You Might Like … a Moment or Two With Dock Ellis, Oliver Sacks, Golden Worms, Dead Glaswegians, Small Arms, and More
This is a post in a series appearing each Friday, setting out some articles, videos, podcasts and the like that contributors at Slaw are enjoying and that you might find interesting. The articles tend to be longer than blog posts and shorter than books, just right for that stolen half hour on the weekend. It’s also likely that most of them won’t be about law — just right for etc.
Please let us have your recommendations for what we and our readers might like.
ESPN Outside The Lines – The Long Strange Trip of Dock Ellis – Patrick Hruby – “. . . the first and only known no-hitter in major league history pitched under the influence of lysergic acid diethylamide, thrown by the first and only player in major league history to inspire both a biography penned by a future American poet laureate and a seminal article in High Times.” Even if you’re not interested in sports or drugs or history, check this out in your browser to see what an online mag article can do.
The New Yorker – Altered States – Oliver Sacks – Baseball players aren’t the only ones who’ve indulged in mind-bending chemicals. Clinicians did it too, ‘twould appear. Sacks, who’s all about minds, talks a bit about what he experienced.
National Geographic Magazine – Tibet’s Golden “Worm” – Michael Finkel – Now to “magic” mushrooms at the top of the world — and to China’s seemingly inexhaustible appetite for aphrodisiacs and products to improve “chi.” At least it’s a plant and not an animal part this time that’s got them clamouring for more.
YouTube – Robot chefs taking over China’s noodle bars – Zoominuk – Speaking of insatiable appetites, China and the rest of us have one for noodles. Here’s a way to make ’em fresh that’s going to be coming to a noodle house near you soon. But this way is more appealing, I’d say.
The Economist – Unhealthy Glaswegians: No city for old men – anon – It won’t be noodles that send folks from Glasgow to their graves earlier than others. And, curiously, it seems it isn’t deep-fried Mars bars — because you could get those in other places in Scotland. It’s “the riddle of the Clyde” as The Economist calls it.
Chrome Experiments – Interactive Globe: Small Arms Imports & Exports – What does send folks early to the hereafter are arms, whether small or not. Canada’s in the thick of it, though it’s a bit difficult from this animated chart to tell exactly how. But click on the name and see the amounts. Small arms: large amounts. Sad.
New York Times – Sea Ice in Arctic Measured at Record Low – Justin Gillis – Your world might not end by firing — or, indeed, by ice. Water from melting sea ice is increasingly likely to change the way things are, and likely not for the good. But no worries, right? Because global warming’s a myth, right?
YouTube – When the Levee Breaks – Kansas Joe McCoy & Memphis Minnie – Water has always been dangerous — back then, in 1927 during the Great Mississippi Flood, and now in Isaac-stormed Louisiana. (For a completely different take on the same, or similar, lyrics, listen to the more familiar Led Zeppelin song of the same name.)
BBC News Magazine – Ukraine or the Ukraine: Why do some country names have ‘the’ – Tom Geoghegan – The Netherlands worries about water, too. And about whether it’s more properly “Netherlands” simpliciter. Of course in French it’s vive la différence.
pangloss.com – Shakespearean Insulter – Chris Seidel – Get it wrong and someone’s bound to say to you: “Thou pribbling lily-livered mumble-news!” Click on the button to get a witty riposte, courtesy of the Bard.
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