Recently in culture Category
Malcolm Gladwell and Bill Simmons have reprised their email volley from 2006 and takcle topics such as Outliers vs Inliers, the proper way for an underdog to attack a favorite, and NBA draft improvements. It is a literary layer tennis if you will.
I'm a little late on this, but Mental Floss held a Tournament of Genius in the spirit of March Madness.
Some of the contestants in the round of 64 (and a few in the round of 32) were laughable - Matt Groening over Pablo Picasso? - but the Sweet Sixteen is uncompromising (seedings in parentheses).
DIVISION #1:
Albert Einstein (1)vs. Jonas Salk (12)
Pythagoras (6)vs. Plato (2)
DIVISION # 2:
Thomas Jefferson (1) vs. Marie Curie (5)
Michaelangelo (3) vs. Benjamin Franklin (2)
DIVISION #3:
Sir Isaac Newton (1) vs. Ludwig von Beethoven (4)
Louis Pasteur (3) vs. William Shakespeare (2)
DIVISION #4:
Leonardo da Vinci (1) vs. Galileo Galilei (4)
Rene Descartes (3) vs. Nicola Tesla (7)
Check out the full bracket, round-by-round match-ups, and the final match.
Tonight the TED Prize recipients will make their wish live from the annual, inspirational conference featuring the best and brightest future-shapers of the world.
What a wonderful book idea over at Snarkmarket. They're exploring emergent fields of the kottke-termed Liberal Arts 2.0.
I'd like to get more into this later but here is a totally unorganized synopsis from the ongoing discussion of what LA2.0 is.
Art
Design
Photography
Music
*
Languages
Literature
Philosophy
*
History
Politics
Economics
*
Mathematical Sciences
Natural Sciences
Biological Sciences
*
Food
Per Jason in the comments section:
Here's the list I came up with shortly after concocting the term for a talk I did in early 2007:
Graphic design, freakonomics, photography, programming, film, remixing, video games, food, advertising, internet life skills, journalism, fashion.
To be sure the concept must be explored more, but the idea is that young people need a new skill set these days.
There is a new home economics to learn - as they discuss on the aforementioned pages - and video games are no longer the exception (now they are the rule).
Before I get to anything else today I would like to take this opportunity to recognize a little something special for us here at memeticians. We are celebrating our one year anniversary today! I speak for all of us when I say thank you, a million times over thank you, to our tiny little world of readers out there. I'd like to thank Joe and Tim for all their time and hard work into what we do here and the support they have given me. And to Hank, our life saver and site admin. There are absolutely no words that could be used to express just what Hank means to this little world. Simply put, without him we would absolutely, positively, NOT be here today. He is our MVP. So to those of you reading along at home, thank you from all of us here at memeticians.
~ Joe, Gerard, Tim and Hank
Lucy van Pelt: Charlie Brown! Oh, Charlie Brown!Charlie Brown: I can't believe it. She must think I'm the most stupid person alive.
LVP: Come on Charlie Brown. I'll hold the ball and you kick it.
CB: Hold it? Ha! You'll pull it away and I'll land flat on my back and kill myself!
LVP: But Charlie Brown, it's Thanksgiving!
CB: What's that got to do with anything?
LVP: Well one of the greatest traditions we have is the Thanksgiving Day Football Game. And the biggest, most important tradition of all is the kicking off of the football.
CB: Is that right?
LVP: Absolutely! Come on Charlie Brown it's a big honor for you.
CB: Well if it's that important a person should never turn down a big honor. Maybe I should do it. Besides, she wouldn't try to trick me on a traditional holiday. This time I'm gonna kick that football clear to the moon! AAUGH!
LVP: Isn't it peculiar Charlie Brown how some traditions just slowly fade away?
And so begins A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving. This year Lucy doesn't know just how right she is, some traditions just slowly fade away. This year, for the first time in as long as I can remember, there will be no annual Thanksgiving Day Football Game. It has slowly faded away.
The yearly circumstances may not always be the same, but the annual game is a highlight of the holiday season for thousands to millions across the country. The details of your particular game may change from year to year but any steady (read: yearly) participant can trace the evolution of his game from the years spent playing neighborhood kids in the biggest yard amongst you in grade school to its move to the local football field and expansion to include high school friends from surrounding areas. Then your 20's hit and only a select group could be counted on so cross town games would merge into a super game pitting 11 v 11 full field battles of tackle football with accompanying subs. The soreness would last for days and one person would always end up with some sort of quasi serious injury but it was the best of times.
After a couple of years though, the numbers would begin to dwindle. At first it's mostly laziness that comes with age. Partying on Thanksgiving Eve gives way to sleeping in and missing games. Some get married and head to the in-laws or have children and can't escape for 3 hours on such a hectic morning. While others plain and simply can't risk the potential injury that comes with playing pad-less tackle football with grown men. Whatever the reason the game begins to show signs of weakness, chinks in its armor.
The younger neighborhood kids show up early and get the good field. Instead of 25 willing and able bodied participants your group shrinks to 15 and those who do make it show up later and later. Once the game does start you are repeatedly calling your buddy, the one guy you would have never thought would miss a game, wondering where he is. 2 hours later he finally arrives but the writing is on the wall. Your game is not the same.
The next year plans change. In lieu of tackle you switch to flag football. A less violent option hoping to entice some no shows from the previous years and hold on to those you've got left. But alas, disaster strikes. Only 8 men show up. It's a horribly depressing moment. You may even start to feel embarrassed. You can hardly field one team. The younger neighborhood kids show up 50 strong, an army larger then anything you've seen, and immediately break into TWO full fledged 11 v 11 games. And a sinking feeling begins to wash over you. This is it. The magical days of Thanksgiving Day Football games are over. You join the army of 50 and play anyway but it's not the same. The familiar faces are gone. The yearly grudge matches and fights have been replaced with disputes between unrecognizable foes and over unknown commodities. The trash talk and banter takes a back seat to silently trying to do your best, to show the younger and faster opponents that your experience in these yearly battles has given you that intangible something that keeps you competitive. When a memorable moment does happen you give a slight nod to your friend, momentarily remembering years gone by perhaps harkening back to that time years ago when skulls collided with a crack loud enough for all to hear or the infamous 'wishbone drive'. But while that intangible something that keeps you competitive still breathes, it's that intangible something which you get from battling with your friends that has burned out. It is the worst of times indeed.
The following year it's suggested, "let us do something different this year" and the apathy with which the suggestion is presented to, let alone received by, the masses is appalling to you. The suggestion itself is not even a 'group' oriented event that would keep all participants together as football did. What's worse is that at the mere suggestion of another attempt at football you are meet with derision and scorn by some. It's a twist of fate that your younger self would never see coming and that your older self struggles to deal with.
As I'm sure you can tell by now, this isn't a tale of fiction. Unfortunately it is a turn of events that is all too real. But I'm not ready for alternatives just yet. So if you need me on Thanksgiving morning you can find me at the local field trying to keep up with the 22 year olds and hopefully avoiding serious injury. In the words of Lucy van Pelt, "One of the greatest traditions we have is the Thanksgiving Day Football Game." It's a big honor.
Editor's note: Whenever I can't think of one specific topic to focus and elaborate on, I just choose a few and discuss each one a little bit. Read iDigress, Part 1.
This
The NFL season kicked off this weekend with a bang. Atlanta Falcons RB Michael Turner left no doubt that he is a legitimate every-down running back, Philadelphia Eagles rookie WR and punt return specialist DeSean Jackson had his coming out party (6 receptions for 106 yards/8 punt returns for 96 yards), and Patriots may be in big trouble with QB Tom Brady possibly being lost for the season. And I finally found validation in Brooke's iPhone, having every game's scores and stats at my fingertips. My favorite part of Week 1, however, was NFL referee Ed Hochuli getting tongue-tied during Thursday night's New York Giants-Washington Redskins game. Hilarious.
That
There are many things in life that are not quite what they seem. Politicians and big hitters who come up small in big spots are usually the culprits of being called a sham these days. Last week, however, on a trip to Bed, Bath & Beyond, I learned about the truest sham of them all: pillow shams. What a freakin' joke. We have them already, but do know how much these things cost? We paid $120 for two pillow shams, and apparently, I'm not allowed to even use them. Now that, my friends, it a complete and utter sham.
The Other Thing
Google turned ten years-old yesterday. In this world of flash-in-the-pan internet companies and trendy ideas, for your company to actually be referred more as a verb than an actual company is quite and accomplishment. Slowly but surely, they are taking over the world, one web application at a time. Ironically, while at a social gathering yesterday, I overheard two older women discussing a brownie recipe.
Woman 1: Wow! These are amazing! Can I borrow the recipe?Slowly but surely.
Woman 2: I got it on the Internet. Just Google it; it was the first result.Woman 1: What's a Google?
A few times in the last couple of weeks, I have mentioned some members of my fanboy list. So, in order to avoid any curiosity on your part, I've decided provide you with it. Some of my choices are a bit bizarre, but so am I. The list has grown over the years with very few people being removed, so in order to make it easier for you, I've divided the members into categories. Yes, it's that long. I may have even missed a few people. Anyway, without further adieu, in no particular order, here we go.
I don't know about the rest of you but at times I definitely feel like a slave to the Internet. Though 'slave' may be a poor choice of word considering I am a willing participant in the relationship. Addicted may be a better description for it. I am addicted to the Internet. Though after a small bit of research I've come across some info explaining that the idea of Internet addiction was initially created as a hoax. And come to think of it, I'm not sure I would even classify my relationship with the Internet as an addiction. Simply because when I ever go on vacation, it is a welcome respite from all things WWW related. I relish that time, as a chance to break away from the stranglehold of email, news, sports, memes, blogs, social networking, videos etc. I don't think a true addict would relish time away from said obsession.
