I was fascinated to learn about the South African origins of the Vuvuzela, that long plastic horn I’d seen at Seattle Sounders games. I wondered if there was an Americanized name for it, and looked in the Sounders Proshop. No dice. Then I realized I hadn’t seen any in Sounders colors this season. Some research indicates that there used to be an official “plastic Sounders horn“, but I guess no longer. I bet it’s related to the fact that they are internationally recognized as being loud and irritating.
Hooooooooooooonk!
Written by Sarah on June 11th, 2010I Want a T-Shirt
Written by Sarah on June 4th, 2010A brave declaration by Bill Corbett led me to a history of the team’s name led me to a charmingly named meat conglomerate. Are you ready to be a ham fighter?
Tiny Booklist: News Literacy
Written by Sarah on June 4th, 2010A list on understanding what makes the news and what doesn’t:
The essay on how news stories are written to be balanced, even if they can’t be, in Sex, drugs, and cocoa puffs: a low culture manifesto by Chuck Klosterman
It’s not news, it’s fark: how mass media tries to pass off crap as news by Drew Curtis, an excellent examination of the types of non-news in the news.
Charlie Brooker’s Newswipe, especially this segment on the structure of a TV news story.
May Reading
Written by Sarah on May 31st, 2010I swear I read this article 20 years ago
Written by Sarah on May 26th, 2010Compare and contrast two paragraphs from an article on heroin purity:
“We found people who snorted it lying face-down with the straw lying next to them,” said Patrick O’Neil, coroner in suburban Chicago’s Will County, where annual heroin deaths have nearly tripled – from 10 to 29 – since 2006. “It’s so potent that we occasionally find the needle in the arm at the death scene.”
and
Heroin metabolizes in the body so quickly that medical examiners often cannot pinpoint the drug as a cause of death unless there is other evidence to back it up – say, a needle or a syringe found near the body. Also, many victims use multiple drugs and alcohol, so citing a specific substance is often impossible.
Tiny Booklist: Ventriloquism
Written by Sarah on May 25th, 2010A Multimedia List on the Subject of Ventriloquism
Ventriloquist Love, a song performed by Martin Mull
The Great Gabbo, a film starring Erich Von Stroheim
The Entertainer and the Dybbuk, a novel by Sid Fleischman
The Puppet Show, an episode of the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Please, Take the Time
Written by Sarah on May 18th, 2010I’m not a big fan of Top (whatever number) lists, but this one is worth taking the time to enjoy it: Kon and Amir Present the Top 50 Hip-Hop Samples of All Time. They include 50 incredibly catchy soul tunes that made their way into various hip hop songs. I’m not convinced this will stay around forever, so make yourself a sandwich and get ready to take a detour into an astounding record collection.
There’s something you don’t see every day
Written by Craig on May 17th, 2010Not the usual forced perspective, but I did enjoy it.
(via @The_No_Show)
Tiny Booklist: Teeth
Written by Sarah on May 17th, 2010Graphic Nonfiction That Involves Traumatic Tooth Loss
Smile, Raina Telgemeier
Laika, Nick Abadzis
The Photographer, Emmanuel Guibert, Didier Lefèvre, & Frédéric Lemercier*
*tooth loss in afterword
April Reading
Written by Sarah on April 30th, 2010Say, friends, do you like my reviews? Then perhaps you might take a peek at the reviews at Unshelved: you may recognize a name!
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