RadioShack, the second-rate phone store that used to sell electronics, just fired 400 employees by email. Classy, no? But here's my question: Considering that the last five times I tried to buy basic computer supplies at RadioShack (yes, I'm a slow learner, but it is just around the corner), the employees treated me as if I were asking for unobtainium, are the 400 people who've been let go capable of accessing an email account to find out they've been made redundant?
You can make an omelet out of an egg, but you can't make an egg out of an omelet. Sean Carroll finds this almost strange, because "the fundamental laws of physics themselves are symmetric and don't seem to discriminate between the past and future."
The brouhaha over Bob Dylan's recent Rolling Stone interview surprised me. Dylan cryptic, caustic, and cranky? What a shock. Has he ever held a straightforward interview where he kept on topic? Louis Menand reviews Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews.
The fabulous Nancy Friedman of Away With Words points us to BuzzWhack's "The IMglish Dictionary." IMglish, as in the instant message version of English, for those of us who lack fast thumbs or crackberries.
Sorry about that. Kelli and I flew off to Maine. We spent most of our time on Mt. Desert Island. "Desert," in this case, is pronounced "dessert" (with a French accent, if you like). It was good and quiet. We drove along the coast in our pathetic PT Cruiser (Touring Edition), from Portland to Bar Harbor, listening to the new TV on the Radio. It starts off like a Sonic Youth song, but the drums change it all. And then the vocals change it more. Of the words I could make out: Hey hey, my baby / Won't you lay your hands on me / Mirror my malady / Transfer my tragedy. We decided that he really does sound like Peter Gabriel.
What do paleontologists do?
When they're in the field with their crew?
The digger when he's failing?
The geologist when she's glum?
The site carpenter who's wailing?
From nailing
His thumb?
When they're beset and besmirched
The folk most involved in research
However do they manage
To shed their weary lot?
Oh, what do paleontologists do
We do not?