I’ll Take “Children’s Authors” for $1000, Alex.

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

June 30, 2009 | Leave a Comment

As a regular watcher of Jeopardy, I’ve always been fascinated by the variety of contestants. I’ve even been told that I should be on Jeopardy by people who, for whatever reason, seem to think I’m much more well-informed than I actually am. And I’ll admit that very frequently when I watch it I’m surprised to find [...]

Keep The Rainbow.

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

June 30, 2009 | 3 Comments

To celebrate the fortieth anniversary of the Stonewall riots, Studio 360 host Kurt Anderson asked, only partly tongue-in-cheek, for a new design–an alternative, if you will–for the rainbow flag. The design company Worldstudio was brought in with some ideas. You can see the designs here. My personal favorite was the Circle Flag (above). Even though [...]

Book ‘Em: Written Music.

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

June 29, 2009 | Leave a Comment

There’s a line that’s floated around for several years and has been attributed to various people: “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.” I’ve always loved that line regardless of who said it, and every time I hear it I think I’d like to see some dancing about architecture. Here’s another thought on music: the [...]

Word Of The Week: June 27th, 2009

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

June 27, 2009 | Leave a Comment

As I was gearing up for yet another lap around the alphabet and looking for a word that started with the letter ‘a’, I noticed something curious. The word zenith, which starts with the last letter of the alphabet, has a synonym which starts with the first letter of the alphabet. The synonym is acme. [...]

Beware Of Giant Talking Liverwurst Sandwiches.

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

June 26, 2009 | 1 Comment

Because, you know, they might be a district attorney in disguise.

Lost And Found.

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

June 23, 2009 | 1 Comment

The April 2009 issue of National Geographic Explorer reported that the remains of Everett Ruess had possibly been found. An artist, poet, explorer, and naturalist, twenty-year old Everett Ruess came into Escalante, Utah, one of the most remote places in the United States, in late 1934. He stayed a few days, watched Death Takes A Holiday with [...]

Book ‘Em: Any Love.

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

June 22, 2009 | Leave a Comment

The funny thing about an attempt to censor a book is that they just draw attention to that book. They make people want to read it. As I mentioned last week (original article here) there was an attempt to get the book Baby Be-Bop by Francesca Lia Block from a West Bend, Wisconsin, library. Reports on the [...]

Word Of The Week: June 20th, 2009.

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

June 20, 2009 | 1 Comment

When I read The Autobiography of Malcolm X, one of the things that stood out most strongly from his youth roaming the streets was when he bought his first zoot suit. Ultimately it was a look he would reject, but when he bought it the suit was a sign of success. It was flamboyant and [...]

Get Out Of Your Chair.

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

June 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment

It drives my wife nuts, but I pace when I’m on the phone. I can’t help it. Sometimes I’m not even conscious of it until she yells, “Stop pacing!” from the other room. At work, when I’m on hold, or even if I’m discussing a particularly thorny problem with someone, I’ll pace in my office. This may [...]

Judge A Book By Its Cover.

Posted by Christopher Waldrop

June 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment

In the film Psycho we never actually see Mrs. Bates–not in the flesh, anyway, but this is how I always pictured her.

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