My Uncle Terwilliger on the Art of Eating Popovers
—Theodor (Dr. Seuss) Geisel’s Lake Forrest College Commencement Speech, June 4, 1977 … in its entirety
My uncle ordered popovers
from the restaurant’s bill of fare.
And, when they were served,
he regarded them with a penetrating stare.
Then he spoke great Words of Wisdom
as he sat there on that chair:
“To eat these things,” said my uncle,
"you must exercise great care.
You may swallow down what’s solid
BUT
you must spit out the air!"
And as you partake of the world’s bill of fare,
that’s darned good advice to follow.
Do a lot of spitting out the hot air.
And be careful what you swallow.
squamous /SKWAY-məs/ & squamulose /SKWAY-myə-ləs/. adjective. Covered with scales; scaly. Composed of scales or a resemblance of scales. In anatomy, the thin scaly part of the temporal bone. In medicine, a suture with thin overlapping parts resembling scales. From Latin squama (scale); possibly related to squalus (filthy, foul), from which squalid and squalor are derived.
“There was Littleface, whose actual features occupied a tiny square in the centre of a squamous, bloated head.” (Robert Stone)
“…to make a sordid story as squamous as possible, the network head bought, for his schedule, a handful of shows produced by the ex-actor…” (Harlan Ellison)
“She had a sneaky, sly, shy, squamous personality.” (Ursula K. Le Guin)
“It was a raptor perch, well used. Buzzard or eagle or both. There were big black and white turds, and dozens of excreted bird and animal bones. It had a miniature forest of lichens, foliose and squamulose.” (Robert Macfarlane)
“…he took hold of that same Rowdy Dick by pantleg and armpit and swung him, oh wrathful lambs, against the abutment where the poem was inscribed, swung him as a battering ram might be swung, and cracked Rowdy Dick’s skull from left parietal to the squamous area of the occipital, rendering him bloody, insensible, leaking, and instantly dead.” (William Kennedy)
The basic story of today’s WORK is curious…but the deeper story behind it—and Geisel’s painful Hollywood experience—gets real interesting.
I’ve been following the Threatin hoax…here is a meander for the Clamor: Threatin: band creates fake fanbase for tour attended by no one → A fake band goes on tour: Threatin provides a perfect tale for our times → Did Threatin’s Ridiculous European Tour Stunt Actually Work? → The Story of Threatin, a Most Puzzling Hoax Even for 2018.
“…it didn’t matter in the slightest if participants showed any artistic ability. After just 40 seconds of low-quality sketching, subjects not only remembered significantly more, they also recalled more detail and context about the words and ideas they were studying. In short, they learned more, faster.” → Drawing Is the Fastest, Most Effective Way to Learn, According to New Research
(We are hanging by) a thread. → The Dystopia is Already Here || Pairs well, in my mind anyway, with Guess who’s championing Homer? Radical online conservatives.
I’m not sure what to make of Rebecca Mead’s article “How Podcasts Became a Seductive—and Sometimes Slippery—Mode of Storytelling”…is it news that podcasts aren’t, well, news? That storytelling and narrative are part of nonfiction? That manipulation of the audience is part of the art and craft of story?
When Michelle Alexander speaks, I listen. “Recent criminal justice reforms contain the seeds of a frightening system of ‘e-carceration.’” → The Newest Jim Crow
This is a technology going in the right direction for lovers of paper and digital… → IllumiPaper: Illuminated Interactive Paper
Look! → Siena International Photo Awards (SIPA) & Soviet Russia in full color [Thanks, Reader B.!] & 1913-1915: Views of Tokyo, Japan
Listen! → The Biblio File features “twenty-forty minute interviews with accomplished authors, publishers, biblio people, conducted by an excitable bibliophile.” The archives go back to 2006. A few episodes to get you started: Richard Minsky on his Book Art and Scholarship & Hugh McGuire on an alternative future for book publishing & Alberto Manguel on his favourite libraries and bookstores
Today in 1828, Walt Disney’s ► Steamboat Willie (starring Mickey Mouse), premieres in New York. In addition to being the first Disney cartoon with synchronized sound, it was also the first cartoon that could boast a fully post-produced soundtrack. More links: Steamboat Willie on Wikipedia & Why Mickey Mouse’s 1998 copyright extension probably won’t happen again.
“There are 800,000 unmarked graves in Glasnevin Cemetery. This is the story of one.” → ► The Bookbinder’s Daughter
Roman Fedortsov’s fantastic (and sometimes terrifying) photos of deep sea creatures on Instagram and on Twitter.
Reader C.: “Your ‘see also’ left out the best synonyms for farrago: gallimaufry and salmagundi! And mélange! And olla podrida!”
Reader K.: “I just don’t understand how World War I gets so little attention now, even on a momentous date like the 100th anniversary of the armistice. Sigh. Anyway, Letters of Note published Wilfrid Owen’s powerful and sadly final letter from just four days before the end of the nearly forgotten war.”
Reader S.: "Your readers might enjoy seeing the The First Book Printed in Antarctica. It ended up selling for almost 100K.
Reader A.: "When I saw the image of a subway entry seemingly in the middle of nowhere I thought it must be some sort of joke. However, I soon uncovered a different world. One involving rapid development: ¶ The speed at which all this is happening in China makes me wonder why we speak about ten year plans in Melbourne, Australia. ¶ In part this scenario of a station in a field reminds me of the discussion of the development of infrastructure before people in Stockholm:
In contrast, places like Vällingby, a Swedish suburb outside Stockholm built in the 1950s, were sited around a new Metro station. Building rail infrastructure through built-up areas is extremely expensive, but building it through farmland, before new neighborhoods are built, is comparatively cheap."
To which I say: —Considering it that way, I wonder that there aren’t (or maybe there are and I just am not finding them) more examples like the Chongqing Metro stop. It makes for fascinating photos, kind of the opposite of ruin porn…
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