Early to bed, early to rise. Hamida Musulmani says, “I only eat what I grow. I am fine, it is only my eyes that cannot see properly.” The Lebanese woman has documents that put her age at 126. (The New Zealand version of the Reuters article adds: “Many titleholders [of the world’s oldest living person] […]
Oddities: Age Record, Nonnews, and Humor
Posted by Ben on July 9, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/oddities/
The Most Popular Books
(…in public libraries that participated in Library Journal’s survey.) Read the CSM article, skim the list (PDF file, excerpted above). (via CSM: “Libraries reveal their favorites” by Ron Charles [June 22, 2004])
Posted by Ben on July 8, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/the-most-popular-books/
Good Advice
“If you do fall to the ground, lie still, and cover your head with your hands until the danger has passed.” Visit Your Guide to San Fermin for other helpful tips. The section on Food, Drink and Sleeping is pretty comprehensive, though you might want to check out the section titled “Watch Out!” Maybe. Of […]
Posted by Ben on July 7, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/good-advice/
Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches
Cows, Pigs, Wars, and Witches is a fun romp by everybody’s favorite anthropologist, Marvin Harris. It looks at behavior that seems illogical to an outside observer—the sacred cow, the hated pig (and even the loved pig), the potlach, and so on—in an attempt to explain away the riddles. There are numerous chapters (as there are […]
Posted by Ben on July 7, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/cows-pigs-wars-and-witches/
Freak vending machine accident
Pretty much by definition, freak accidents don’t happen every day. Particularly freak accidents involving exploding vending machines that expel poisonous gas. Yes, freak accidents involving exploding vending machines that happen, through the wonders of happy coincidence, to produce something like phosgene gas (used in WWI as a chemical warfare agent)—these aren’t things that happen every […]
Posted by Ben on July 6, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/freak-vending-machine-accident/
Word-of-the-Month: REGREETS
Regreets. It’s listed in MW101 as obsolete, which is worse even than archaic (which means a word’s used only sporadically); that it’s declared as obsolete means there hasn’t been an observance of the word since 1755. But regreets (n) has a certain ring to it, a wild and crazy cry of freedom. Let regreets ring. […]
Posted by Ben on July 6, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/regreets/
The Brain-Enhancement Revolution Will Be Simulcast
“The brain-enhancement revolution is already under way.” CSM has an interesting (if somewhat weak) article on the emerging world of neuroethics. It looks (in part) at what can and cannot be considered ethical in a world where someone can alter her own thought processes using, e.g., Modafinil (originally developed for narcolepsy but now used by […]
Posted by Ben on July 5, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/the-brain-enhancement-revolution-will-be-simulcast/
The Update That Was In Order
My deepest and most heartfelt apologies to the 3 or 4 inveterate readers out there (I’m assuming they are out there; apologies to the rest of you if they’re not) who were deeply troubled by the multiple-day lapse in postings. Here’s the explanation: His name’s Giovanni. Capisce? More puppy pictures will doubtless follow.
Posted by Ben on July 5, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/the-update/
I’ll see your Mussorgsky and raise you a Handel
Have you ever found yourself wondering what classical and/or operatic music was used in, say, Natural Born Killers?1 Or perhaps Babe, Pig in the City2, or Evil Dead II3? Well, now you can find out, thanks to the all-too-aptly-named “Classical and Opera Music Used in Movies” page. You can browse by movie, composer, etc., and […]
Posted by Ben on July 4, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/movietunes/
An update’s in order…
…and will shortly be on its way. Thanks.
Posted by Ben on July 3, 2004
https://www.swordbilled.com/coming-soon/