Diversions
I am in the thick of an impact right now (and have been for a few weeks). I know that this is good news (means I’m breaking something up from the past), but when one is in the muckety-muck, one cannot always see the breakthrough on the other side. That’s where I’m at today…
Because this is all too personal to discuss in blog, here’s a few great links I’ve discovered recently to keep you amused:
McSweeney’s History’s Greatest Persons Reconsidered. Reconsider Gandhi:
But let us now consider what it would take for us to reexamine his legacy. Clearly, murder or arson would put him right over the line. But let’s start small: Were we to learn that he was a lousy tipper, he’d probably still be okay. Rude to his staff? Still okay — he was a busy man, had a lot of stress in his life, was hungry. It happens. Cursed like a sailor? Damaging, but still not fatal — could be interpreted as colorful. Here, I think, is the dividing line - everything below it, he’s still a hero; everything above it, he doesn’t make the TIME 100: What if it were discovered that he often, in conversation, would refer to the necessity of “managing” the Gandhi “brand”, “leveraging” its “equity” through a series of corporate sponsorships and joint ventures?
Reconsider Lincoln:
But let’s consider, if only for a moment, what history’s view of him would be if, on that fateful night at the Ford Theater, he’d seen John Wilkes Booth coming? And what if — just for the sake of argument — he’d grabbed Mary Todd and used her as a human shield?
Slate’s Make Mine Dvorak about August Dvorak’s alternative typing keyboard layout. It’s a fascinating article further enhanced by reading Barbara Blackburn, the World’s Fastest Typist. She’s in the Guiness Book for typing speeds of 212 WPM on the Dvorak (not QWERTY) keyboard.
Oh, I wish I hadn’t found this: In the 80’s Music Page. Huge site with trivia, lists, quizzes, posters, pictures, obscure info - wow! Apparently, the site also covers 80’s movies, 80’s TV and radio, and 80’s Fads and Fashion. There’s also In the 70’s and In the 90’s. Man, reading about 90’s fashion trends is wild - so familiar, yet feels so long ago and nostalgic. Back-Pack Purses, Baby Doll Dresses, Doc Martens, Flannel shirts, Spiral Perms, Thigh-high Stockings…
Ah, the Academy Award nominations. As my friends know, I used to be (and to some extent still am) an Oscar buff. I had most of the top categories’ winners for every year memorized when I was 17 and have been forgetting them over recent years like a slow-leaking balloon. I’m ok with the current noms; the only real disappointment for me was the absence of Jude Law in “A.I.” for Best Supporting Actor. I found his Gigolo Joe performance unique and layered. Anyway, I really hope Russell Crowe doesn’t win again; he deserved an Oscar for “The Insider’ a few years ago, but now I just think he’s overrated.
I can see I have some catching up to do movie-wise. I must see “In the Bedroom”, “Gosford Park” “A Beautiful Mind”, “Amelie”, “Shrek”, “Monster’s Ball”, “Iris”, “Moulin Rouge”, “Mulholland Drive”, and “Ghost World”.