Archive for the ‘All’ Category
Perfection Salad
For quite some time I have had a fascination for congealed salads or, as they are more commonly known today, Jell-O Salads, "congealed" rather having fallen out of favor as a descriptor since it seems to have developed unsavory connotations and association, as evidenced by the fact that discussing "congealed salads" at this recent, about-to-be-mentioned […]
I ♥ Bariolage
I was very happy today to be reminded of the word "Bariolage", which refers to a technique of playing a stringed instrument in which a changing note played on one string is quickly alternated with an unchanging note played on another string; the unchanging note frequently is an open string. It's commonly heard in Baroque […]
In: All, Explaining Things, Music & Art
Pride in New York
It's the Empire State Building with its gay-pride colors on, but this celebration is special. New York City's gay-pride events were already scheduled for this weekend but they are a bigger-than-ever party celebrating the arrival, late Friday night, 24 June 2011, of marriage equality in the state of New York. The New York assembly has […]
In: All, Current Events, Faaabulosity, Personal Notebook
Maddow on Birthers
The idea that the birth certificate is the real story, and Osama bin Laden is the distraction from it, tells you everything you really need to know about the people who are invested in the birth certificate. —Rachel Maddow on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, 3 May 2011
In: All, Common-Place Book, Current Events
Protecting "Traditional Spaghetti"
My purpose in quoting this news excerpt is not to recapitulate the dreary and clichéd patter of anti-gay politicians, as you will see below. BOSTON — For anyone paying attention to the Governor's Council recently, the questions were predictable, the exchanges inevitable. Charles O. Cipollini repeatedly pressed [Massachusetts'] Gov. Deval Patrick's latest state Supreme Judicial […]
In: All, Faaabulosity, Laughing Matters
Balancing Basic & Applied Research
The transistor, the LED, and the medical isotope technetium-99m are important applications of science, yet as far as I know none of them was invented as the result of a government initiative to fund industrially relevant research. The transistor was invented at Bell Labs. The LED was invented at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, It's Only Rocket Science
You've Got to be Carefully Taught
Remarking on the news that the Catholic Church in Rhode Island was to kick off a program to "educate" parishioners about the "dangers" of marriage equality: [P]eople must be coached into seeing [gays and lesbians who wish to marry] as a threat, since the instinct is to see us as the benign lovers that we […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, Faaabulosity
Beard on Salads
Tonight I was thumbing through James Beard's American Cookery (1972, in a reissued edition), and noted these two remarks on the subject of salads. [from page 34] When a Pennsylvania housewife won a national prize for a jellied salad in 1905, she unleashed a demand for congealed salads that has grown alarmingly, particularly in the […]
In: All, Books, Common-Place Book, Food Stuff
The Gingrich Theology of Sex and Sinning
It was, for a change, a quiet evening at home. Dogs curled at their feet, Frank was reading the newspaper while Kenneth furrowed his brow over a challenging Sudoku. Frank rattled the pages of his paper, drawing Kenneth's attention. "I was just thinking earlier about serial adulterer Newt Gingerich and his seemingly serious–to him–bid to […]
In: All, Current Events, Frank & Kenneth
Do As He Says, Not As He Does
Newt Gingrich, lately infected with delusional notions that people want him to be president (yes, of the United States!), enjoys his sinning but apparently gets his sin-tickets fixed through his very special relationship with Jesus. Don't forget, however, that he finds the idea of marriage equality, well, unforgivable. So, I repeat the following just because […]
In: All, Current Events, Splenetics
When Are Two Things the Same?
As a response today to the Colorado Senate's Judiciary Committee voting 6-3 today to pass civil unions, I read this (here): "It is as close to marriage as can be construed in Colorado law without using that word," said Republican Sen. Kevin Lundberg, a long-time opponent of LGBT rights. "For that reason it is marriage […]
In: All, Faaabulosity, Snake Oil--Cheap!
A Letter to MD Delegate Valentino-Smith
In the process that's trying to move a bill for marriage equality in my home state of Maryland, last week's step was to get the bill out of the Maryland House Judiciary Committee so that it can be debated and voted on by all the delegates. One of my district's delegates, Geraldine Valentino-Smith, sat on […]
In: All, Faaabulosity, Personal Notebook
Martha Graham Dances "Appalachian Spring"
"Appalachian Spring", the ballet by Martha Graham with music by Aaron Copeland, premiered at the Library of Congress in 1944. As Jennifer McDonald says in this short blog entry, it "became an instant treasure". She also helpfully reminds me that it is a great thing to see Martha Graham's dance and hear Aaron Copeland's music, […]
George W. Trippon — The Film
Sometime last year my friend Arne introduced me to the late George W. Trippon (1916–2010) and pointed out some videos on YouTube of Trippon's program "Sew Whats New"; the episodes I saw were from the early 1970s although we're told the program ran from 1972 until 1994. George W. Trippon–who is, surprisingly, apparently not famous […]
Ricks on Bergen on Bush
Bergen[, in his book The Longest War,] is evenhanded but ferocious in reviewing the failures of the Bush administration, noting that in the wake of the worst security failure in American history, no one was fired, no one resigned and no one took responsibility. It’s widely understood that the White House ceded the moral high […]
A Small Basket of Links
Rather than link those things that caught my eye and give a footnote to Avedon Carol for them, here instead is a brief excerpt from "Look over your shoulder" (The Sideshow, 5 January 2011), with links: Like that former senior House aide said: "You can't blame the voters. In 2006 they voted out the party […]
Selecting a Popular-Science Book to Read
Recently I was contemplating answers to potential questions prior to a brief interview (I'll give a link if it shows up someplace linkable) I gave about our Science Book Challenge. One question that came to mind, one for which we try to provide one answer with our collection of science-book notes, is "How do I […]
In: All, Books, It's Only Rocket Science
Rainbows of his Mind
My interest is captivated by this item from Mike Tidmus [source ; his post has the links]: San Diego’s least meteorologically-inclined Christian, James Hartline, claims an airplane was struck by lightning because it flew through a rainbow — the universal symbol of gay and lesbian rights. That offense, apparently, pissed off Hartline’s god. Tweets San […]
In: All, Faaabulosity, It's Only Rocket Science
Palin : America's First "Reality" Candidate?
As I write this the big controversy of the week–in addition to whether the senate might vote to repeal DADT and whether our not-really-progressive president has "caved" to Republicans on extending the anti-progressive Bush tax-cuts–is the escalating spat between Margaret Cho and Bristol Palin. Ms. Cho contended that Ms. Palin as induced by her celebrity […]
In: All, Current Events, Eureka!
Should Science-Deniers Chair Technical Congressional Committees?
It should come as no surprise that I think the answer is a resolute "no". This is from Bob Park's "What's New" for 27 November 2010. 4. FAITH: LIFE IN A MULTICULTURAL DEMOCRACY. I have a number of devoutly religious physics colleagues who are able to partition their life: scientist on one side, devout believer […]
In: All, Briefly Noted, Common-Place Book