May 7, 2020
Mose Knows
That Chop on the Upbeat -- the origins of Ska
When I got back home and was trying to write about Jah B., doing my best to stake out some understanding of what was going on musically in Kingston in the late Fifties and early Sixties, I ran into the riddle that bedevils every person who gets lost in this particular cultural maze, namely, where did ska come from? That strange rhythm, that chop on the upbeat or offbeat, ump-ska, ump-ska, ump-ska... Did someone think that up?That Chop on the Upbeat [more inside]
The only thing is to be bold; try the experiment; and find out.
The Fabulous Forgotten Life of Vita Sackville-West.
Vita was as famous for her affairs as for her writing. [more inside]
Vita was as famous for her affairs as for her writing. [more inside]
Everyone has to decide if it's only a game or if it's a real sport.
Indycar's Virtual Race Crashes Sparked Real-World Controversy Among Drivers [Vice Gaming] “With about three laps to go in the First Responders 175, the final race of the virtual, quarantine-inspired sim racing series featuring pro Indycar drivers, it was shaping up to be a classic finale at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. F1 driver Lando Norris was in a battle for the lead with Oliver Askew, Patricio O’Ward, and Marcus Ericsson, and caution was going out the window as the drivers went three-cars wide through corners, completely filling the width of the track with no margin for error. [...] Then, as the lead pack of cars whipped through a corner onto a straight, Norris’s car piled into the back of the slow-moving, highlighter-yellow car of 2019 Indy 500 winner Simon Pagenaud. [...] Pagenaud’s deliberate wrecking is an annoying troll within the context of a video game, but it’s a betrayal of the highest order in the context of real-world, professional racing. An inherent tension in F1 and Indy racing is that drivers are in ruthless competition at the same time that they are all trying to prevent crashes that can easily turn deadly. Now that these same drivers are competing in a space where the deadly physical consequences are no longer an issue, the sport is changing fast, and in ways that can carry over to real-world tracks when drivers are able to race on them again.” [Explainer][Simon Pagenaud Full Incident][Santino Ferrucci Crash with Oliver Askew]
Not Flash, not Friday, not voar!
This language was magic, because anyone who spoke it was your friend.
Probably it was no way to run a business, and things only got more confusing after Brian got a partner in the store who was also named Brian. The floor was rarely swept by anything more than the dragging belly of the store cat, and the unheated back room stank of vinegar from the old 35mm film prints that were stored there alongside accumulating boxes of unsorted VHS rarities that came to resemble the final shot of Raiders Of The Lost Ark. This was all some time ago, more than a decade. But it’s no bold assertion on my part to say that much of what we feel nostalgia for is the kind of inconvenience that creates a more eclectic and interesting reality."The Death of a Video Store," on Chicago's much loved and recently shuttered Odd Obsession Movies.
Nature is Healing
The silver lining of social distancing is that reduced carbon emissions have led to a resurgence of wildlife in human settlements as diverse as London,
Chicago,
Manhattan,
Buffalo,
Indianapolis,
Peterborough,
New Jersey,
Japan,
Scandinavia,
Athens,
Antarctica,
cabbage farms, and
Toronto. Nature is also totally healing on
the Thames,
the Hudson,
other urban rivers,
the ocean floor, and
Crystal Lake. Reduced air pollution means you can even get a better view of
the Moon, or
Zoom. Maybe we were the virus all along?
U.S. Navy Captain Brett Crozier awaits his fate
[PREVIOUSLY] From the Navy Times, here's the latest news for the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71):
• Fired Theodore Roosevelt commander Brett Crozier reassigned to San Diego, 5/5/2020: Capt. Brett Crozier arrived at Naval Air Forces Monday night, officials confirmed.
• Carrier Theodore Roosevelt prepares to go back to sea after coronavirus outbreak, 5/5/2020: More than 4,000 crew members went ashore last month...more than 2,000 are back on board...at least 1,000 are still testing positive for the virus and remain on land.
• Navy halts daily COVID-19 updates for stricken ships Theodore Roosevelt and Kidd, 5/6/2020: The service announced Thursday they will only announce "significant changes" aboard those ships.
everything must go
The Cast of Characters at Chelsea’s Legendary Flea Market. Michael Rips writes about the people in the Antiques Garage (closed 2014) of the Chelsea Flea Market (closed 2019) in New York City. "He became so obsessed with collecting certain species of objects, of whose existence he first learned at the flea, that he would periodically have to put the collection in storage and issue himself an edict against approaching Sixth Avenue. He enjoyed the funding and leisure time to become a full-time flea-market rat without also becoming a picker or a vendor." [more inside]
Aw poop (COVID-19 and public bathrooms)
Sidewalk Labs Pulls Out of Toronto
The future of Toronto's waterfront is still unclear, but Sidewalk Labs will no longer be involved. [more inside]
Today is Thursday. You must not go outside!
You must not go outside! Since the first day of the UK's lockdown, this blog has provided a daily dose of everything the government wants you to know ("YOU MUST NOT GO OUTSIDE!"), along with advice that the author thinks you probably ought to know. It started sensibly enough, with daily tips on washing your hands. But then, with a distinctly British sense of humour, it quickly devolved into sarcastic, sometimes surreal, additional tips: why not use oven gloves to handle incoming parcels, teach your dog to speak English to exploit dog-walking freedoms and deliver messages, or take the opportunity to count all of the pens in your house.
Archers sets sadly not included
From The Young Ones to Swap Shop and of course Doctor Who and The Queen Vic, the BBC's empty sets collection has a neat new Teams/Zoom/Skype background for everybody.
Kids' TV has a porn problem
'If anything has changed since the early years of Rule 34, it’s been in the opposite direction. While groups like the bronies were making the connection between porn and kids’ TV animation almost mainstream, the link was growing inside the industry as well. Today, online porn, whether created by fans or by the staff themselves, hasn’t just become a normal part of the children’s TV community. It’s become acceptable.'
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