The Wasteland Meets Gravity's Rainbow
Through the courtesy of Fred's two feet—and the Kaavya Viswanathan kerfluffle. Or something.
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Generation Xerox
Kurt Andersen says that it's probably too late for Kaavya Viswanathan to claim "the similarities were part of a deliberate postmodern intertextual take on 'real' genre novels." Umm hmmm.
Yawning As Social Behavior
In other words, yawns <I>are</I> contagious.
How to Fold a Pocket Square
It's a bit of a shame about the blog: I often don't get started on an entry until late in the day. For instance, I'm starting this entry at 5:23pm. At 5:23pm, most people are on their ways home, while I'm here, feeling like I'm just getting started. And I put a lot of effort into these words. It takes some time. Even the shitty entries take awhile. I hope this doesn't sound like a complaint. I'm not complaining. I actually enjoy these circumstances. I'm relaxing now. <a href="http://www.killrockstars.com/bands/factsheets/tarkio/">Tarkio</a>'s keeping me awake with banjos and bells, and, aside from the random e-mail, there are no more interruptions to keep me from writing, which is what I love most. I like this time. I like 5:23pm. I like my job. Which gets me to something else I wanted to mention, had I had the opportunity to simply mention it when it came to mind, rather than beating around the clock like this:
Have Spacesuit, Will Travel
As a kid, I loved the Heinlein novel with that title, which began, IIRC, with the hero "testing" his spacesuit by jogging through his neighborhood in it—at night, so he wouldn't attract attention. North Dakota is probably a better choice.
Music Line-up for HE2006
HE2006 will feature concerts galore—everything from live classical music to jazz to electronica.
A USB Turntable?
Interesting concept—maybe.
The Box That Changed the World
You're thinking television, right? Nope, it's the shipping container.
Living Without Subordinate Clauses
A tribe living on Brazil's Maici River has only three pronouns, no words for colors, no use for numbers, and not much of a past tense. But its language is generating debates among linguists like you wouldn't believe.
The Quarter-Mile Test
Dr. Anne Newman suggests that a simple test—the ability to briskly walk a quarter of a mile—might be an "important determinant" not only of whether an elderly subject might be alive in six years, but of the illness or disability he or she might experience during that time. Yes, it's a small sample, but I'm going to keep walking.