January 2012
32 posts
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“Hurling food isn’t just an American thing, either. The Greeks have been known to...”
– Here’s A Pie In Your Eye: A Brief History Of Food Fights
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The Dilemma of Being a Cyborg →
by Carina Chocano, NYT 1/27/12
I’m terrified this will happen to my thesis. Obsessively backing everything up on email.
Recently, in the span of about a week, a friend of mine lost her hard drive and backup drive storing years of work, her entire music collection, her photos and all her e-mail. A few weeks later, duly warned, I watched my glitchy phone finally die — and take with it ...
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In Britain, a Partial List of Those Who Declined... →
by Sarah Lyall, NYT 1/26/12
Then there is a whole other class of people, not included on the list, who accepted honors, only to return them later. While Sir Paul McCartney appears to be happy in his knighthood, his bandmate John Lennon was not so relaxed about his own honor, a Member of the British Empire.
He gave it back in 1969, along with a note to the queen saying he was protesting...
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Vigil-aunties Taken to Court in Pakistan →
by Declan Walsh, NYT 1/26/12
“Journalists don’t have the right to become moral police,” said Adnan Rehmat of Intermedia, a media development organization that is among the petitioners. “We need to draw a line.”
Images of moral vigilantes prowling the streets have an ominous resonance in Pakistan, where many still recall the dark days of the Islamist dictator Gen. Mohammad Zia ul-Haq in the...
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Bird-Watchers Revel in Unusual Spike in Snowy Owl... →
by Jim Robbins, NYT 1/22/12
Adding to the allure for children, the owls are of the same species as Hedwig, the faithful companion of the fictional wizard Harry Potter, which perished defending him in the final book of the series.
Man! Really, NYT, really? Warn me about the spoilers next time, OK?
(HEDWIG LIVES)
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Vanity Fair: Surrounded by Cub Scouts, Newt... →
vanityfair:
“There’s a guy running for president on the ship!” one dad told a Scout.
“Really?” the kid said.
“His name’s Newt Gingrich.”
Silence.
The boys hurried further off-shore as a man in a suit scrambled up to the group and yelled for everyone to move back. “Stand aside!”
A black SUV…
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George Lucas is Ready to Roll the Credits →
by Bryan Curtis, NYT 1/17/12
After downing a few Grey Goose tonics at New York’s Royalton hotel, Cuba Gooding Jr., one of the stars of “Red Tails,” came up with a rejoinder to all the people who turned down the project. “I like to say James Cameron made a movie just like this,” he said excitedly. “Instead of black people, there were blue people being held down by white people. It was called...
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Carpetbagger: Golden Globes 2012 Live Blog →
Brooks Barnes, NYT 1/15/12
Backstage at the Globes was its usual free for all, with Internet connections in the press room failing to connect (despite a $350 fee, required in advance) and media credentialed for the wrong rooms. You’re broken into a strict caste system here — TV front and center, with lowly print people downstairs and around the corner.
Thank goodness somebody...
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The Whirling Sound of Planet Dickens →
Verlyn Klinkenborg, NYT 1/14/12
Find the tumultuous heart of your favorite Dickens novel, the place where 19th-century London seems to be seething, smoking, overcrowded, in a state of vulgar contradiction. Then imagine Dickens working in the midst of it — a small, brisk figure rushing past you on a dark and dirty street. He is lost in a kind of mental ventriloquism, calling up his emotions...
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During Address, Murdoch Goes After Cuomo on... →
by Michael M. Grynbaum, NYT 1/12/12
Mr. Murdoch wrote: “Bloomberg’s bold teacher proposals today terrific. How will chicken Cuomo respond? If UFT refuses this money good teachers will scream.” He was referring to the United Federation of Teachers, a union that often opposes rigorous teacher evaluations, which figured prominently in the mayor’s speech.
Chicken? Whaaat?
For being such a...
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Ringing Finally Ended, but There's No Button to... →
by Daniel J. Wakin, NYT 1/12/12
“You can imagine how devastating it is to know you had a hand in that,” said the man, who described himself as a business executive between 60 and 70 who runs two companies. “It’s horrible, horrible.” The man said he had not slept in two days.
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Entrance to National Parks free this weekend →
usagov:
In honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend, all national parks are free, January 14-16. Find one near you.
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With Enough Bandwidth, Many Join the Band →
by Catherine Saint Louis, NYT 1/10/12
When Dr. John McClure, a pathologist in Edina, Minn., was pondering his wish list several years ago, he added something a little out of the ordinary: learn to play the bagpipes. But his goal seemed like a long shot after a friend who had been teaching him moved away.
Now he is getting lessons from a top-tier teacher — Jori Chisholm, whose résumé...
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Watchbraiker:
This is insanely wonderful.
nprradiopictures:
This short and sweet documentary introduces us to Jerry Gretzinger, a guy who draws a giant map of a city with a life of its own. He draws cards to let chance dictate what he adds to the map, changing the city. The amount of time he must have spent on this over the years is amazing. - Mito
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For Huntsman, Mandarin Proves a Draw →
by Abby Goodnough, NYT 1/9/2012
After a town hall event in Keene on Sunday night, Cindi Croft of Newport waited patiently in a long line to introduce her daughter Katelyn, 16, to Mr. Huntsman. Katelyn studied Mandarin in Beijing last year, Mrs. Croft said, and had hoped to meet the Huntsmans – and perhaps even play the harp for them – while she was there. But Mr. Huntsman left China before...
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