MetaFilter posts tagged with Johnson

Is this 18.5 minutes of tape anything important?

Horace Rumpole — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 10:01:39 -0800

It's been a busy week for presidential libraries. The Nixon Library released 200 hours of tape (excerpts) and 90,000 pages of documents (excerpts) that detail his obsessive attempts to destroy his political enemies. The LBJ library released MP3s of dozens of phone calls, including one where he accuses Nixon of treason for stalling Vietnamese peace talks in advance of the 1968 election. Finally, the Reagan Library released 750,000 pages of documents (NYT, reg. req.) to researchers. Enjoy it while it lasts.

Searching For Robert Johnson: Guitar expert spots new photograph on eBay auction

y2karl — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 12:26:03 -0800

...As he pored over the mass of texts and thumbnail photos that the eBay search engine had pulled up on that day in 2005, one strangely worded listing caught Schein’s eye. It read, “Old Snapshot Blues Guitar B.B. King???” He clicked on the link, then took in the sepia-toned image that opened on his monitor. Two young black men stared back at Schein from what seemed to be another time. They stood against a plain backdrop wearing snazzy suits, hats, and self-conscious smiles. The man on the left held a guitar stiffly against his lean frame. Neither man looked like B. B. King, but as Schein studied the figure with the guitar, noticing in particular the extraordinary length of his fingers and the way his left eye seemed narrower and out of sync with his right, it occurred to him that he had stumbled across something significant and rare... the more convinced he became that it depicted one of the most mysterious and mythologized blues artists produced by the Delta: the guitarist, singer, and songwriter whom Eric Clapton once anointed “the most important blues musician who ever lived.” That’s not B. B. King, Schein said to himself. Because it’s Robert Johnson.

Searching for Robert Johnson reveals not only what may be the third picture of Robert Johnson but a Byzantine struggle over his legacy as well.

The Unmaking of the President

veedubya — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 13:58:23 -0800

Lyndon Johnson believed that his withdrawal from the 1968 presidential campaign would free him to solidify his legacy—but four days later, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated.

The Best DOMAIN NAMES of the Web

wendell — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 04:29:01 -0800

What'll you find at rum.com, van.com, war.com or cat.com? A more-fun-than-most web quiz from the Mental Flossers about some of the best domain names and who owns them. Okay, not as much fun as penisland.net and the like, but I found it interesting, but then I am an admitted domain name addict. Hey, I even kinda like the What's Your Name.com blog, via Projects.

"He'd zap the programme off and holler/ 'Go and read some Emile Zola."

fearfulsymmetry — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 03:41:03 -0800

Boris Johnson, poet.

Bojo fo' Lo' M'o'

nthdegx — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 13:46:58 -0800

"Even the greatest cities have further greatness in them. I will stand for a greater London and for putting the smile back on London's face." Boris Johnson announces his candidacy for Mayor of London, though he is yet to be endorsed by the Conservative Party. Though decidedly right wing in his views (this clip, perhaps more than any other summarises his view on Europe, for example) his very English brand of buffoonery lends him unique appeal (though not universally).

Ladybird Passes Away

Flood — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 15:49:05 -0800

Claudia Alta Taylor Johnson passed away today. During her infancy, a nursemaid commented, "She's as pretty as a ladybird", and that nickname virtually replaced her given name for the rest of her life. Perhaps her most important impact was her efforts to protect American wild-flowers and other natural places. She is also the namesake of the Hill family dog.

A truly blessed man

bmpetow — Tue, 22 Aug 2006 11:14:34 -0800

2 heads are better than 1 Ever heard of diphallus? Well, now you have. See here as well

Boris!

hoverboards don't work on water — Wed, 31 May 2006 09:49:44 -0800

'The crowd was chanting "We want Boris" as he limbered up, waving his arms like a slightly rusty blond helicopter. The cheers grew and the cry of "Boris, Boris" became irresistible.': [text, video]. Boris Johnson, blogger. Boris Johnson, British MP for Henley-on-Thames. Boris Johnson, sozzled buffoon and proud of it. Boris Johnson, the man who made it cool to be Conservative?

Rhonetta Johnson

nlindstrom — Fri, 27 Jan 2006 12:51:44 -0800

Best of the ~~Web~~ American Idol: Going to Greensboro was a gamble for the pop TV show American Idol, but one that has paid off in spades for tart-tongued tornado Rhonetta Johnson, who is billed as a "terrible singer but with a mouth straight out of a pool hall and an ego bigger than Alaska." Rhonetta, who sports a rap sheet as long as her blonde wig, claimed she would become famous, and with the aid of the blogosphere and web sites such as rhonettajohnson.com, she has delivered on her promise, even gaining the attention of Entertainment Weekly, and going overnight from zip to in excess of a hundred pages on Google.

Former Senator Eugene McCarthy dead at 89

nathan_teske — Sat, 10 Dec 2005 14:37:23 -0800

Former Senator Eugene McCarthy dead at 89

RMN: Remember, within a year people are not going to be thinking of this.

soyjoy — Thu, 20 Nov 2003 09:02:43 -0800

The President Calling: American Radioworks (MPR) explores the secret phone tapes of Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon. AFAIK, the content is all previously available, but online, they've packaged and annotated it for ease of use. It's not exhaustive, but the moments picked out are often illuminating, showing "how each man used one-on-one politics to shape history." You might want to start here.

Survival of the Fittest?

elendil71 — Mon, 18 Aug 2003 10:37:16 -0800

On Sundays West Coast Live I heard an interview with Adam Johnson, the author of Parasites Like Us, a post-apocalyptic novel with a decidedly (if somewhat spurious) anthropological bent. Literary criticism aside, as an anthropologist myself (and die-hard sci-fi reader), it got me thinking of what our vaunted Western culture may have to offer the survivors of whatever catastrophe may befall our civilization in the future. From classic novels like Earth Abides, or even The Stand, writers and storytellers have tried to discern what may be the surviving aspects of culture once all else fails; what it is that has made and defines us as modern humans, and perhaps what it is that will sustain us. So, what is it that would sustain you? What would separate you from the crazed and the mad that seem to populate the annals of post-apocalyptic literature? Or perhaps more specifically, what is it that you value of your culture and your technology that makes it worthwhile to maintain and perhaps fight your way back to?

Blowback: The Cost And Consequences of American Empire plus War And Conflict In The Post-Cold War, Post-9/11 Era

y2karl — Thu, 13 Mar 2003 01:43:05 -0800

Chalmers Johnson is an provocative proponent of the American Empire theory, indeed. Here are excerpts from his Blow Back: The Cost And Consequences of American Empire

I heard Johnson interviewed on Episode II, War And Conflict In The Post-Cold War, Post-9/11 Era of The Whole Wide World

The Cold War and its central conflict - the physical and ideological battles between the United States, the Soviet Union and their proxy states - imposed a certain logic and consistency on the world. Take that away and add the bloody wars in the Balkans, Africa and the Middle East in the ‘90s as well as the terror attacks and warnings of more recent times and you get a very confused picture of a world at war. Is this breaking storm in Iraq about oil, democracy, freedom, empire, culture, water, diamonds, modernizing Islam or nation building in the Middle East? Some, one or all of these things?

It was an excellent program and well worth your listen, either by RA now or mp3 later. (From listening to the radio)

liam — Wed, 21 Nov 2001 12:47:30 -0800

Another Kaycee Nicole? A celebrated teenage author and Aids sufferer may turn out to be a hoax, concocted by his "mother". (More inside).