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Monday Links from the Bench vol. CDVII

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    Monday Links from the Bench vol. CDVII

    No sign of any hurricane here yet, but it's probably safest to shelter indoors and read this lot rather than venturing outside
    • The Chicken Experiment That Shook the World - Maryn McKenna on the 1948 experiment that showed livestock could grow faster and on less fodder if given antibiotics, which is in part responsible for the looming crisis of antibiotic resistance: ”Penicillin was not only dispensed to patients in hospitals; manufacturers tossed it into ointments, throat lozenges, gum, toothpaste, inhalable powders, even lipstick. Anyone could buy penicillin over the counter in a pharmacy; prescriptions were not required until 1951… Yet from the early days of the antibiotic era, there had been rumblings of concern about how long their effectiveness would last.”

    • How a British Spy Drank His Way Across the Americas—and Missed the Civil War - "Richard Francis Burton was one of the great adventurers of the Victorian era, and a spy. But several weeks just before the Civil War are curiously missing from his life's account." All the evidence suggests that he failed to notice the momentous political upheaval building around him because he was drunk, and this article helpfully includes recipes for a number of the cocktails he’s believed to have sampled

    • I Bulltulipted My Way to the Top of Paris Fashion Week - Oobah Butler masqueraded as a fictional character named on the label of cheap jeans sold on market stalls, and convinced the world of fashion he was a trendsetter: ”Google the name of this apparently Italian man [Georgio Peviani] and you'll find page after page of his denim jeans. But he doesn't exist, obviously. He's absolutely a knock-off… I'm going to fill that void: become Georgio Peviani and help him fulfil his potential, by becoming the toast of an industry fake enough to be deceived by a fake man. I'm taking Georgio Peviani to Paris Fashion Week.”

    • Is your fear of radiation irrational? - "Radioactivity stirs primal fears in many people, but Geoff Watts argues that an undue sense of its risks can cause real harm." You can go first, Geoff

    • Revealed: Secret British Airways Registration Meanings - "Just like a car, all aircraft carry a unique registration." An explanation of some of the patterns of registrations used by British Airways.

    • Our streets are too narrow for cycle paths - "I've lost count of how often people have tried to convince me that their city's streets are too narrow to have cycling infrastructure. The three words "not enough space" are repeated as if they are a mantra.” Using old and current photos of the Dutch town of Assen, David Hembrow demonstrates that the problem isn’t one of space, but of cultural change.

    • Let's talk about Song of the South - "Song of the South is considered by some to be the most controversial, racist, and insensitive movie the Disney studio has ever made. If you’ve been following my project to watch all the Disney movies (https://imgur.com/a/Iofzm) you’ll know how insensitive/racist/sexist things can get over in the early Disney times, so this must be pretty bad." Disney have never allowed a home video release of the film in the USA, but HPWombat managed to get hold of a copy and has watched it so you don’t have to. (Being Imgur, you’ll have to hit the “Load more images” link at the bottom as and when you encounter it to keep reading.) Interestingly, the movie’s star, James Baskett, was the first African American winner of an Oscar for his portrayal of Uncle Remus - yet he wasn’t allowed to attend the film’s premiere, which took place in a segregated cinema.

    • The Man Who Could Speak Japanese - A strange little tale of the Pacific war from renowned journalist William Manchester: ”Sy Ivice of Chicago christened us “the Raggedy-Ass Marines.” That was about the size of it. Love had died between us and the Marine Corps. The rest of the battalion amiably addressed us as “Mac”—all enlisted Marines were “Mac” to their officers and to one another—but there was a widespread awareness that we were unsuitably bookish, slack on the drill field, and generally beneath the fastidious stateside standards established in the Corps’ log-year history. If there had been such a thing as a Military Quotient, the spit-and-polish equivalent of an Intelligence Quotient, our M.Q. would have been pegged at about 78.” N.B. this has clearly been OCRed from the original print version and nobody’s tidied it up so, for example, “29th Marines” comes out as “agth Marines” throughout. Here’s a scan of the original if you want to resolve these anomalies yourself.

    • Ikea in Swedish - If you’ve ever struggled with the pronunciation of that coffee table you’re after, this is the site you need: ”When a guy named Ingvar Kamprad founded Ikea, he decided to name the furniture with proper names and words, so it would be easier to remember. Well, easier for Swedes. Too bad he didn't predict his company would be all over the world, leaving the rest of us clueless when it comes to the names. So learn how Swedes pronounce them and stop sounding ridiculous.” Bonus linky: The IKEA Dictionary, in case you’re wondering what the names mean

    • Ted Lewis, his Brit Noir Novel ‘Jack’s Return Home’ and the Movie ‘Get Carter’ - Rob Baker on the background to the book and later film starring Michael Caine, with a great gallery of photos.



    Happy invoicing!

    #2
    I'm not so sure the registration marks of BA planes is secret. Kinda strikes me they are surprisingly daft as well.. I mean...

    G-ZZZ* – Boeing 777-236 as the ZZZ looks a bit like 777.

    G-TTO* – Airbus A320s for Three Two O which is 320.
    ZZZ looks a bit like 777?? Really? Why not G-TFO because it's slightly amusing then?
    'CUK forum personality of 2011 - Winner - Yes really!!!!

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      #3
      Originally posted by northernladuk View Post
      I'm not so sure the registration marks of BA planes is secret. Kinda strikes me they are surprisingly daft as well.. I mean...



      ZZZ looks a bit like 777?? Really? Why not G-TFO because it's slightly amusing then?
      Yes, I thought "secret" was a bit over the top - something like "obscure" makes more sense, but hey, it's their piece so they can call it what they want

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