red Cross out in the field doing any work in any way. I have seen Black Lives Matter Houston out doing what are called "muck and gut" operations at homes. I know unions have been out doing the work. The AFL-CIO here has been coordinating some efforts, as well as individual unions like the Texas State Employees Union and UNITE HERE. I have also seen churches out and about. A lot of people delivering food." Sarah Jaffe interviews Amy Zachmeyer about how the Houston Democratic Socialists of America are providing Hurricane Harvey aide and support as part of a larger Truth-Out series of interviews with activists.
“...the longest winning streak in the majors in more than a century.”
Indians, One Strike From a Streak’s End, Rally to Win 22nd Straight by Benjamin Hoffman[The New York Times] “In their bid for sole possession of baseball’s longest winning streak in the last 101 years, the Cleveland Indians found themselves a strike away from losing on Thursday. They trailed the Kansas City Royals by 2-1 in the ninth inning, but a familiar cast of characters pulled Cleveland back from defeat: Francisco Lindor tied the score in the ninth with a run-scoring double, Jose Ramirez led off the 10th with a double, and Jay Bruce drove him home for the remarkable win. The hallmark of the Indians’ streak had been almost total dominance, which made their desperate rally in Thursday’s game seem all the more impressive. In the first 21 games of the streak, the Indians had trailed their opponents for a grand total of four innings, but with Lindor at the plate in the ninth inning, they were down to their final strike before rallying.” [more inside]
"I will live a redeemed life, one of service and value to others."
Michelle Jones is a new doctoral student at NYU this fall. Her BA is from Ball State, but her most recent institution was the Indiana Women’s Prison.
Hey kids, are you bored?
Go catch a skunk! The Golden Book of Wild Animal Pets harkens back to a very different and not-all-that-long-ago era. [more inside]
A conversation in a playground
The Long Solo Flight of Harrison Ford | Since the dawn of Hollywood, no movie star has seemed to need stardom—or movies—less than Harrison Ford. Chris Heath crisscrosses the country with the 75-year-old legend to find out why indifference has made all the difference in the world. [more inside]
The Final Journey of Anders J. Smedsvik
For three weeks in 1972 and then again in 1974, the sea captain, communist, farmer, prisoner of war, adventurer, local politician and peace activist Anders Jenius Smedsvik was a household name in south-west Norway. Then he disappeared and has been forgotten ever since. This is the first time his story has been told in full.
Big drama show. Very serious business.
For fans of spectacle, the most anticipated fight of the year was Mayweather-McGregor (previously).
For fans of boxing, it happens this Saturday. [more inside]
Snout-fair perchers, be awhaped at the wlonk discovery!
Not for sillytonians, this: words long forgotten to prompt merry-go-sorry. I do not betrump or coney-catch. These words have been hugger-muggered too long by nickums and losengers. Do not listen to momists, especially those rouzy-bouzy ruffs inclined to fumish. Up, slug-a-bed! Don't swerk - there is no ear-rent here to trembable you.
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