This compilation is just priceless.
Some classics:
"Winston, if you were my husband, I'd put poison in your coffee."
-Lady Astor
"Nancy, if you were my wife, I'd drink it."
-Winston Churchill
****
"What are you doing reading a Bible?" asked an astonished Thomas Mitchell, confronted by an irreligious man paging through the Good Book on his deathbed.
"I'm looking for loopholes."
-W. C. Fields
****
At a press conference, a reporter pointed out that $80,000 was $5,000 more than President Hoover's annual salary.
"Maybe so, but I had a better year than he did."
-Babe Ruth
Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
Showing posts with label history. Show all posts
February 29, 2008
BoingBoingTV: "Food Fight" -- an abridged history of war through food
Filmmaker Stefan Nadelman's stop-animation piece provides an abridged history of war (WWII-Gulf War II) told through the foods of the countries in conflict.
Funny, sad and in no way appetite inspiring, at least on this day. Brilliant in its own way.
[Hat tip to Jon Battelle]
February 7, 2008
Eric Schulman's "Wiki history of the universe in 200 words or less"
Brilliant. From the Science Creative Quarterly:
Quantum fluctuation. Inflation. Expansion. Strong nuclear interaction. Particle-antiparticle annihilation. Deuterium and helium production. Density perturbations. Recombination. Blackbody radiation. Local contraction. Cluster formation. Reionization? Violent relaxation. Virialization. Biased galaxy formation? Turbulent fragmentation. Contraction. Ionization. Compression. Opaque hydrogen. Massive star formation. Deuterium ignition. Hydrogen fusion. Hydrogen depletion. Core contraction. Envelope expansion. Helium fusion. Carbon, oxygen, and silicon fusion. Iron production. Implosion. Supernova explosion. Metals injection. Star formation. Supernova explosions. Star formation. Condensation. Planetesimal accretion. Planetary differentiation. Crust solidification. Volatile gas expulsion. Water condensation. Water dissociation. Ozone production. Ultraviolet absorption. Photosynthetic unicellular organisms. Oxidation. Mutation. Natural selection and evolution. Respiration. Cell differentiation. Sexual reproduction. Fossilization. Land exploration. Dinosaur extinction. Mammal expansion. Glaciation. Homo sapiens manifestation. Animal domestication. Food surplus production. Civilization! Innovation. Exploration. Religion. Warring nations. Empire creation and destruction. Exploration. Colonization. Taxation without representation. Revolution. Constitution. Election. Expansion. Industrialization. Rebellion. Emancipation Proclamation. Invention. Mass production. Urbanization. Immigration. World conflagration. League of Nations. Suffrage extension. Depression. World conflagration. Fission explosions. United Nations. Space exploration. Assassinations. Lunar excursions. Resignation. Computerization. World Trade Organization. Terrorism. Internet expansion. Reunification. Dissolution. World-Wide Web creation. Composition. Extrapolation?
May 21, 2007
RIP Cutty Sark
My uncle pinged me first thing this morning with the sad news about the burning of one of the world's greatest maritime treasures, the Cutty Sark.
It's a shame the whiskey named after her isn't top notch. It's a blend (and not my favorite) but probably still much better than what the Cutty Sark's sailors drank.
Like the Royal Navy, maybe I'd feel better if I drank a pint of grog or more every day myself.
I was glad to read that the Cutty Sark's metal skeleton did not buckle in the heat of the blaze -- and that firemen preserved her figurehead. She may be preserved yet.
It's extraordinary to think back the days of epic tea races as the clipper ships scudded across the world's oceans, coursing over the waves. . . how else to explain a trip from Australia-to-Britain in as little as 67 days? Under sail?
According to Wikipedia (ahem), the Cutty Sark's best run, 360 nautical miles (666 km) in 24 hours (an average 15kt, 27.75 km/h), was said to have been the fastest of any ship of its size.
Viva windpower
It's a shame the whiskey named after her isn't top notch. It's a blend (and not my favorite) but probably still much better than what the Cutty Sark's sailors drank.
Like the Royal Navy, maybe I'd feel better if I drank a pint of grog or more every day myself.
I was glad to read that the Cutty Sark's metal skeleton did not buckle in the heat of the blaze -- and that firemen preserved her figurehead. She may be preserved yet.
It's extraordinary to think back the days of epic tea races as the clipper ships scudded across the world's oceans, coursing over the waves. . . how else to explain a trip from Australia-to-Britain in as little as 67 days? Under sail?
According to Wikipedia (ahem), the Cutty Sark's best run, 360 nautical miles (666 km) in 24 hours (an average 15kt, 27.75 km/h), was said to have been the fastest of any ship of its size.
Viva windpower
February 11, 2007
No Faustian Bargain Here
Harvard has named its first female president in its 371-year history, Dr. Drew Gilpin Faust, a historian of the Civil War South.
While I can imagine that the task of taking on a university with 12 schools, a 30 billion dollar endowment and 3 billion dollar operating budget is surely a daunting task for the (former) dean of Radcliffe (80 employees), I bet she's woman enough for the challenge.
In the wake of Larry Summers, this is an especially powerful statement, and one that should confirm to the world that opportunity at the highest levels is increasingly, if not wholly, available to every qualified American.
While I can imagine that the task of taking on a university with 12 schools, a 30 billion dollar endowment and 3 billion dollar operating budget is surely a daunting task for the (former) dean of Radcliffe (80 employees), I bet she's woman enough for the challenge.
In the wake of Larry Summers, this is an especially powerful statement, and one that should confirm to the world that opportunity at the highest levels is increasingly, if not wholly, available to every qualified American.
February 3, 2007
January 20, 2007
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