songs about hips and hearts

Content: clips and thoughts about politics, culture, more politics, entertainment, and whatever else catches my eye.
Tue Apr 14
Philip B. Corbett, who oversees language issues for the [New York Times] newsroom, answered readers' questions Oct. 29-Nov. 2.

This was published more than a year ago, but I just found it last week.  It’s 13 pages of delightfully geeky grammar talk; naturally, I was enthralled.  (I stumbled upon it just after finishing David Foster Wallace’s essay on English usage, which you can read here.  But I recommend picking up the collection it’s in, Consider the Lobster - you can’t read the footnotes properly otherwise, and they’re one of the most enjoyable parts of the piece.)

language geekery

From several months ago, an interesting discussion comparing different languages in the livejournal of Elyse Sewell, the second runner-up for the first cycle of America’s Next Top Model.

Sun Apr 12
Wed Mar 25
Mumbai Sewer Abacus

I wonder what it says about me that my first thought when I look at this is “oh my god, so cute” but I have no desire to post any pictures of baby animals.

Sat Feb 14

“If men are so vulnerable in their masculinity that if a woman punches them they have to flatten her on the ground, what is that saying about them?”

Fri Feb 13
“ Tomato juice, for example, may average “10 or more fly eggs per 100 grams [the equivalent of a small juice glass] or five or more fly eggs and one or more maggots.” Tomato paste and other pizza sauces are allowed a denser infestation — 30 or more fly eggs per 100 grams or 15 or more fly eggs and one or more maggots per 100 grams.

The Maggots in Your Mushrooms, NY Times.

I know it’s all psychological … but EWWWW D:
Wed Feb 4
From I LEGO N.Y., via the New York Times.

From I LEGO N.Y., via the New York Times.

Thu Jan 29
Jan. 29, 2009: A Story in Pictures
Sat Jan 24
No Snickering: That Road Sign Means Something Else
Tue Jan 13