After Jane pointed her readers at the Jack Benny program scripts on tobaccodocuments.org, I did some browsing. Of many many alarming items, one is a letter from William Randolph Hearst complaining about tobacco companies advertising cigarettes in the comics section of the paper. The tobacco guys assure him that they are advertisting to adults. Who read the funnies.
Also, there was a cigarette brand called “Spud”!
Two especially enjoyable moments from my commute home last night:
1. Just as dusk was falling, a sudden heavy shower starts, but I am warm and dry in my car, with Charles Trenet playing on the car stereo.
2. Driving behind a Subaru Outback with the vanity plate FUBARU
Some canned beans are being recalled after the discovery of a bird head. As with coughing up roofing nails, this sort of thing happens more than you might think…
For no particular reason, here’s some Mark Twain for your reading pleasure, courtesy of Project Gutenberg (bless ’em!).
MY WATCH–[Written about 1870.]
AN INSTRUCTIVE LITTLE TALE
An item from the FDA announcing more stringent requirements for foods being labeled “whole grain” explains why so many foods were whole grain for a while there, since it was good for you and did not yet have a legal meaning. Back to eating oat hulls and wheat chaff for breakfast, I guess.
Second Hand Songs has a list of cover songs that are interestingly searchable.
A mailing list I am on recently covered the topic of Wikipedia: is it an appropriate source for school research? While it can be incorrect (which is why it shouldn’t be your only source of information), it does cover some different ground than traditional encyclopedias. Britannica, for instance, seems to have no coverage of Hobo Nickels. Which I thought John Hodgeman had made up, but I guess not.
Yes, you have been warned that it will not help your productivity, but you’re experimenting with RSS anyway. Did you know the Feds can add to your addiction? FDA Recalls, my man! If I could add Restaurant Closures, my day would be perfect.
Hey! Since when has there been a spy museum? It sounds so my speed that I’m astounded I haven’t heard about it until now. They also have a new book coming out in May called I Lie for a Living: the Greatest Spies of All Time.