Brendan I. Koerner's Blog, page 77
April 16, 2010
"Call in the Welding Team…"
We have very vivid memories of the disappointment we felt upon first seeing The Phantom Menace. One of our pals had scored tickets to a late-night showing at the mammoth Ziegfeld Theater, and we ducked out of a raging party just to get our Star Wars on. The lights dimmed and the movie opened not with an action sequence, but rather with a reference to…a trade dispute? Really? Call us old-fashioned, but we prefer space-opera plotlines that eschew the minutiae of import tariffs.
A Price on the Priceless
Our hearts got out to Roy Glauber, a Nobel Laureate physicist who was recently victimized by an extremely dumb burglar. (Note to aspiring master criminals: Don't leave your food-stamp cards at the scene.) Though the local cops have nabbed the crook, they've so far been unable to locate Glauber's Nobel gold medal, which he received five years ago for his work on the quantum theory of optical coherence. That makes us wonder if the burglar actually managed to fence one of the most sought-after p...
Bye-Bye to the Battery
Rising sea levels recently submerged tiny New Moore Island in the Bay Bengal, thereby settling a longstanding territorial dispute between India and Bangladesh. (Curiously, the nations seem totally disinterested in claiming a piece of land that's underwater.) While we certainly appreciate Mother Nature's unique approach to conflict resolution, New Moore's watery demise renewed one of our greatest fears: the fate of Microkhan world headquarters, which happen to rest atop a very small island...
April 15, 2010
The Pride of Coahoma County
The 1960 Newport Jazz Festival is perhaps best remembered for Anita O'Day's legendary rendition of "Sweet Georgia Brown"—a performance she later found herself unable to recall, due to the fact that she was strung out on heroin when she took the stage. But while we can't help but get shivers when O'Day croons, our favorite bit from those summer concerts is John Lee Hooker's turn fronting Muddy Waters' band (above). Strap on the noise-canceling headphones and give a listen—it's epic.
Out Here in the Fields
In the midst of researching the economic downsides of bride prices, we came across this recent study from Tanzania, where money always changes hands before a young couple's nuptials. As noted in the chart above, girls who toil in the fields attract far greater bride prices than peers who stick close to home:
Using an instrumental variables strategy, we show that child labor in agricultural activities is significantly associated with better outcomes in terms of family wealth, particularly for...
Fake Can Be Just as Good?
With the start of the World Cup less than two months away, South African cops are working hard to stem the tide of counterfeit jerseys:
A Swazi man was on Saturday night arrested at the Oshoek Border gate after allegedly being found with 12,000 fake World Cup soccer shirts worth E3.6million.
SAPS spokesman Colonel Vishnu Naidoo yesterday confirmed the arrest of the Swazi man on Saturday and said the shirts were worth E3.6 million and other clothes worth E200 000 bringing the total to E3.8...
April 14, 2010
The Method of a Master (Cont'd)
Something sorta major just came up, so we need to check out for the afternoon. Apologies, but fear not—we'll be back strong tomorrow, bringing you nothing but the finest handpicked information. For now, though, please indulge our recent fascination with The RZA's creative process by checking out this 1999 interview with filmmaker Jim Jarmusch. As many of y'all know, RZA's first foray into film scoring was done in collaboration with Jarmusch, for Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai. Besides...
The Method of a Master
More downtown meetings this morning, so we'll have to circle back to you in a few hours. In the meantime, please ponder some words of wisdom from one of Microkhan's all-time favorite artists, The RZA. He shared the following insight with the great Stop Smiling back in 2006:
RZA: I'm going to tell you a funny story I don't share with a lot of people. When I made the Bobby Digital album, I actually had the mentality of being a vigilante. I got a special car built with police sirens and...
April 13, 2010
The World Beyond Atlah
Tied up in downtown meetings for the rest of the day, so we'll leave you with the classic Ruby Andrews track above. Back here soon, provided that Microkhan Jr. lets us get a decent night's sleep. Suffice to say we're operating at quarter-strength today, due to his 3 a.m. shenanigans. We do wonder how Genghis dealt with rebellious children. Hugs were probably not his preferred method.
The Dane Behind Snooki
Last Friday's post about steroid use among Bangladeshi prostitutes elicited this great comment from a longtime Friend 'o Microkhan:
It seems like there might be an interesting parallel between perceptions of fatness and tanning. In both cases, there seems to be a general trend that as cultures move away from subsistence living. Lower body mass and tanning have become attractive in first-world cultures, whereas being skinny and tan are usually seen as low-class in subsistence cultures.
Okay...
