Headlines from June 29, 2009
- As the Iranian government toughens its stance and consolidates power, Mousavi can concede--or continue to fight, and face prison.
- This year, summer camps guard against swine flu--bleaching doorknobs, sending sick kids home.
- Street art and summer camp meet in rural Illinois, where campers learn how to choose tagnames and paint skateboards.
- By the time of "Beat It" in the early '80s, Mr. Jackson had added an element of the supra-normal to his appearance. An assessment of Michael Jackson's style history.
- Musician Manu Dibango's "Ma-mako, ma-ma-ssa, mako-makossa" refrain from 1972 remains uncredited.
- According to this January report, Jackson planned to will the Beatles song catalog to McCartney, whom he outbid for the rights in 1985.
- Huxley, C.S. Lewis, and others whose passings were eclipsed by nearby deaths.
- Photos of large-scale animal autopsies.
- Video: Richard Hawley and Jarvis Cocker perform a duet, then Cocker gets an MRI to see the effect of collaboration.
- Good news: the human mind is still more powerful and nimble than any computer.
- More good news: Our current recession is nowhere near as severe as the Great Depression.
- Photos of homeowners who haven't changed their décor in decades.
- "The ringtone of choice among hip literary types this summer": a short dance mix featuring Philip Roth doing some "Jewish shouting."
- Scientists say current grant system "provides disincentives to funding really transformative research."
- New favorite blog: NCBI ROFL, collecting funny studies.
- Everyone thinks Stuart is so sensitive. He is, but he's also like any other Scottish man--he has a hard time saying what he feels.
- Notes on how Wikipedia's co-founder and the Times kept news of its kidnapped reporter off the web.
- Notes on "marriage hunting" in Japan; speed-dating now offered during baseball games.
- Italy's Grillo: "Perhaps the purest example today of comedy crossing from political satire to political activism."
- The luxury hotel for everyone else. Study of the Four Seasons' franchise business model.
- Account of how one man organized a flashmob to moonwalk in London.
- L.A. bookstores mourn regular customer, big reader Michael Jackson.
- Headline: London blamed for Jackson's death.
- Graphic of Michael Jackson's Billboard rankings compared to Usher, U2, the Beatles, others.
- How Nonesuch Records' anthropological approach to music lead it to becoming "the United Nations of rhythm and sound."
- Op: We as a culture reserve our right to shower disdain on the Black Eyed Peas.
- Man desires a toaster. Man desires to build a toaster. Man builds toaster.
- Based on some of the late work, art critics speculate Picasso may have had hippie tendencies.