Archive for the ‘The Art of Conversation’ Category
The Birth of Budgie Smugglers
A brief [ahem!], first-hand account of the development of "the Speedo" by its designer, Gloria Smythe tells us that the course of fashion does not always flow smoothly or quickly. I did my first Olympic Games collection in 1964, but no one would have known. When I did the 1976 Australian map print it became […]
In: All, The Art of Conversation
Count My Words
A couple of years ago a job recruiter asked me "What would be your perfect job?" With some wit, but unexpected precision, I responded: "One that requires a knowledge of partial differential equations." This does sum up pretty well the level of technical skill and experience that would have characterized a suitable position for me, […]
In: All, Reflections, The Art of Conversation
Thugs vs. Pansies
I've just finished an odd book called Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper, by Nicholson Baker (New York : Random House, 2001). It's an unexpected polemic against the destruction of books by libraries which in itself sounds odd. Baker traces the rise of the idea of "brittle books" and the response to it. […]
In: All, Books, The Art of Conversation
On Reading Vaccine
A little while back I finished reading Vaccine, by Arthur Allen (New York: W.W.Norton & Company, 2007). I admit a prior interest in reading some history about vaccination, but I didn't expect to enjoy it nearly so much. Until I discover a better example, this book strikes me as the book to read on the […]
In: All, Books, Common-Place Book, The Art of Conversation
The Maillard Reaction
Sometimes I read the food article in the Baltimore Sun, and occasionally I'm surprised, perhaps even astounded, to find sciency discussions related to food chemistry and cooking physics. It's even more a delight when the author is attentive and gets it right! Gosh, this one I clipped a long time ago, but it's still useful. […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science, The Art of Conversation
The Conversation Sandwich Theory
This was a title for a post that I've saved for sometime; it was something someone googled that carried them here for inexplicable reasons, but I thought it a very attractive phrase to describe something. Alas, I haven't been able to think yet of a good use for it. I try to imagine what a […]
In: All, Curious Stuff, The Art of Conversation
Native Plants
How far can one go with fear of the "other"? I recently read a fascinating book by Robert Sullivan called Rats (more at my book note). My attention was drawn to the observations in this footnote about things "native": The term native when used in regards to plants and animals can be complicated. In an […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, The Art of Conversation
Harry & Pepper
Here's a heartwarming story* about true love. Harry and Pepper, residents of San Francisco, have been a devoted couple for 2 years. Harry and Pepper both weigh eight and half pounds and stand about a foot and half tall. During feeding times the couple is the first to dine. Pepper has a preference for dining […]
In: All, Faaabulosity, The Art of Conversation
But Raman Noodle Live On
Like the author (Lawrence Downes) of the appreciation of "Mr. Noodle" in the New York Times (9 January 2007), I don't think I ever knew that Raman noodles had an inventor. I suppose I'd always imagined that such a ubiquitous part of Japanese culture and cuisine — as I thought of it — had always […]
In: All, Food Stuff, The Art of Conversation
Revising US History
I've finally gotten around to reading Jeff Sharlet's feature article for Harper's Magazine ("Through a Glass, Darkly : How the Christian right is reimagining U.S. history", December 2006) , and I thought it a very valuable contribution to furthering comprehension of the mostly inscrutable fundamentalist mind. It is an in-depth consideration of how fundamentalists look […]
In: All, Reflections, The Art of Conversation
Welcome the Sun!
This is the day of the year, 7 December, when I celebrate my own festival of light to welcome the return of the sun. No, it is not the shortest day of the year, the day with the least amount of sunlight where I am (about 39 degrees north, 76 degrees, 46 minutes west — […]
In: All, It's Only Rocket Science, The Art of Conversation
A Feast of Footnotes
I am reading a delightful book by Nichola Fletcher, called Charlemagne's Tablecloth: A Piquant History of Feasting (New York : St. Martin's Press, 2004). Fortunately for my taste, since I always enjoy a good footnote, she has a number of amusing examples that have attracted my attention. Herewith a few choice morsels. First, the one […]
In: All, Food Stuff, The Art of Conversation
Natural Nature
I would be remiss if I made no mention of the recently opened exhibit at the Natural History Museum, University of Oslo [Norway] , "dedicated to gay animals", called "Against Nature?" The Norwegians can be such a sensible lot sometimes. According to BBC news: The Oslo Natural History Museum opened the show last week and […]
In: All, Faaabulosity, The Art of Conversation
Sojourner Truth on Fundraising (NPG II)
A little while back, when we were in Delaware visiting our friends Tom & James, we made an outing to the Delaware Art Museum. One thing that caught my attention there — I was reminded of this because I saw another example of it at the National Portrait Gallery this past weekend — was a […]
A Mind of its Own
I recently finished reading A Mind of Its Own: A Cultural History of the Penis, by David Friedman.* I enjoyed it and I can recommend it, too. Before you get the wrong idea, this is no nudge-nudge-wink-wink volumne, nor is it weighted down with academic weightiness; instead, it's a relaxed examination of the history of […]
In: All, Books, The Art of Conversation
Interactive Toys
I can always count on my friend George to keep me up on the latest currents in popular culture. Just last week, for instance, we were talking in a casual way about recent events around the country when the conversation — somehow — naturally touched on sex toys, dildoes in particular. I wondered whether anyone […]
In: All, Curious Stuff, The Art of Conversation
The Hysterical Fundamentalist Agenda
Some years back there used to be much more rhetoric from the fundamentalist reactionaries about the "homosexual agenda", a big part of which was that we (i.e., the perverts) were planning to take over the US government. How, I wondered at the, could anyone possibly believe that? After all, who would want the government, and […]
In: All, Reflections, The Art of Conversation
P.D. James on European Legal Philosophy
I found this exchange in P.D. Jame's The Lighthouse (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 2005) amusing as well as a useful summary of European legal philosophy. Miss Holcombe is about to be questioned by the police at her cottage. She and her butler, Roughtwood, are just finishing their Saturday-morning Scrabble game. She has a surfeit […]
In: All, Books, The Art of Conversation
Sequences of Integers
While I was doing a bit of personal research on sudoku puzzles today, I tripped over the On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences, maintained by Neil J. A. Sloane, an AT&T Fellow. You might wonder for a moment what an "on-line encyclopedia of integer sequences" might be, but the answer is indeed as obvious as it […]
In: All, Curious Stuff, The Art of Conversation
Beginning One's Life Story
One of [Philip] Pullman's* beliefs is that your life begins when you are born, but your life story begins when you realize that you were delivered into the wrong family by mistake. [From: Laura Miller, "Far From Narnia", The New Yorker, 26 December 2005 & 2 January 2006 (double issue), p. 58.] ———- * Philip Pullman is […]
In: All, Common-Place Book, The Art of Conversation