How Now, Wench? Talking Like Shakespeare : NPR

How Now, Wench? Talking Like Shakespeare : NPR

Chicago Mayor Richard Daley declared Thursday “Talk Like Shakespeare” day in honor of the 445th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s birth.

And folks in the Windy City, from fans at Wrigley Field to the aldermen on the City Council, are picking up the Shakespearean lingo.

Great idea! Listen to the podcast to hear Chicagoans brave the bard’s style.

At Wrigley Field, home of the storied baseball team the Chicago Cubs — and to many a Shakespearean-like tragedy, too — beer vender Vince Pavalonis tried a Shakespearean sales pitch.

“To drink or not to drink: That is the question,” yelled Pavalonis, as he sold the local favorite, Ye Olde Style beer.

Tags: culture, life, Shakespeare, fun

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London Times Online – A town called Obama

US Elections – Times Online – WBLG: A town called Obama

Thousands of Pacific miles might separate residents of an isolated fishing town on Japan’s snowy west coast from the buzz of the US election campaign but that hasn’t prevented them from taking an avid interest in the fortunes of one candidate – the young Illinois senator with whom the ancient community shares its name.

Obama, Japan has been thoroughly infected by the mania surrounding its accidental namesake and is mounting an astonishing display of support for the man who hopes to become America’s first black president.

The main hotel is splattered with posters hailing Obama, while his image will grace headbands and T-shirts currently in production. Sweet bean “manju” cakes bearing Obama’s portrait are being prepared by local confectioners, and the town of 32,000 has even held special primary night parties to celebrate his victories.

This is from the London Times – I’ve taken to reading it’s RSS feed daily (sometimes hourly) since it has such a different POV. This is the kind of “political” story I really enjoy.

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Tags: Obama, Japan, London Times, politics, elections, international, fun

 

Goodbye Instant Photography!

Polaroid Abandons Instant Photography – The Lede – Breaking News – New York Times Blog

It was a wonder in its time: A camera that spat out photos that developed themselves in a few minutes as you watched. You got to see them where and when you took them, not a week later when the prints came back from the drugstore.

But in a day when nearly every cellphone has a digital camera in it, “instant” photography long ago stopped being instant enough for most people. So today, the inevitable end of an era came: Polaroid is getting out of the Polaroid business.

The company, which stopped making instant cameras for consumers a year ago and for commercial use a year before that, said today that as soon as it had enough instant film manufactured to last it through 2009, it would stop making that, too. Three plants that make large-format instant film will close by the end of the quarter, and two that make consumer film packets will be shut by the end of the year, Bloomberg News reports.

I love Polaroid cameras – I still have one of them and a special slide printer. I also learned to make Polaroid transfers onto watercolor paper – really lovely prints with a vintage feel. Our family had one of the early B&W cameras that needed to have the rather smelly coating smeared on after it developed for preservation. The later color cameras were great fun at parties. It’s sad to see an entire industry die away.

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Tags: camera, polaroid, technology, photography, business, art, fun,

 

Coney Island Changes

NPR : As Change Nears, Coney Islanders Keep Dreaming

From the top of the world-famous Cyclone roller coaster at Coney Island, riders can see white-sand beaches, the Astroland amusement park and New York City’s skyline before they take a heart-stopping plunge.

For 80 years, the view atop the wooden coaster has changed with the amusements and arcades below. But this weekend could be the final view of most of Astroland, the oldest amusement park at Coney Island. Development is encroaching upon — or rescuing — other parts of the district, too, depending upon your point of view.

I’ve always wanted to visit Coney Island. My brother lived in Brooklyn Heights for 11 years but I only went up to visit twice (I’m a terrible sister). At least the Cyclone is a historic landmark so it won’t be dismantled.

technorati tags:summer, amusement, money, condos, Coney-Island, NPR, vacation, ocean, fun, Cyclone, New-York

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What to do with your extra tomatoes.

Tens of thousand revelers paint Spanish town red in giant tomato fight – International Herald Tribune

BUNOL, Spain:
Tens of thousands of warriors-for-a-day hurled tons of ripe tomatoes at each other Wednesday in an annual food fight that transforms this Spanish town into a sea of red mush.

At precisely 11:00 am (0900 GMT), on the cue of a rocket fired from town hall, municipal trucks hauled 117 tons of plum tomatoes into the main square of Bunol and dumped them, setting the stage for exactly one hour of good-natured warfare.

I love it – a tomato free-for-all! Please follow the link to read more about it.

technorati tags:Spain, tomato, fun, tradition, Bunol, food, food-fight, Tomatina

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"The Simpsons won. Good night, John Boy.”

The Guys Who Go With the ‘D’oh!’ – washingtonpost.com

Here is a fun article from today’s Washington Post talking about the Simpsons.

On the campaign trail in 1992, George H.W. Bush promised voters that if he were reelected president, “we’re going to strengthen the American family to make it more like the Waltons and less like the Simpsons.”

The Simpsons won. Good night, John Boy.

“When Bush said he wanted us to be the Waltons, we thought, what? He wants us to be poor and sleep in the same bed?” This is Al Jean, one of the founding writers for “The Simpsons,” which has been a pop culture trademark for 18 years and 400 episodes on the Fox network.

“We also wondered, why the Waltons? Weren’t they, you know, set in the Depression?” This is David Silverman, one of the original animators for the show and now director of “The Simpsons Movie,” opening nationwide on Friday.

It’s a fun article with info about the early Simpson development on the Tracy Ullman show and some teaser info on the movie. Give it a read.

technorati tags:Simpsons, funny, silly, television, pop-culture, comedy, family, Washington-Post

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Found Magazine – a quirky site

FOUND Magazine | Find of the Day

“We collect FOUND stuff: love letters, birthday cards, kids’ homework,
to-do lists, ticket stubs, poetry on napkins, telephone bills, doodles –
anything that gives a glimpse into someone else’s life. Anything goes…”

This is the concept for Found Magazine. Very simple yet strangely compelling. The other interesting component is where and how the objects were found.

We are all such pack-rats and litter-bugs. Be careful with your stuff because it may end up here.

technorati tags:found, trash, detritus, fun, odd, stuff

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Ocean City MD amusement park & arcade may close this year!

An Ocean City Icon Faces Turn in Economic Tide – washingtonpost.com

Although I haven’t been there in years, our family used to go to Ocean City every summer when we visited my grandmother in Laurel, Delaware. I wasn’t up for the rides but I loved the arcade, skee ball especially. I didn’t realize that Ocean City has the oldest continuously owned amusement park in the United States. I’d hate to see yet another park be turned over to developers for more condos and hotels. What’s next – legalized gambling like Atlantic City?

technorati tags:summer, amusement, money, condos, skeeball, arcade, vacation, ocean, Maryland, fun, tourism

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Stitch and Pitch – baseball and knitting!

Today’s Washington Post had a fun article on “Stitch and Pitch” games sponsored by the National NeedleArts Association. The group organized a promotional event at RFK stadium last night and 23 knitters, crocheters, etc. came to watch the game and also bring their needlework.

Here’s a link to the article:

Where It’s Knit, Knit, Knit At the Old Ballgame

technorati tags:baseball, knitting, sports, Nationals

 

Lost – the international online game

LOST

My timer ran out and I have to start over again. Click the link if you want to sign up to play. It doesn’t take much time or effort but it’s good to have endulgent friends who are willing to play, too.

Here is my original invite photo posted last December.

Help out this hungry Sumigirl!

technorati tags:game, online, Lost

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