Not particularly current or important, but curious and fun nonetheless: In 1986, Silo (a chain of home electronics stores) ran a television commercial in 23 markets nationwide, offering stereos for “299 bananas.” They never thought anyone would take them at their word; after all, “banana” is a widely accepted, if playful, term for greenbacks. Who […]
Cheekiness gets you… bananas
Posted by Ben on March 1, 2006
https://www.swordbilled.com/cheekiness-gets-you-bananas/
Adding entirely new meanings to the word “parking”
In what seems to have been some sort of combination of performance art and environmental protest (maybe?), a group took a parking space in San Francisco, fed the parking meter, and transformed the space into a park of sorts. Tranforming a private space (parking space) into a public one (park… space). Witness: One of the […]
Posted by Ben on February 18, 2006
https://www.swordbilled.com/adding-entirely-new-meanings-to-the-word-parking/
Motorola of the Future-Past
Or would that be past-future? “Futuristic” adverts from roundabout the 60s, Motorola making your future-selves more leisurely fantastic comfortable. Fun. (More descriptive, if you like: paintings commissioned by Motorola sometime in the 60s to, like, advertise, showcase, what-have-you.) (via BoingBoing)
Posted by Ben on February 1, 2006
https://www.swordbilled.com/motorola-of-the-future-past/
Famous Literary Hoaxes
Much fun. Background & info on literary hoaxes spanning over 200 years (though only by virtue of the two examples that come from the 1700s; the rest are from the mid- to late- 1900s). Forrest Carter’s The Education of Little Tree One of the stranger hoaxes. Published in 1977, Forrest Carter’s celebrated memoir about a […]
Posted by Ben on January 26, 2006
https://www.swordbilled.com/famous-literary-hoaxes/
Mad Cow Origins, Part 46
So here’s another thought on the origins of the whole mad cow thing: BSE may have started in cattle because they ate imported animal feed that included infected human remains from Hindu funeral ceremonies in India, a controversial new theory on the origin of the disease suggested last night. Obviously there’s lots of controversy regarding […]
Posted by Ben on January 8, 2006
https://www.swordbilled.com/mad-cow-origins-part-46/
No One Ever Listens To The Glaciologists
…but they should, perhaps. Despite a whole host of Acronymic predictions via the UN (specifically, the UN’s IPPC) that sea level would not be affected by Antarctic ice, glaciologists are now singing a pretty different song. (NewScientist: “Antarctic glaciers calving faster into the ocean,” by Fred Pearce [October 18, 2005])
Posted by Ben on December 12, 2005
https://www.swordbilled.com/no-one-ever-listens-to-the-glaciologists/
Oh, for a mere mouse
From a once-and-again AP article on Yahoo! News: LONDON – Aaron Balick expected to find a tiny mouse rustling behind the TV in his apartment. Instead, he found a venomous giant centipede that somehow hitched a ride from South America to Britain. “Thinking it was a mouse, I went to investigate the sound. The sound […]
Posted by Ben on November 22, 2005
https://www.swordbilled.com/oh-for-a-mere-mouse/
Meet the Skeptics
“Hi, my name is Dr. Johnny Valdez, and I think global warming is bunk!” “Oh, and did I mention the six-figure donation my organization got from a prominent, ahem, petroleum utilization corporation?” Not too far from the truth, aside from the total lack of details. Here are some actual details, courtesy of Environmental Defense.
Posted by Ben on November 19, 2005
https://www.swordbilled.com/meet-the-skeptics/
Putting it all away (into perspective, into storage)
Quick: which industry devours more money, Hollywood or Self-Storage? The answer may surprise you. (Or not; it really depends how easily you are surprised.)
Posted by Ben on November 17, 2005
https://www.swordbilled.com/putting-it-all-away-into-perspective-into-storage/
Echinacea shot down
Now there’s yet another study to add to the growing scientific dissatisfaction with echinacea and its alleged cold-fighting properties. The sad thing is that, probably, no amount of scientific proof is going to dethrone echinacea in the minds of the millions who’ve already convinced themselves it does work. (Of course, there’s always the chance that […]
Posted by Ben on November 3, 2005
https://www.swordbilled.com/echinacea-shot-down/