News of the Day 1.20.10

• Living with/out Twitter. 
• OMG. A University of Coventry study finds that 'txt spk' actually improves English skills.
• Every now and then, the 'make more babies' story comes out of Asia. This time, the source is South Korea.
• A clue to the great bee die-off may be a similar decline in plant diversity.
• Some really interesting photos from a photography project for the sight impaired.
• Newton's falling apple story, printed in a 1752 biography, is uploaded by the Royal Society for everyone to enjoy.
• With the recent sale of Cadbury to Kraft, the Beeb reflects on many British sweets makers' Quaker roots.
  
• No!! Spooks may get the BBC ax after next season.

So that Obama! musical (actually, it's called Hope)......catch this preview. Looks like it'll win over the critics. Kind of like Obama's first year in office.

July 4 prelude

Feeling...political, which is just what I need to infuse myself with a sense of purpose. Here are 2 of my favorite speeches from last year's election season.

Dennis Kucinch's Wake Up America! number at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. Fighting the good fight.

Barack Obama's keynote at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, or the one that turned me into a believer. I have distinct memories of catching that speech midway through and being dumbfounded not only by his ability to identify certain problems plaguing the country but his willingness to articulate them. Few politicians before him could so boldly proclaim the simple truth that we need to "eradicate the slander that a black youth with a book is acting white" or that when "an Arab American family [is] rounded up without benefit of an attorney or due process that threatens my civil liberties." Powerful. True.

Bits and Bobs for 12.21.08

Watching: State of Play S01E01-02
Listening: This Christmas by Vonda Shepard
Reading: North and South by Elizabeth Gaskill

News of the Day:

• Project:Possibility puts very smart engineering minds to work on very good causes. A capital way to spend money, time, and energy, and beats many of our current priorities.
• Barack Obama: Senator, President, Model
• Sock and Awe lets you throw shoes at Bush. It's like whack-a-mole, but infinitely more gratifying.
  
• OilyBoy: a) Japanese magazine aimed at older men; b) the kid who replaced the grease monkey; c) something not fit to print.
• Revenge of the Checkout Lady - a tell-all about the shitteous life of a cashier. I will vouch for that. (The musical adaptation is a bit unnecessary.)

TV News of the Day:
Gavin and Stacey return for a 3rd season!!!

Word of the Day: Harmonious Demolition
Only in China....I picked this one up from a BBC Documentaries report from White Horse Village in China. They are razing this hamlet and forcing it to grow into a city. How is this done, you ask? No one knows; it doesn't even work on paper. In any case, part of the plan includes knocking everything down to make way for something bigger, better, and more Marxist with Chinese characteristics.