Archive for the ‘All’ Category
Beard of the Week XLI: In Pursuit of the Gene
This week's very smart beard, which might live up to calling it a van Dyke, belongs to geneticist and cellist Edmund Beecher Wilson (1856–1939). On the Columbia University Website, where he is one of their "Living Legacies" (despite his being deceased these last 70 years), he is hailed as the first "cell biologist", with which […]
In: All, Beard of the Week, It's Only Rocket Science
Thomas Tallis: Nine Psalm Tunes
This evening we were listening, with quite a bit of pleasure, to a recording we recently purchased. It's called "Heavenly Harmonies"; it records the 13-voice a capella group "Stile Antico" singing William Byrd's (c. 1540–1623) "Motets" (from Cantiones sacrae I & II) and "Mass Propers for Pentecost (from Gradualia, 1607), interspersed with "9 Psalm Tunes […]
Fun for US Canada Day
I apologize that I neglected to wish all my Canadian friends a happy Canada Day, although we did talk about maple trees on the second. Honestly, Chris, I adore maple trees, just some more than others. To celebrate y'all might enjoy looking at Bill's "Canada Day, 1976" photo album. As one friend wrote, he understood […]
In: All, Laughing Matters, The Art of Conversation
Bradford Pear Demoted
In one short news story on the radio this afternoon I simultaneously learned two things: For the last 30 years, the Bradford Pear has been the official tree of Prince George's County, Maryland; and As of today, the Bradford Pear is no longer the official tree of Prince George's County, Maryland. To make a long […]
In: All, Personal Notebook, The Art of Conversation
Beard of the Week XL: Plant Pigments
This lovely beard, a beautiful example of a mid-twentieth-century schnauzer, belongs to the chemist Richard Willstätter. I confess that his name was not familiar to me despite his having won the 1915 Nobel Prize in chemistry. Here are two short excerpts from his Nobel biography that summarize his prize-winning research. As a young man he […]
In: All, Beard of the Week, It's Only Rocket Science
On the Ontology of Old Cars
When conversation really, really lags and I feel the need to do something desperate, I have long relied on my metaphysical topics: 1) the potato-chip question*; and 2) the antique-car question. Topic #2 is our purpose at the moment. The question is rather simply put, as it should be. Imagine an antique or classic car, […]
In: All, Notes to Richard, The Art of Conversation
Continuity in Narrative
I've been thinking lately about continuity in narrative, "continuity" rather in the sense it is used in film: what the author narrates to the reader in getting a character from one point in the plot to the next point. I imagine it's been on my mind since I recently finished a novel by an author […]
Beard of the Week XXXIX: Schütz, Schein, and Scheidt
This week's beard belongs to Philip Cave, who has recently taken up the post of music director at All Souls Memorial Episcopal Church in Washington, DC.† Philip Cave (his website) is an accomplished tenor who has sung with the Hilliard Ensemble, The Sixteen, the Choir of the English Consort, and the King's Consort, among others, […]
In: All, Beard of the Week, Music & Art, Personal Notebook
Lightning Safety Awareness Week 2008
Yesterday I had a press release from NOAA letting me know that this week, 22-28 June, is "Lightning Safety Awareness Week". Apparently it is the seventh such declared week. The motto of LSAW comes from the mouth of Leon the Lion: "When Thunder Roars, Go Indoors!" The National Weather Service, operated by NOAA, maintains a […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science, The Art of Conversation
The Lovely Cyd Charisse
Two days ago Cyd Charisse died. We liked seeing her in movies, watching her dance. To be honest, though, we seem most to associate her with Gene Kelly's voice as heard in the film series "That's Entertainment", once we noticed that he always referred to her as "the lovely Cyd Charisse". I suppose this is […]
In: All, Music & Art, Personal Notebook
It's Ice!
This news from NASA and the Phoenix Mars Lander seems to be traveling around with near light speed: Bright Chunks at Phoenix Lander's Mars Site Must Have Been Ice 06.19.08 TUCSON, Ariz. – Dice-size crumbs of bright material have vanished from inside a trench where they were photographed by NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander four days […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science
Check Out Them Roses
Some things are just too fabulous not to share. Joe ("Sing Out, Louise!", Joe.My.God, 19 June 2008), looking into Patti Lupone's acclaimed Tony-award performance from "Gypsey", tripped across this homage by one Michael Burbach. I couldn't say it better than Joe: "I don't know who the heck this Michael Burbach kid is, but he is […]
In: All, Faaabulosity, Music & Art
Look at All the Happy People
[Original caption:] Robin Tyler, left, and Diane Olson rejoice after marrying in a Jewish ceremony on the steps of the Beverly Hills courthouse. Photo by: Luis Sinco; from Carla Hall, John M. Glionna and Rich Connell, "Gay marriages begin as California ruling takes effect", Los Angeles Times, June 16, 2008.
End-of-Civilization Vigil
This is just a little reminder, in case it has slipped from your attention, that civilization as we know it will end this evening at 5:01 PM Pacific Daylight Time.* I'll be listening for the first cracks. The end itself will begin, of course, with the institution of marriage, thought by some to have survived […]
In: All, Current Events, Faaabulosity
Re-Tiling Our Shower I
Longer ago than I really care to admit, one wall of our master bathroom revealed that it had been damaged by water (and poor construction) and needed remedial treatment. Over time all of the tiles on that wall, an exterior wall with a window at one end of our large shower, were removed, the old, […]
Vote for People to be Happy
Timothy Kincaid at Box Turtle Bulletin ("The Most Effective Campaign") pointed out a nice, personal story from the Fresno Bee about a woman in California named Renee DeMusiak. Now, Ms. DeMusiak was what one might call a marriage traditionalist until rather recently when she changed her mind, largely because of her feelings about her boss, […]
In: All, Current Events, Faaabulosity
Beard of the Week XXXVIII: Every Beard Type
This lovely beard, called an "anchor" style, belongs to Jon Dyer, of dyers.org. I have recently become familiar with the many beards of Mr. Dyer thanks to a pointer from my friend Tim Wilson. Jon Dyer is clearly a man after my own heart when it comes to an appreciation of beards, with the exception […]
The Mystery of the Magenta Icing
Sometimes one provides one's own amusement without even realizing it; perhaps life is more Oscar Wilde-ish than we realize.† Especially with a memory-sieve like my brain, there's always my blog for little surprises and occasional delights. Yes, it was another google: "how to make magenta frosting". An odd request, certainly, but not beyond making sense […]
In: All, Curious Stuff, Food Stuff
On Reading Despicable Species
Last week I finished reading Janet Lembke's, Despicable Species : On Cowbirds, Kudzu, Hornworms, and Other Scourges (New York : The Lyons Press, 1999. xi + 216 pages, illustrations by Joe Nutt). You might like to read my book note about it. I like the author's portrait inside the back cover: the gracefully maturing lady […]
In: All, Books, It's Only Rocket Science
Valuing Marriage Like Freedom
Marriage won't be worth less because more can take part in it. — Anniken Huitfeldt, Norwegian Family Issues minister, upon introducing a parliamentary measure that would make marriage laws gender neutral in Norway, recently passed by a vote of 84 votes to 41 [quoted in "Marriage Equality for Norway", Joe.My.God, 11 June 2008.]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Faaabulosity