Pearl

I posted a Ted Kooser poem about the Blizzard of 1888. Here is another one that is even better.

Iceberg on the Loose

Article from the Guardian about a new 50 mile long iceberg off Antarctica.

Giant Antarctic iceberg could affect global ocean circulation

A Brief History of Pretty Much Everything

From Displeased Eskimo on YouTube.

"[A} flipbook made entirely out of biro pens. It's something like 2100 pages long, and about 50 jotter books. I'd say I worked on and off it for roughly 3 weeks."

My favorite scene is the Three Wise Men. This is as impressive as anything Pixar does.

Holi Pictures

I only know what Holi is because I read A Suitable Boy.

The World's Best Pictures of Holi

Report from the Tidal Basin

I went down to the Tidal Basin this afternoon. Some damage to the Cherry Trees, but they seem to have survived the snow much better than the larger trees. Except for the really old cherry trees, I think their branches are too small to hold enough snow to do much damage.

Here are the pictures I took, showing some of the damaged trees. Also repairs to the seawall around the Jefferson Memorial, and pictures of some of the other memorials.

Tidal Basin, etc. - 2/24/2010

Noah's ark was circular

An article from the Guardian: New translation of Babylonian clay tablets reveal that in the original version of the story the Ark was a giant circular reed raft.

Relic reveals Noah's ark was circular

Can psychiatry be a science?

A good article this week in The New Yorker by Louis Menand about psychiatry and the pharmaceutical industry.

Head Case

The Blizzards: Good & Bad

Like everything else the recent blizzards have had both good and bad side effects.

On the good side, Baltimore City went eight days without a Homicide. I wonder if someone can make a television show about that.

On the bad side, the Maryland Zoo in Baltimore suffered severe damage. I have not yet seen any reports on how the cherry trees in the tidal basin have weathered the weather.

Snow Damage To Delay The Opening Of The Maryland Zoo

Audrey Tautou in a Music Video

I didn't know if I should post this here or on my music blog. I am posting this solely because Audrey Tautou is in the video, I have no idea who this guy is, so I am posting it here. Charlie Winston video for "I Love Your Smile".

Juries and Social Media

The Judicial Conference of the Federal Courts has released their proposed jury instructions dealing with the use of electronic media. This seems to cover about everything, but they will have to keep updating it.

"During your deliberations, you must not communicate with or provide any information to anyone by any means about this case. You may not use any electronic device or media, such as a telephone, cell phone, smart phone, iPhone, Blackberry or computer; the internet, any internet service, or any text or instant messaging service; or any internet chat room, blog, or website such as Facebook, My Space, LinkedIn, YouTube or Twitter, to communicate to anyone any information about this case or to conduct any research about this case until I accept your verdict."

Never Too Young For Shakespeare

Learning Hamlet at 30 months. This kid has a future.

The Diaries of Adam & Eve

I already did one post for Valentines Day, but, since this is a love story, I thought I should also post it today. A claymation version of Mark Twain's "The Diaries of Adam & Eve", which I think contains some of his best writing. This is from the DVD "The Adventures of Mark Twain". The video is divided into three parts.

Best Kiss For Valentines Day

The Los Angelos Times has video of what they consider to be the 50 classic movie kisses. The image here is of Ingrid Bergman and Cary Grant from my favorite Alfred Hitchcock film, "Notorious".

50: Classic Movie Kisses

Annie Leibovitz: Actors & Directors

Behind the scenes video from Annie Leibovitz's shoots for the Actors & Directors spread in Vanity Fair.

The Best of the World

The New York Times has a post with the World Press Photo Contest winners.

Showcase: The Best in the World

More Blizzard Pictures

Two sets of B&W picture. The first set from Baltimore and the second from DC.

Blizzard - Part 2

DC - 2/12/2010

The Soloist

I watched my first Netflix DVD today, The Soloist. I did not see it in the theater because something about the trailer turned me off, plus there is something hard about deciding to go see a movie about mental illness. Also, I think I must have missed that it was directed by Joe Wright (Atonement and Pride & Prejudice). This movie just re-enforced my belief that he has to be one of the best directors making movies. He puts his movies together perfectly.

I thought that Jamie Foxx's performance was more impressive than his Oscar winning portrayal of Ray Charles. Added to that you have three actors who never give a bad performance, Robert Downey, Jr., Catherine Keener and Tom Hollander.

Many of the supporting characters are portrayed by homeless people brought in to work on the movie. The performances they give are so real, that it seems like parts of the movie could almost be a documentary.

I am not sure what the idea was releasing this movie last April. I dislike the fact that all of the best movies get held until December so they will still be fresh come the Academy Awards. On the other hand, I think this movie did get lost by being released at a time when nobody expects a good movie to be released.

Instant but Timeless

As part of it's bankruptcy, Polaroid is being forced to sell part of it's photograph collection at Sotheby's in June. The New York Times has posted some of these photographs.

From the Archive: Instant but Timeless

The Blizzard Voices

There is not much that can be said about this blizzard, that has not already been said about the one last weekend. So here is a poem by Ted Kooser about the Blizzard of 1888. Also known as the Children's Blizzard. Over 200 people died in that blizzard, including many children who never made it home from school. In that context the current blizzard is not so bad.

The Promise

The New Yorker has a great photograph and video montage of surviving members of the civil rights movement.

The Promise

Hillbilly Palm Pilot

I don't know what this says about Sarah Palin, but at least we should not have to listen to anymore snide remarks from her about Obama's use of a teleprompter. Even if she doesn't want to use a teleprompter, maybe someone could explain index cards to her.

All About Gargoyles

Gargoyles – Glorious Gruesome Grotesques

Dunbar's Number and Facebook

How many Facebook friends is too many?

Blizzard of 2010

Photographs from the Blizzard of 2010

Blizzard 2/6/2010

Blizzard of 1922

Below is a video of one of the worst Mid-Atlantic snow storms from the 20th Century. In 1922 the roof of the Knickerbocker Theater, Columbia Road and 18th Street, NW, in DC collapsed under 28" of snow, killing almost 100 people.

Here is an article from the Washington Post on the disaster, although I doubt that many people actually remember this, since you would have to be 88 to even have been born when it happened.

D.C. snowfall triggers memories of 1922 collapse of theater's roof




Here are the historic 3 day snow fall records for DC and Baltimore.

Legos & the Falkirk Wheel

A BBC video of a Lego model of Forth Rail Bridge.

Lego to build bridges between work and play

The end of the video contains a discussion of the Falkirk Wheel, which I had never heard of before. Here is more info, with pictures, about that:

The Surreal Appeal of the Falkirk Wheel

If Colleges Worked Like Health Care

An interesting article from the New York Times. The article has a link to a video "If Air Travel Worked Like Health Care" which is also amusing.

If Colleges Worked Like Health Care

A Matter of Loaf and Death

Wallace and Gromit are up for their fifth Oscar this year—that puts them ahead of Meryl Streep. They are nominated for best animated short film for A Matter of Loaf and Death.

Snake Bite

I think the moral of this story is: If you are going to keep a pet cobra, you had better think up a good explanation to give the authorities when you get bitten.

Woman bitten by cobra charged by Natural Resources Police

Academy Awards Cheat Sheet

The Los Angelos Times has a good cheat sheet for the major Academy Award nominations. There is only one nomination that was left out that I would quibble with. I do think that (500) Days of Summer should have received a nomination for best original screenplay. I was happy that In the Loop was nominated for best adapted screenplay

The Cheat Sheet: Academy Awards

Crayons And Choice

The image below charts the available Crayola Crayon colors from eight in 1903—who knew they had Crayola Crayons in 1903—to 120 today.

From Crayons And Choice: A Headache In 120 Colors at NPR.