RECOMMENDED READING – Page 36 – Stillness of Heart

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

Singing to John Brown … President Matt Damon? … Perry’s perks … Life fades in scorched Texas … History of women’s protests.

Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.

1. As Texas Dries Out, Life Falters and Fades
By Richard Parker | The New York Times | Aug. 13
“Up in Austin, Gov. Rick Perry is moving toward a run for the presidency. But he has had precious little to say about the drought that is devastating his state. He did organize a prayer for rain back in April. Looking at that blazing hot, clear blue sky up there, it seems heaven isn’t listening.”

2. Flannery O’Connor reads ‘A Good Man is Hard to Find’
Manasto Jones | May 18, 2009
“This is a recording from 1959 of Flannery O’Connor … Vanderbilt University.”

3. Perry offers perks to donors who raise generous funds
The Fix :: The Washington Post | Aug. 13
“According to a strategy document obtained by The Washington Post’s Karen Tumulty, there are four levels in the Perry donor universe.”

4. A Brief History of Women’s Protests
By Megan Gibson | Time | Aug. 12
“Timing is everything, especially when it comes to a rally.”

5. A first look at the National September 11 Memorial
By Blair Kamin | Cityscapes :: The Chicago Tribune | Aug. 14
“A tough work of abstract minimalism, softened by waterfalls and oak trees, seeks to meld remembrance and regeneration”

6. Oldest survivor of Bataan Death March dies at 105
By Jim Suhr | Associated Press | Aug. 15
“‘Doc’ Brown was nearly 40 in 1942 when he endured the Bataan Death March, a harrowing 65-mile trek in which 78,000 prisoners of war were forced to walk from Bataan province near Manila to a Japanese POW camp. As many as 11,000 died along the way. ”

7. Matt Damon for president? In US politics, they have seen crazier scripts
By Paul Harris | The Guardian | Aug. 14
“The line between Hollywood fame and political power is often blurred, so suggestions that the liberal actor might run can’t be dismissed”

8. Why they sang about John Brown
By R. Blakeslee Gilpin | The Boston Globe | Aug. 14
“How a violent revolutionary inspired the Union’s great marching song – right here in Boston”

9. Rereading: Love on the Dole by Walter Greenwood
By John Harris | The Guardian | Aug. 7, 2010
“An evocative portrayal of life in depression-era Britain, Love on the Dole sold thousands when it was first published in the 1930s. John Harris visits the Salford streets where it was set and finds some grim resonances”

10. Mixed race marriage victory in US
Witness :: BBC News | June 9
“In 1958, a mixed-race couple were banished from the US state of Virginia for breaking its laws against inter-racial marriage.”

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

The ultimate quake predictor … Be smart — be bilingual … The Moche culture … The busy Jessica Chastain … A guide to quarterbacks.

Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.

1. Nancy Wake, saboteur and special agent, died on August 7th, aged 98
The Economist | Aug. 13
“Of the 39 SOE women infiltrated into France, 11 of whom would die in concentration camps, she was perhaps the most redoubtable.”

2. Pursuing the Grail of an Earthquake Predictor, but Facing Skeptics
By John Upton | The New York Times | Aug. 13
“The project, called QuakeFinder, involves installing some 200 five-foot-tall sensors near fault lines to measure changes in underground magnetic fields and detect electrically charged particles in the air. The theory behind it is that changes in electromagnetic fields can foretell quakes.”

3. Why It’s Smart to Be Bilingual
By Casey Schwartz | Newsweek | Aug. 7
“The brain’s real super-food may be learning new languages.”

4. Can We Make Jurassic Park Yet?
By Natalie Wolchover | Life’s Little Mysteries | Aug. 11
“Even if we do someday find ancient dinosaur DNA, it will be in shambles — snippets of code just a few base pairs long. We’ll have no idea how to stitch the snippets together. Thus, sequencing the dinosaur genome from fossilized tissues or blood may never be a viable route to their revival.”

5. The Moche Culture – Some Historical Background
By Jaime Briceno | Arqueologia del Peru | Aug. 13
“Studies of Moche iconography have contributed substantially to our understanding, offering insight into Moche ideology and ritual.”

6. Jessica Chastain’s Busy 2011 Launches Her Star
Huff Post Entertainment | Aug 13
“Attention, moviegoers: Here is the preemptive answer to the question each one of you will, inevitably, ask at some point over the next six months: Her name is Jessica Chastain, and she’s here to stay.”

7. The Longform.org Guide to Quarterbacks
By Max Linsky | Slate.com | Aug. 13
“From pre-draft jitters to post-retirement bliss, five glimpses into the minds of NFL QB’s.”

8. London Labour and the London Poor by Henry Mayhew
By Robert Douglas-Fairhurst | The Guardian | Oct. 16, 2010
“Henry Mayhew’s dazzling ‘Cyclopoedia’ of London street life gave voice to the city’s poor and has influenced writers from Kingsley to Larkin.”

9. The Guy Battling a Sunburn and His Girlfriend’s HPV
Daily Intel :: New York Magazine | June 6
“Once a week, Daily Intel takes a peek behind doors left slightly ajar. This week, the Guy Battling a Sunburn and His Girlfriend’s HPV: male, writer/editor, 24, Bushwick, straight, in a relationship.”

10. Attack on the Osirak reactor
Witness :: BBC News | June 8
“It is 30 years since Israeli war planes destroyed a nuclear reactor in Iraq.”

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

Modern movie star power … More details from the Bay of Pigs … Castro turns 85 … A civil war within Libya’s civil war … Overcoming insecurity.

Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.

1. Uncommon Knowledge
By Ken Lewis | The Boston Globe | Aug. 14
“Think your way to confidence. In case of fire, call an insecure person. In politics, networks matter.”

2. The Pentagon’s new China war plan
By Stephen Glain | Salon.com | Aug. 13
“Despite budget woes, the military is preparing for a conflict with our biggest rival — and we should be worried.”

3. Tribal Rifts Threaten to Undermine Libya Uprising
By David D. Kirkpatrick and C.J. Chivers | The New York Times | Aug. 13
“Saddled with infighting and undermined by the occasionally ruthless and undisciplined behavior of its fighters, the six-month-old rebel uprising against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi is showing signs of sliding from a struggle to overthrow an autocrat into a murkier contest between factions and tribes.”

4. Why not Bloomy?
By Steve Kornacki | New York Post | Aug. 13
“Conditions mayor wanted in ’08 are happening in this election.”

5. Cuba’s Fidel Castro, US foe and hero of Latin American left, turns 85
Associated Press | Aug. 13
“Revolutionary icon Fidel Castro marked his 85th birthday behind closed doors … as the aging leader famous for railing against Washington increasingly fades from the spotlight — even if his outsize persona continues to cast a long shadow over Cuban society and U.S. relations.”

6. Untold Story of the Bay of Pigs
By Robert Dallek | Newsweek | Aug. 14
“Newly declassified CIA documents reveal new blunders and how close America came to war during the failed invasion of Cuba.”

7. Why aren’t these actors famous?
Salon.com | Aug. 12
“Slide show: These 10 underrated film and TV stars deserve to be household names”

8. The Good, the Bad, Not the Ugly
By Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott | The New York Times | Aug. 11
“Stardom can look cheap in the age of Snooki, but movie stars do still matter at the box office, and a system of sorts exists, even if it doesn’t work like the one that turned Lucille Fay LeSueur into Joan Crawford.”

9. Sorority Girl With Implants Making the Most of Open Relationship
Daily Intel :: New York Magazine | June 13
“Once a week, Daily Intel takes a peek behind doors left slightly ajar. This week, the Sorority Girl With Breast Implants Making the Most of Her Open Relationship: female, college student/”sorority princess,” Morningside Heights, 22, straight, in an open relationship.”

10. OJ Simpson car chase
Witness :: BBC News | June 13
“In June 1994, America watched in disbelief as the police chased the retired sports star OJ Simpson, along the freeways of Los Angeles.”

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

Two moons … PMQ: The Video Game … London burns … Latino endearments … USA’s soccer coach.

Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.

1. Earth Had Two Moons, New Model Suggests
By Ker Than | Daily News :: National Geographic | Aug. 3
“Earth may have once had two moons, but one was destroyed in a slow-motion collision that left our current lunar orb lumpier on one side than the other, scientists say.”

2. Q&A on S&P’s downgrade of US debt
By Pallavi Gogoi and Peter Svensson | Associated Press | Aug. 6
“What did Standard & Poor’s do? What does a downgrade mean? Does it mean U.S. interest rates will go up?”

3. It’s PMQs — the video game
By Helen Lewis Hasteley | New Statesman | Aug. 1
“You might have heard people saying that politicians treat Prime Minister’s Questions like a game. Now, you can, too!”

4. London Riots Put Spotlight on Troubled, Unemployed Youths in Britain
By Landon Thomas Jr. and Ravi Somaiya | The New York Times | Aug. 9
“Widespread antisocial and criminal behavior by young and usually unemployed people has long troubled Britain. Attacks and vandalism by gangs of young people are ‘a blight on the lives of millions,’ said a 2010 government report commissioned in the aftermath of several deaths related to such gangs. They signal, it said, ‘the decline of whole towns and city areas.’ ”

5. New U.S. soccer coach seeks high energy vs. Mexico
By Chelsea Janes | USA Today | Aug. 9
“Jurgen Klinsmann will pace the sidelines for the first time as coach of the U.S. men’s soccer team Wednesday night when the Americans take on Mexico in a friendly in Philadelphia.”

6. A list of the top Latino endearments
By Sara Ines Calderon | NewsTaco | Aug. 9
“Latinos love nicknames, especially endearing ones, but I have to admit it’s probably due largely in part to the fact that Spanish is a language very amenable to nicknames.”

7. Mona Lisa recreated with coffee
The Telegraph | Aug. 4, 2009
“The Mona Lisa, one of the world’s most famous paintings, has been recreated with 3,604 cups of coffee – and 564 pints of milk. ”

8. The ‘Mostly Straight’ Woman Jumping From One Male Lover’s Bed to Another’s
Daily Intel :: New York Magazine | June 27
“Once a week, Daily Intel takes a peek behind doors left slightly ajar. This week, the ‘Mostly Straight’ Woman Jumping From One Male Lover’s Bed to Another’s: female, web editor, Spanish Harlem, 25, mostly straight, casually dating.”

9. Rereading: The Rainbow by DH Lawrence
By Rachel Cusk | The Guardian | March 19
“Lawrence is still seen by many as controversial – and controversial he was, but the highly sexed pornographer of public imagination bears no relation at all to the man whose modes of thought and self-expression still retain the power to provoke violent disagreement.”

10. Rape of Nanjing
Witness :: BBC News | June 17
“In 1937, the Japanese army went on the rampage after invading the Chinese city of Nanjing. Hundreds of thousands of people are thought to have died.”

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

Rereading Capote … The best way to enjoy an open relationship … The greatest dinosaurs ever … The fascinating octopus … The reality of al Qaeda.

Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.

1. Where’s the Octopus?
Science Friday :: NPR | August 2011
“When marine biologist Roger Hanlon captured the first scene in this video he started screaming.”

2. University to uncover cistern below campus
By Tuba Parlak | Hurriyet Daily News | Aug. 3
“Kadir Has University is waiting for municipal consent to start restoration and conservation of the Cibali Cistern under its campus by the Golden Horn. University Rector Mustafa Aydın says the historical structure will serve as another story for the Rezan Has Museum that sits on its upper floor.”

3. Afghanistan: Does the uniform make the soldier?
By Ben Brody | Dispatches :: GlobalPost | Aug. 4
“U.S. soldiers regularly get into trouble for the state of their uniforms.”

4. Where Are Chile Miners Now?
Associated Press | Aug. 4
“Nearly half the men have been unemployed since their mine collapsed one year ago tomorrow, and just one, the flamboyant Mario Sepulveda, has managed to live well off the fame.”

5. Move It! How to Exercise When You’re Depressed
By Suzanne Phillips | Live Science | Aug. 4
“Forget comparing yourself with the neighbor who jogs – start with a simple plan of moving, do it on your time and tie it to something you love.”

6. 10 Greatest Dinosaurs of All Time
By Jennifer Horton | Curiosity.com | August 2011
“From the doorknob-turning, toe-tapping velociraptors in ‘Jurassic Park’ to the menacing Sharptooth and stubborn Cera in the ‘The Land Before Time,’ never before has a species inspired such imagination as the dinosaur. But there’s much more to these creatures than what you’ll find in the movies.”

7. The Truth About al Qaeda
By John Muellar | Foreign Affairs | Aug. 2
“Whatever al Qaeda’s threatening rhetoric and occasional nuclear fantasies, its potential as a menace, particularly as an atomic one, has been much inflated.”

8. Rereading: Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood
By Rupert Thomson | The Guardian | Aug. 5
“Truman Capote’s forensic account of real-life murder in Kansas remains as unsettling as ever. It almost killed the author and he never wrote anything to compete thereafter.”

9. The Consultant in an Open Relationship Who Has Sex Nearly Twice a Day
Daily Intel :: New York Magazine | July 18
“Once a week, Daily Intel takes a peek behind doors left slightly ajar. This week, the Consultant in an Open Relationship Who Has Sex Nearly Twice a Day: male, consultant, Williamsburg, 40-something, heteroflexible, in a nonmonogamous relationship.”

10. Montserrat volcano
Witness :: BBC News | June 24
“Fourteen years ago the Soufriere Hills volcano erupted on the Caribbean island of Montserrat. Much of the south of the island was covered with ash and 19 people died.”

TUNES

Tonight I’m spending some time with the blues, specifically with the Texas Blues Café. Check out the line-up and then listen here.

1. Wes Jeans — Don’t Be Hip
2. Tommy Castro — This Soul Is Mine
3. Rollin Phattys — Black Bear River
4. The Bois D’ Arcs — The Day
5. Van Wilks — Steletto Blues
6. Clay McClinton — One Of Those Guys
7. Los Lonely Boys — Sisco Kid
8. Buck 69 — Sweet Spot
9. Tishamingo — Whisky State Of Mind
10. Rob Darien — Rebel Ass
11. Paul Thorn — Ain’t Gonna Beg
12. Sean Castello — Same Old Game
13. The Midnight Flyers — Down Low
14. Creed Williams — Finally Down

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

Obama turns 50 … Sex diaries … Underwater Roman ruins … The beauty of math … The science of doomed diets.

Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.

1. Seeing Catch-22 Twice
By Ron Rosenbaum | Slate.com | Aug. 2
“The awful truth people miss about Heller’s great novel.”

2. Starved Brain Cells May Cause Diets to Fail
By Jennifer Welsh | LiveScience | Aug. 2
“When a dieter starves themselves of calories, they starve their brain cells as well. New research finds that these hungry brain cells then release ‘feed me’ signals, which drive hunger, slow metabolism and may cause diets to fail.”

3. Why Math Works
By Mario Livio | Scientific American | Aug. 2
“Is math invented or discovered? A leading astrophysicist suggests that the answer to the millennia-old question is both”

4. Snorkeling for Roman Ruins
By Barbara A. Noe | IntelligentTravel :: National Geographic | Aug. 2
“In Italy, Roman ruins sprinkle the landscape like Parmesan cheese on pasta. In a twist of the typical, terrestrial way to see them, I recently donned a snorkel mask and fins on the Bay of Naples.”

5. Metropolitan Museum Returns Antiquities Found in King Tut’s Tomb to Egypt
By Marlon Bishop | WNYC | Aug. 2
“Last November, the Met agreed to give back the artifacts after an internal museum investigation determined it had no right to the antiquities — mostly non-museum quality pieces, ranging from small fragments to a tiny bronze dog — in the first place.”

6. Q&A: Adding International Keyboards to the iPad
By J.D. Biersdorfer | Gadgetwise :: The New York Times | Aug. 2
“Is it possible to switch the iPad’s keyboard layout to French like you can do on a Mac?”

7. The top 1%
Fault Lines :: Al Jazeera | Aug. 2
“With 1% of Americans controlling 40% of the country’s wealth, we examine the gap between the rich and the rest.”

8. The Valentine’s Day Sex Diaries
Daily Intel :: New York Magazine | Feb. 15
“The 24-Year-Old Female Editorial Assistant on the Upper East Side. The 32-Year-Old Male Designer Up in the Boston Area. The 27-Year-Old Mom in the Bronx. The 27-Year Old Female Grad Student in Park Slope. The 21-Year-Old Female Fashion Student in Wicker Park, Chicago.”

9. Turning 50, President Obama becomes a Washington tweener
By Manuel Roig-Franzia | The Washington Post | Aug. 2
“Reaching the pinnacle of American power so early means Obama will have to figure out what to do with himself for a big chunk of his 50s, whether in 2013, when he could become a 51-year-old one-termer, or in 2017, when he could leave office as a 55-year-old two-termer.”

10. Australian evacuee
Witness :: BBC News | June 20
“During World War II, many British children were sent away from the cities to escape German bombs. Most went to the countryside but some went as far away as Australia.”

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

What crying accomplishes … The debt ceiling negotiations … The new Turkey … The ‘stayover’ relationship … The Santorini explosion.

Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.

1. There never was a surplus
Democracy in America :: The Economist | July 27
“[T]he White House published a chart that explains how we got from the Clinton administration projection that the government would pay off its entire debt and then build up $2.3 trillion in savings by 2011, to the $10.4 trillion in debt we actually wound up with.”

2. The Volcanic Explosion at Santorini and the Destruction of Minoan Crete
By Mike Anderson | Ancient History Blog | May 13
“The fall of Minoan Crete, and for that matter Mycenae, are a mystery. There is evidence of fire at both locations as if they were attacked and burned. Was this the so called Dorian invasion or something else?”

3. The Reading List: August ’11
By Jason Kehe | Los Angeles Magazine | July 19
“Every month LAmag.com compiles titles of local interest that are hitting the bookshelves. Here, arranged by genre, are some highlights.”

4. The ‘stayover’ relationship is a new dating trend
By Jeff Mills | Nerve.com | Aug. 1
“This entails couples spending three or more nights together each week, while opting to spend the remaining nights in their own homes.”

5. Ultimate logic: To infinity and beyond
Richard Elwes | New Scientist | Aug. 1
“The mysteries of infinity could lead us to a fantastic structure above and beyond mathematics as we know it.”

6. The end of an era in Turkish politics
By Behlul Ozkan | Al Jazeera | Aug. 1
“Recent resignations by Turkish military generals may mark a change in the military’s historic role in politics.”

7. Triumphant Turkey?
By Stephen Kinzer | The New York Review of Books | August 2011
“Politically Turkey has changed more in the last ten years than it did in the previous eighty.”

8. Study: Crying Won’t Make You Feel Better
By Meredith Melnick | Healthland :: Time | Aug. 1
“[The study’s lead author] suspects that crying isn’t the physically cleansing act that many have assumed it is, and instead suggests that those who felt better after a waterworks session may not have benefited from the actual tears so much as the social support and showings of affection they elicited.”

9. Nuts and bolts
Free Exchange :: The Economist | Aug. 1
“If it really took this long for the leaders to get serious, then it’s hard not to conclude that the preceding months of partisan rhetoric, competing proposals and brinkmanship were an elaborate kabuki to appease the parties’ respective bases …”

10. Operation Barbarossa
Witness :: BBC News | June 22
“A frontline Soviet officer tells of what he saw the night that Hitler ordered Operation Barbarossa – Germany’s invasion of the USSR.”

Happy Birthday to me, sort of

There’s still so much left to do, so much still to explore. Thanks for joining the party. I’m just getting warmed up.

“I resisted creating a personal, standalone blog like this for a long time.”

That’s how I began this blog, one year ago today. I’m so happy the resistance crumbled, the hesitation eased, and the words flowed.

I’ve used dozens of posts to write about the Civil War and mojitos, Yuri Gagarin and Eva Longoria, Michelangelo and Theodore Roosevelt.

I’ve written about Thomas Jefferson’s ice cream. “Mad Men” and earthquakes. Papa Hemingway and Papa Ortiz. Writing and writers. I’ve recommended great reads and remembered great places.

There’s still so much left to do, so much still to explore.

Thanks for joining the party. I’m just getting warmed up.

F.

TUNES

My soundtrack for today included:
1. MISS YOU The Rolling Stones
2. COLOMBIA Jan Hammer
3. CRY Godley & Creme
4. TONIGHT, TONIGHT, TONIGHT Genesis
5. RICO’S BLUES Jan Hammer
6. CARRY ME Chris DeBurgh
7. FEELS LIKE THE FIRST TIME Foreigner
8. CROCKETT’S THEME Jan Hammer
9. NOTORIOUS Duran Duran
10. ALL SHE WANTS TO DO IS DANCE Don Henley

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

The fate of the space station … Mission to Jupiter … A beach in Paris … Guide to a great clambake … A world with 7 billion people.

Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.

1. Space station will eventually end up in Pacific to avoid becoming space junk
Associated Press | July 27
“A Russian space official said … that once the mammoth International Space Station is no longer needed it will be sent into the Pacific Ocean.”

2. Juno’s Jupiter mission may yield clues to Earth’s origins
By Scott Gold | The Los Angeles Times | July 28
“Starting Aug. 5, NASA will enter the launch period for the spacecraft Juno, which will begin an unprecedented exploration of Jupiter’s secrets. ‘We are after the recipe for planet-making,’ says a scientist.”

3. Research Exercise: Did Grant Say This?
By Brooks D. Simpson | Crossroads | July 19
“Over the last week or so a quote often attributed to Ulysses S. Grant has made the rounds again. … My own take on this is that the quote rings false. However, I am curious as to its origins, and I think the matter deserves further research. And what does that research show us?”

4. A Beach Sweeps Into Paris
PlanetPic :: GlobalPost | July 28
“The Seine River — dotted by the famous Notre Dame Cathedral, the Tuileries Gardens and the Eiffel Tower — is transformed into a beachside resort enjoyed by Parisians and tourists alike.”

5. Let’s Have a Real Nice Clambake
By Mark Bittman | The New York Times Magazine | July 28
“Few meals are more beautiful than a well-executed clambake. And because demanding culinary tasks are in vogue, at least for a certain hard-working segment of the sustainable-food set, it seems like the right moment for a clambake revival.”

6. Qassem Suleimani: the Iranian general ‘secretly running’ Iraq
By Martin Chulov | The Guardian | July 28
“[T]the elusive Iranian with so much Iraqi influence that Baghdadis believe he is controlling the country”

7. Presidential historian indicted on federal charges
Associated Press | July 28
“Federal prosecutors said Thursday the two are also accused of stealing and selling documents from the Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum in New York. They also stole Franklin’s letter to John Paul Jones from the New York Historical Society, prosecutors said.”

8. Army Hits Pause on ‘Wearable Computer’ Program
By Spencer Ackerman | Danger room :: Wired.com | July 28
“Debi Dawson, a spokeswoman for the Army office overseeing the Nett Warrior program, confirms that the Army has put the multi-million effort on pause.”

9. World population soon to hit 7 billion after boom in developing world
Associated Press | July 28
“By 2050, the population will reach 9.3 billion, and 97 percent of the growth will be in less-developed regions. …”

10. Fermat’s Last Theorem
Witness :: BBC News | June 23
“Solving the problem had intrigued mathematicians for centuries. In June 1993 a British academic, Andrew Wiles, thought he’d cracked it. But then someone pointed out a flaw in his calculations.”

TUNES

Tonight I’m spending some time with the blues, specifically with the Texas Blues Café. Check out the line-up and then listen here.

1. The Homemade Jamz Blues Band — Loco Blues
2. Mark Searcy — Truth
3. Joe Bonamassa — Man Of Many Words
4. Gurf Morlix — Drums From New Orleans
5. Nate Rodriguez & The Unlikely Criminals — Better Left Unsaid
6. Luther Allison — Low Down & Dirty
7. Scott Miller & The Commonwealth — 8 Miles A Gallon
8. Gene Reynolds — Bobby’d Be A Star
9. Rocky Benton — Have Mercy
10. Zack Walther & The Cronkites — Money Tree
11. Henry’s Swank Club — Changin All The Time
12. Giles — Nutbush City Limits
13. Chris Juergensen — Sweet Melissa
14. The Lost Immigrants — Dixie Queen

Recommended reading / viewing / listening

What was Machu Picchu for? … Intricate revenge … Haiti’s new president … Al-Qaeda on the brink of collapse? … Alexander McQueen’s gift to his dogs.

Most of these great items come from my Twitter feed or Facebook news feed. Follow me on Twitter and on Facebook for more fascinating videos, articles, essays and criticism. Read past recommendations from this series here.

1. A Revenge Plot So Intricate, the Prosecutors Were Pawns
By Dan Bilefsky | The New York Times | July 25
“Soon after Seemona Sumasar started dating Jerry Ramrattan, she had an inkling that something might be wrong.”

2. Haiti’s new president lacks power base, disappoints voters
Associated Press | July 26
“Haitian President Michel Martelly has styled himself as a man of the people, a showy former pop star who waded easily into adoring crowds. So the reception he received on his latest trip to his country’s north was a surprise: Protesters pelted his entourage with soft drink bottles and rocks.”

3. The ’27 Club’ — curse or myth?
By Drew Grant | Salon.com | July 26
“Is Amy Winehouse the latest victim of the same force that killed Hendrix and Cobain? Experts weigh in.”

4. U.S. officials believe al-Qaeda on brink of collapse
By Greg Miller | The Washington Post | July 26
“U.S. counterterrorism officials are increasingly convinced that the killing of Osama bin Laden and the toll of seven years of CIA drone strikes have pushed al-Qaeda to the brink of collapse.”

5. What Was Machu Picchu For? Top Five Theories Explained
By Ker Than | National Geographic | July 21
“Popular ideas include a royal retreat and sacred memorial.”

6. The Abortion Trap
By Mara Hvistendahl | Argument :: Foreign Policy | July 26
“How America’s obsession with abortion hurts families everywhere.”

7. Castro Offers a Wave at Cuban Fete, but, Again, No Speech
By Damien Cave | The New York Times | July 26
“For the second year in a row, Raúl Castro left the rhetoric to his vice president.”

8. Alexander McQueen leaves $82,000 apiece to dogs
Weird Wide Web :: GlobalPost | July 27
“Alexander McQueen, the fashion designer who committed suicide last year at the age of 40, willed $82,000 to each of his three English bull terriers, Juice, Minter, and Callum.”

9. 14 Not-So-Fun Facts About Mosquitoes
Surprising Science :: Smithsonian.com | July 27
“1 ) There are around 3,500 species of mosquitoes, but only a couple hundred feast on human blood.”

10. Elian Gonzalez
Witness :: BBC News | June 28
“The little boy caught in the middle of a tug-of-war between Miami and Havana. When armed US agents stormed his relatives’ home in Miami a photographer, Alan Diaz, captured the fear on his face.”

Behind The Wall

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Rebecca Aguilar

#CallingAllJournalists Initiative | Reporter | Media Watchdog | Mentor | Latinas in Journalism

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Words, images & collages tossed from a window.

Postcards from Barton Springs

Gayle Brennan Spencer - sending random thoughts to and from South Austin

The Flask Half Full

Irreverent travelogues, good drinks, and the cultural stories they tell.

Government Book Talk

Talking about some of the best publications from the Federal Government, past and present.

Fighting Irish Wire

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bringing joy to family meals

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fun, delicious food for everyone

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North River Notes

Observations on the Hudson River as it passes through New York City. The section of the Hudson which passes through New York is historically known as the North River, called this by the Dutch to distinguish it from the Delaware River, which they knew as the South River. This stretch of the Hudson is still often referred to as the North River by local mariners today. All photos copyright Daniel Katzive unless otherwise attributed. For more frequent updates, please follow northriverblog on Facebook or Instagram.