September 15, 2022
"Write beautifully what people don’t want to hear."
Mejor Que Me Mate Dios
Petrona Martínez, the queen of bullerengue, won a Latin Grammy last year at the age of 82. The 2021 album Ancestras + a review with songs! On the musical legacy of slavery: "The Colombian city of Cartagena was a principal port for trading enslaved people, and many escaped to form Palenque communities of cimarrones across the Caribbean coast." On her first trip (at age 59) and performance in Bogotá: "Her fellow Colombians didn’t know anything about this ancestral music that had been preserved through generations of Black women despite —or perhaps because of— the isolation and invisibility. It wasn’t until she was in her 50s, after working as a domestic worker and a sand collector and becoming a mother of seven, that Petrona was able to record her own music."
Of hot dogs, shopping, and pricing
Effective today, September 15, 2022, IKEA has raised the price of its regular hot dogs in Sweden from 5 SEK to 7 SEK. Ikea bryter korvlöftet (IKEA breaks hog dog promise) reads the headline of the article in Sweden's Aftonbladet tabloid, which notes that since 1995 you could eat a hot dog at IKEA for five crowns. That is, until today. This was big news in Sweden. Less newsworthy in Sweden but still of note: IKEA has lowered the cost of its vegan hot dog to 5 SEK from 10 SEK, while US vegan hot dogs have been cheaper than regular dogs for some time. [more inside]
The architecture of musical instruments
“I never really knew what was going on inside. That was a realm reserved for the luthier. From time to time, while repairing an instrument, we would take a rare look inside, which was always an electrifying experience.” [more inside]
It's (probably) not Russian disinformation
The sordid story of Hunter Biden's laptop (SL: NYMag) A deep dive from New York Magazine on the whole messy affair. Serious questions are raised about bias in the "mainstream" press, as well as potential financial improprieties of the First Family. Please note that I am ONLY posting this because it comes from a fairly liberal publication, and is written in a tone sympathetic to the trials of the Biden family.
US figure skater Ilia Malinin lands first-in-competition quadruple axel
The US International Classic "Senior B" competition makes figure-skating history. Axels are the most difficult figure-skating jump because alone among jumps, they take off from a forward position, meaning an extra half-revolution before landing. [more inside]
The Queue
’This is serious. It’s going to be really bad.'
'The Divider: Trump in the White House, 2017-2021' Peter Baker and Susan Glasser's book (review, review) doesn't drop until Tuesday. But a lot of media outlets have advance copies. [more inside]
Trying to Control This Very Uncontrollable Thing
My hope is that it’s a dark comedy in many ways. The people at YouTube and Google are idealistic about the internet. YouTube was the underdog taking on Hollywood and all the conventions of Hollywood. Then within a few short years, there was this whiplash, where it becomes like Big Tobacco. YouTube is accused of radicalization, traumatizing children, propaganda, all the worst aspects associated with the company. I thought that quick turn was just a fascinating story to unpack and tell. from Everyone knows what YouTube is — few know how it really works, a conversation with Mark Bergen, author of Like, Comment, Subscribe: Inside YouTube's Chaotic Rise to World Domination
Kaboom the border collie wins the 24" class at the 2022 WKC Masters
Kaboom, with 10 years experience of being a very good boy, goes fast as heck and wins the 24" class at the 2022 WKC Masters Agility Championship. (SLYT)
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