Yes, I finally got rid of my old calendars. I was saving them because they were the Life in Hell and Futurama calendars that have good book and movie recommendations in them. So I finally copied them down so I could toss the calendars.
Science Fiction books recommended in Futurama 2004 and 2000:
(If you have any of the intervening years or can get me an ’05, I wouldn’t mind that at all.)
There was another Jack Straw in English politics, so there are enough of them to require a disambiguation page in Wikipedia.
Yet again I’m judging entries for the local PTSA’s Reflections essay competition. I’m glad that I only get a binder of entries with designated codes. If I had to meet some of the authors I would never ever stop slapping them. Only halfway through the binder and so far: 3 stories of getting lost while skiing, 4 stories of how their parent is their hero, 2 stories about how great Jesus is, and the obligatory story about how a retarded person will make you grateful for your life (while getting lost on skis). All but 3 of the total are filled with awkward writing, wooden characterization and inappropriate word choices. I know that not everyone is going to be a good writer, but every one of these students should really know how to compose an essay that doesn’t read like it was written by an ESL student with a head injury. No offense to the brain-damaged immigrant population.
I listened to Frank Zappa’s album Broadway the Hard Way an awful lot in college, so no wonder confinement loaf popped back into my head. According to the song, it’s “bean by-products compressed into a loaf, which is administered to problem prisoners. Their diet will be a slice of ‘Confinement Loaf’ and a cup of water, and it seems to mellow them out right away. So my question is: How long before ‘Confinement Loaf’ appears in United States High Schools?”
Similar loaves seem to pop up in the news from time to time, here’s a few:
Source of many excellent digital poster archives, those groovy Socialist historians in the Netherlands present us with photos of Turkish migrant workers in the Netherlands between 1965 and 1975. No one can do sideburns like Turks in the 70’s! Bonus: the unintentionally-hilarious-in-English caption “Turks brood.”
On the heels of those mysterious (and pointy!) housewives, today’s post at I’ll Take Your Photo is strangely on-topic.
Learn all about the Insular Areas in the US, also listed in the CIA Factbook!
Found photos from the Arkansas State Penitentiary.
Why does some Mexican music sound like polkas? Because it is polkas! An interesting story about German immigration to Texas, the invention of the accordion, and that big stew of musical mixing.
The blog of a slide collector. I know the past wasn’t really in those odd colors, but I like to pretend it was.