Filed under: Video
Jim Dale has had as distinguished a career as a thespian could hope for. In addition to a 1980 Tony win, he's won two Grammys for his voice work on the audiobooks of the Harry Potter series. Dale is also the holder of two Guinness World Records: one for having created and recorded 147 different character voices for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and one for occupying the first six places in the Top Ten Audio Books of America and Canada in 2005. Queen Elizabeth recently awarded him the status of membership in the british empire, and now he's the narrator on ABC's Emmy-nominated series, Pushing Daisies.
He also did the voicework for a new book by author Tom Flynn on 9/11. At the recording session for that project, he treated us to a poem.
Enjoy!
Win Rosenfeld
4:32 PM ET | 03-31-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post
Filed under: Tomorrow's BPP
Tuesday's Rundown is here:
Elsa Butler
3:37 PM ET | 03-31-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post
Ever wonder who the voice is on the other end of that audiobook that kept you company during that long cross country drive? Or what it takes to put one of those things together? Do they do it in one take or do the narrators mess up a lot? Do they talk with their hands when they're recording these books? Do they ever get dry mouth? And who are these people anyway? BPP Producer Win Rosenfeld sought answers to these questions by going to witness the process. Recently we paid a visit to a Manhattan audio studio where famed audio book narrator Jim Dale (voice behind all the Harry Potter books) was recording a new book called The Bikeman by Tom Flynn. It's the story of how Flynn survived the Trade Tower attacks on 9/11 and it's told in the form of an epic poem. It was interesting to watch the process -- you can check it out for yourselves here!
Rachel Martin
1:51 PM ET | 03-31-2008 | permalink | comments (8) | e-mail post
Filed under: The Best Song In The World Today
Steve Goodman died of leukemia at age 36. But before he passed away he penned The Best Song in the World Today, "A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request." Today is the real opening day of the baseball season, and this opening day in particular people are talking a lot about my team, the Chicago Cubs.
That's because this season marks one hundred years since the Cubs last won the World Series. Now there are a lot of ways to illustrate just how long ago that was, but here's my favorite: The last time the Cubs won the World Series was nine years before the Bolshevik Revolution. Communism rose and fell, and the Cubs didn't win a World Series.
Continue reading "The Best Song in the World Today" »
Dan Pashman
8:38 AM ET | 03-31-2008 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post
Filed under: Links From the Show
Your stuff -- and where you keep it -- is a key to good health, according to Prevention magazine. For example, toothbrushes stored on the sink are prone to "aerosolized toilet funk," so you're better off stashing yours in a medicine cabinet.
The 16 worst places to stash your stuff / Cops bust high school root beer kegger / Fun With Videos: The New Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG Commercial / Police arrest anti-war protestor, 80, at mall / Camels line up for Gulf beauty contest
Laura Silver
8:03 AM ET | 03-31-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post
Filed under: Sports
Brooklyn 1, Dignity 0.
In November, I ran the New York Marathon in 2:42. That was good enough to get me into Boston, and I signed up quick. Then, life and a new job here got in the way. I've hardly run since moving to New York in December, and sometime in January I gave up on Boston.
But then, last week, friend of the BPP Amby Burfoot reminded me that this year's Boston is the 40th anniversary of the year he won the race, and he invited me to join his pack. The chance is too good to miss, even if I won't be able to walk the next day. Amby's planning a leisurely pace, so I think I can make it, but I'm not sure.
So, with just over three weeks till the race, I started training on Saturday. I went out for my longest run of the year, a twelve-miler through Brooklyn. Lungs felt okay, but apparently I forgot how to run. I told girlfriend Nora I fell off a cliff on a trail but really I tripped over my own feet on a Brooklyn sidewalk. Evidence above.
Is this a sign I maybe shouldn't be doing this? How dumb is training for a marathon in three weeks? I'll keep you posted.
Ian Chillag
7:57 AM ET | 03-31-2008 | permalink | comments (11) | e-mail post
According to the Vatican, Islam has surpassed Roman Catholicism as the world's largest religion.
Monsignor Vittorio Formenti, who compiles the Vatican's yearbook, told the Vatican newspaper that Catholics account for 17.4 percent of the world population, with Muslims at 19.2 percent.
"For the first time in history, we are no longer at the top: Muslims have overtaken us," he said.
South Korean president gives salary to poor / Upstate sock fight! / Anti-emo riots in Mexico
7:14 AM ET | 03-31-2008 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post
Filed under: Stuff We Love
Fiona King and Ed Gillespie with a guide, on horseback in Terelj, Mongolia.
Ed Gillespie told us about his low-carbon, slow travel tour de monde. I'm relieved to know I'm not the only one who feels like flying can be, well...overindulgent and wasteful.
A few years ago, I was hopping a plane every chance I got: Weekends in Colorado, Ireland and a quick jaunt to northern Vermont. Then I took a long flight and stayed put: Three months in rural Senegal. Not a lot of quick transportation options there...I got around in shared taxis (seating room tight; windows optional), horse-drawn carts and plain-old walking, like the locals.
I looked like a tourist, but I didn't feel like one...until I headed to the airport to come home.
Here's what Ed Gillespie had to say in an interview with Rachel Martin.
How do you like to hit the road -- fast, slow, somewhere in between?
2:25 PM ET | 03-28-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post
Monday's Rundown is here:
Will Hoffman
2:02 PM ET | 03-28-2008 | permalink | comments (11) | e-mail post
Filed under: Media
Dear BPP Faithful,
We had a former managing editor of the New York Post on our show today to talk about some of the greatest Post covers of all time, including the legendary "Headless Body in Topless Bar."
That got us thinking: what if we gave today's BPP stories the ol' tabloid treatment? What clever headlines could we come up with? So I challenge you to take today's show and give it a little tabloid flair.
Here's the lineup from today's show:
The nation's airplanes are just about ready for liftoff again. Delta and American Airlines expect to be back in business today after grounding hundreds of flights this week for voluntary inspections. Late last night Delta and American Airlines apologized to customers who were inconvenienced.
In our series, "Meet the Firsts" -- we have the story of an 18-year-old high school senior Anmaar Habib. In 2002, she was the first female skier to represent Pakistan in any international ski event and she now has her sights set on an even bigger goal: to represent at the 2010 winter Olympic Games.
NPR's Alison Aubrey reports on why kids curse.
On his way back to Istanbul, NPR correspondent Ivan Watson dropped by the BPP to offer a reporters notebook and let us turn the tables on him.
All three presidential candidates gave major speeches this week on the economy. And while they all touched on similar themes, they drew pretty different conclusions. NPR's Economics Correspondent Adam Davidson helps us make heads or tails of it all.
The new movie "Stop Loss" dramatizes the controversial military policy of the same name. We'll learn about the policy itself from Ann Scott Tyson, military reporter for the Washington Post.
Now you supply the headlines in the comments!
Tricia McKinney
12:58 PM ET | 03-28-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post
Filed under: Stuff We Don't Love
A guest fell out at the last minute today, so we had to employ an "Emergency Krulwich."
The head coach of the Rutgers women's basketball team, C. Vivian Stringer, was supposed to be on to talk about her new book, "Standing Tall: A Memoir of Tragedy and Triumph." Well, she didn't quite make it to the phone -- she may have been busy, you know, coaching her team in the NCAA tournament.
Whatever her excuse for not being able to talk with us, we had it covered.
Click here to listen to how it all went down this morning.
Matt Martinez
12:23 PM ET | 03-28-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post
We cannot stop watching this.
12:19 PM ET | 03-28-2008 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post
Filed under: Inside The BPP
BPP HQ is getting a window washing today.
8:31 AM ET | 03-28-2008 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post
Scientist Ivan de Araujo and his colleagues recently published a study that shows the brain can sense the calories in food, independent of how things taste. This "sixth sense" machinery could ultimately help researchers understand what causes obesity.
Questions raised by the discovery of the brain's calorie-sensing system "are extremely important to understanding the pathogenesis and sociology of human obesity," wrote Zane Andrews and Tamas Horvath in a preview of the Araujo's study.
It's the BPP's Ramble.
Brain's 'sixth sense' for calories/ Trump's $200,000 a month penthouse/ Pharmacy chain markets DNA paternity tests / Barista donates kidney to save customer's life
6:36 AM ET | 03-28-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
A pair of hoax ads on Craigslist cost Robert Salisbury much of what he owned. The ads appeared Saturday afternoon, saying that Salisbury, the owner of a Jacksonville home, had to leave the area suddenly and that his belongings, which included a horse, were free for the taking, said Jackson County sheriff's Detective Sgt. Colin Fagan.
Driving home, Salisbury stopped a truck that was packed with his work ladders, lawn mower and weed eater. "I informed them I was the owner, but they refused to give the stuff back," Salisbury said. "They showed me the Craigslist printout and told me they had the right to do what they did."
Detectives have contacted Craigslist's legal team in hopes to figure out who posted the ad.
It's the BPP's Most.
Man scammed by Craigslist ad/ A scientific look at the runner's high/ Legs manual wins odd title prize / High technology Speedo
6:27 AM ET | 03-28-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post
Friday's Rundown is here:
1:53 PM ET | 03-27-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post
Filed under: What I Made for Dinner
It was one of those bad nights when you look in the fridge and there isn't a whole lot of edible going on. So I went the stir-fry route. Here's what I used:
2 onions, peeled and cut into big chunks 2 cloves of garlic A handful or two of baby carrots cut lengthwise Some fresh green beans with a little snap still left in them A bag of faux chicken bits (a brand called Quorn -- it's actually made of a kind of fungus! Well, they say "mycoprotein" but you know what that means -- Yummy!) A tomato cut into big chunks A mango, peeled (badly) and cut into big chunks A bottle of Thai peanut marinade/stir-fry sauce Basmati rice
Here's what I didn't use: mushrooms (too slimy) peppers (kind of liquid) broccoli (in an out-of-date bag and I'm scared since that whole bagged-salad business went down) other broccoli (was that fuzz growing out of the top?)
Here's how I did it: Threw the rice in a rice cooker Threw everything else in a frying pan (in order as listed above) with some wok oil Turned on the burner
Family reaction: mixed. Husband liked it very much. Daughter ate the rice and some of the "chicken" and carrots. Honestly, I was "meh" about it. I didn't like the peanut sauce. I also would have liked some mushrooms.
1:11 PM ET | 03-27-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post
Bob Powers, the man behind the story-a-day Girls Are Pretty blog, stopped by to read a couple stories on our show today. Sadly we ran out of time and had to cut him off before he could finish his second piece. He was kind enough to stick around and record it for us in full. Enjoy.
11:09 AM ET | 03-27-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post
Penn Holderness discusses his unique highlight reels
When an NCAA basketball tournament game ends, a lot of people like to watch the highlights. Not breaking any news there. And in a place like North Carolina, home to perennial powerhouses Duke and UNC, the desire for highlights is even stronger.
But arcane NCAA rules prohibit stations from showing highlights of some completed games if certain other games are still in progress. Recently that rule presented an interesting dilemma for Penn Holderness, sports director at NBC 17 in Raleigh, whose viewers want their highlights. So Penn did what any clever sportscaster does: He recreated the game with his daughter's dolls. Check it out:
What stuffed animals and/or dolls would you pick to represent various public figures?
8:56 AM ET | 03-27-2008 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post
Researchers in Melbourne, Australia, have disproven the stereotype that people who wear glasses are more nerdy or geeky than those who do not.
In fact, the opposite was true, said Professor Paul Baird from the University of Melbourne's Center for Eye Research Australia.
"We have literally busted the myth that people who wear glasses are introverted or have particular personality characteristics," he says.
Glasses aren't geeky/ How to eat well with rising food prices/ Group starts unprecedented bid to recall New Jersey governor Corzine/ Scientists training fish to catch themselves
6:30 AM ET | 03-27-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
For over a century, Thomas Edison has been considered the father of recorded sound. But in a new discovery, researchers say they have found a recording of the human voice, made by a little-known Frenchman named douard-Lon Scott de Martinville, that predates Edison's invention of the phonograph by almost twenty years.
"This is a historic find, the earliest known recording of sound," says Samuel Brylawski, the former head of the recorded-sound division of the Library of Congress.
Tune recorded before Edison/ Egg McMuffin inventor dies at 89 / Lovesick swan to be reunited with her paddleboat/ U.S. Abusing Law to Get Species Off Protected List?/ Notorious bear ends up in museum
6:25 AM ET | 03-27-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post
Filed under: Slideshow
Click to watch. Warning: These images contain extremely strong language.
Steve Featherstone was headed to Afghanistan to do a story on a new army unit when he found himself stranded at an airbase in Kuwait for a week. For lack of anything better to do, he started reading the graffiti on the latrine walls.
In the graffiti, soldiers expressed their growing fatigue and anger-mostly with each other. When they weren't scribbling Chuck Norris jokes or questioning the fighting ability of other units, they were slamming soldiers who dared give voice to their dissatisfaction.
Featherstone began photographing the graffiti when he realized it would soon be erased by the cleaning crews who regularly swabbed the walls. He visited every latrine trailer on base and took more photographs at his next stop Bagram Airfied in Kabul, Afghanistan.
We spoke to Featherstone on the show today, and you can read an essay he wrote to accompany his photographs in The Walrus.
Caitlin Kenney
5:43 PM ET | 03-26-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post
Thursday's Rundown is here:
4:05 PM ET | 03-26-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
Filed under: Music
Today on "The Most" searched Google terms was "Chris Cornell Billie Jean". An American Idol contestant did a fine job recreating Cornell's cover of the Michael Jackson classic. If you are curious, below is the former Soundgarden/Audioslave frontman's version. And for fans like me -- hold on -- a Cornell solo album is due in the spring.
Alison Stewart
1:03 PM ET | 03-26-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post
Every once in a while someone here at the BPP latches on to a song and just can't let go.
It could be the melody, the lyrics. It could be the memories the song evokes. It could be old or new. It could sound bad but mean something good. It could be almost anything, but one thing that it surely is: The Best Song in the World Today.
My best song today is "Fascination" by Alphabeat. Before you click through to a link for the song, a little back story. I first heard this song on BBC's Radio 1 -- I listen to it a lot, I record the morning show -- or breakfast show as they say -- and listen to it on the iPod after work. And I listen in the evening on Sirius. I did a little digging and found out a bit about Alphabeat: They're Danish, they speak great English, their song "Fascination" was a huge hit in Denmark last summer and their record was just released in the UK.
Radio 1 started playing this song a couple of weeks ago. When I first heard it I was immediately transported to my childhood home. Specifically I get that after school feeling -- coming home, having a snack, watching MTV -- or whatever cartoon was on. And I couldn't figure out why exactly it was taking me to this place until I was listening to the Radio 1 morning show and they started to talk about how the beginning of the song sounded an awful lot like this one:
Yup, the theme song to Duck Tales. And I was, like, "Huh, it kind of does sound like that."
And then they pointed out that it sounded even more like the beginning of "Footloose":
And I flipped out when they played it, because it all clicked at that moment. The opening beat of "Fascination" is so reminiscent of these two songs -- songs that were ubiquitous in my elementary and junior high school days. That's why whenever I hear it I'm back in Superior, after school, three o'clock, on the couch in front of the TV with a bag of chips or cookies, or whatever junk I could find.
I'm still a bit amazed that a song so new can take me to such an old place. It was such a visceral reaction the first time -- and the great thing is that still happens every time I hear it, which is why it is my Best Song In the World Today.
After the jump -- hear "Fascination," by Alphabeat.
Continue reading "Best Song in the World Today: Fascination" »
12:25 PM ET | 03-26-2008 | permalink | comments (20) | e-mail post
Filed under: Sound Off
Click to enlarge.
We got in on the conversation about the current cover of Vogue today.
Some people say it's a strikingly composed photo of hard bodied beauties LeBron James and Giselle Bunchen, others a new take on King Kong and Fay Wray.
What do you think -- does the image fortify racial sterotypes?
9:55 AM ET | 03-26-2008 | permalink | comments (21) | e-mail post
Filed under: City Living, Slideshow
Click to watch.
The latest cool thing to bring back from Cuba (if you can get there) isn't a cigar but a painting.
On today's show, Ben Rodriguez-Cubenas, a collector and co-founder of the Cuban Artists Fund, talks about the hot market for art from the island nation.
Meanwhile, the Hunterdon Museum of Art in Clinton, N.J., shares the images in the slideshow above. Its exhibit, "Cuba: Artists Experience Their Country," stays up through March 30.
Laura Conaway
9:50 AM ET | 03-26-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post
They'll be setting some more places at Brad Pitt's family table. Genealogists say the actor is distantly related to Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and Vice President Dick Cheney -- and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton is distantly related to Angelina Jolie.
Barack Obama's related to Brad Pitt, Hillary Clinton to Angelina Jolie/ Dick Cheney's related to Brad Pitt/ Wolverine thriving near Tahoe/ Finn held over Easter Island ear/ Honduran president defends melons by eating one/ Chris Cornell does "Billie Jean" on American Idol
8:12 AM ET | 03-26-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post
Years before she married that Sarkozy guy, Carla Bruni was in great demand as a model in France. Sometimes she showed off clothes. And at least once she showed off without clothes. An image from an au naturale shoot is set for auction next month in New York City, for an estimated price of $3,000.
Paul Prudhomme grazed by bullet/ Miss Bimbo website for girls/ Cancer study funded by tobacco interests/ Auctioning a nude picture of France's first lady
8:01 AM ET | 03-26-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post
Filed under: Election 2008
No sooner did I ask the question of "What's Hillary Clinton going to offer?" than I got the e-mail answer. A chance to meet Elton John!
Here's the snippet from the e-mail, purportedly from the candidate herself:
I'm really looking forward to the solo concert my friend Elton John is throwing in New York to help our campaign -- and I would very much like the chance to meet you there. We're sending two supporters, along with their guests, to New York with VIP tickets for this very special, one-night-only concert on April 9, and it could be you. We will have a chance to talk just you and I -- and you will get to meet Elton John at the party we're throwing afterwards. It's going to be a great night.
We're sending two supporters, along with their guests, to New York with VIP tickets for this very special, one-night-only concert on April 9, and it could be you. We will have a chance to talk just you and I -- and you will get to meet Elton John at the party we're throwing afterwards. It's going to be a great night.
OK, Senator Clinton, that's "just you and ME" but I won't hold it against you.
Hmmm, what are Mike Gravel and Ron Paul offering?
2:02 PM ET | 03-25-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
Wednesday's Rundown is here:
2:01 PM ET | 03-25-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post
So, yesterday I blogged about getting an e-mail offering a chance to have dinner with Barack Obama if I donate as little as $5 by March 31st. Today it's John McCain offering some face time.
I got an email purportedly from Senator McCain himself, saying:
My campaign has come up with an opportunity for a supporter to join me on the Straight Talk Express for a day of conversation and campaigning. As a token of my appreciation for your financial support, you will be entered to win this seat aboard the Straight Talk Express if you make a contribution before midnight on March 31st. I hope you'll consider joining me by making a donation today. If you can give $50 or more, not only will you be entered to win a ride on the Straight Talk Express, but you'll receive a commemorative Straight Talk Express ticket.
So there you go. What is the Hillary Clinton campaign going to offer?
1:34 PM ET | 03-25-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post
If none of the sounds in today's new music segment appealed to you and you just want to go old school....all the way back to 2007, then just take a listen to this mash-up of the top 25 songs of the year we just left behind. Even if you didn't like one of these tunes individually, you have to admire the skill of DJ Earworm.
10:02 AM ET | 03-25-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post
Yes, we have to say the same things to get Ian Chillag to do his work. What a good boy!
9:29 AM ET | 03-25-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post
Randy Bothwell, a police detective in Chester, Pa., considered several ways to rid his yard of bamboo: salt, an exorcism, shooting it with his service revolver.
After one month and two broken shovels , Bothwell rented a Bobcat to excavate the small bamboo forest. He acquired 14 gallons of poison and bought 24 cubic yards of dirt to cover up the resulting hole. Total approximate cost: $1,500.
After all of Bothwell's hard work, bamboo shoots continued to appear. "It gave me ... the final salute." Mr. Bothwell says. "I was like, 'Mother of God.' "
For more on Mr. Bothwell's bamboo battle, check out the BPP's Most.
Bamboo engulfs defenseless yard/ McCartney fans hail 'Mills' song / Tiger's PGA Tour streak ends at Doral/ When the bully sits in the next cubicle
8:29 AM ET | 03-25-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
Three years ago, Lee Spievack sliced off the tip of his finger in the propeller of a hobby shop airplane.
What happened next, CBS correspondent Wyatt Andrews reports, launched him into the future of medicine. Spievack's brother, Alan, a medical research scientist, sent him a special powder and told him to sprinkle it on the wound.
"I powdered it on until it was covered," Spievack recalled. To his astonishment, his finger grew back.
Re-growing organs/ Two-way GPS/ World's tallest man gets bike
8:18 AM ET | 03-25-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post
Went looking for the goods on the McCain Girls and found this in the Washington Post. The paper's campaign blog says the McCain Girls music video, "It's Raining McCain," may come from the same pranksters who put out "Obama-sistible." As you can see from the clip above, "Obama-sistible" has all the charm of "We Built This City," with maybe half the calories.
7:39 AM ET | 03-25-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post
Filed under: City Living
NPR editor person and general pal Beth Novey sends this picture of a typo in Washington, D.C. I'm calling it "Unchecked Baggage."
More: Man travels country to fixe typo's.
7:24 AM ET | 03-25-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post
Steve Ross and Jason Geyer had these great ideas for Star Wars merchandise. Click the picture for a catalog of what didn't make the cut. (Big thanks to Ian Chillag for putting this puppy together.)
Challenge: In the comments, pitch your own idea for Star Wars merch.
7:12 AM ET | 03-25-2008 | permalink | comments (24) | e-mail post
3:39 PM ET | 03-24-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post
Filed under: Book Club
Hisham Matar's In the Country of Men
If you haven't yet read the BPP Book Club selection for March, Hisham Matar's In the Country of Men, it's time to get cracking.
We're having the online meeting on Tuesday, April 1, with Hisham Matar himself soon to follow on the show.
Meanwhile, Dave Hollis of of Hamilton, N.Y.'s Radio Free Hamilton, checks in to say that he read the book while lying in a fever state. And he liked it a lot.
Catching a bug for a couple of days might or might not work for you, as a strategy. Me, I'm hoping to read it on the plane to Nevada later this week.
Hey, we're official! The BPP Book Club now has its own e-mail address.
3:35 PM ET | 03-24-2008 | permalink | comments (9) | e-mail post
Filed under: News, Slideshow
Click to watch
It's been 19 years since the Exxon tanker Valdez coated Alaska's Prince William Sound with 11-million gallons of oil. Today on our show, we revisited a bigger plume of oil closer to home: New York City's Newtown Creek.
Basil Seggos, chief investigator for the environmental advocacy group Riverkeeper, told us how 17-million gallons of oil got there and what's being done to get rid of it.
Recently, I took a bike ride along the creek -- the slideshow above is what I saw.
1:42 PM ET | 03-24-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post
I just got an e-mail from Obama campaign manager David Plouffe*. The tantalizing subject line: "Dinner with Barack?"
So, hey, I'm not above clicking on an e-mail like that. Turns out the Obama campaign is soliciting donations of $5 or more, and they say that if you donate by March 31st, "you could share your story and your ideas with Barack in person."
So I of course start wondering--how many people will he take to dinner? How does the campaign pick? Is it a lottery? They are very clear about how to give them money, but much less clear about the diner-selection criteria. They do provide a box in which you can tell them your story and ask Obama some questions. I'm guessing it's an essay contest?
*Full disclosure, I have signed up with all three of the major candidates and get "Dear Friend" type e-mails from them though I have never donated to any of them and I don't endorse any of them.
12:15 PM ET | 03-24-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
Filed under: City Living, Personal/Private
On the way to a sixth birthday party.
Back home in Mississippi, people often ask me what it's like to raise a kid in New York City. That's not really an answerable question, I think, except maybe with one example after another.
The other day our son, Nathaniel, turned six. A few people still hold birthday parties at home, but by this point the kids are getting big enough that 15 of them can't fit all that well into a New York City house.
Instead, we loaded the cake and balloons and party favors (a flower in a pot for each kid) into the wagon that we use instead of a car. Nathaniel wanted to haul it himself, and he did. He pulled that wagon (most of) the mile to the tumbling studio where he takes a class each week. The weather was wet and windy, and the balloons were uncooperative. But he did it.
11:17 AM ET | 03-24-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post
Way back on Super Tuesday, we did a segment about voters going the extra mile and writing songs for their favorite candidates. Back then, we couldn't find one about McCain. Problem solved:
9:42 AM ET | 03-24-2008 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post
Guys are clueless. That's the news from Indiana University's Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences.
"Young men just find it difficult to tell the difference between women who are being friendly and women who are interested in something more," says one researcher.
Um, y'all? It's the BPP's Ramble.
Driver blames speeding on bad Oreo dunk/ Saturn moon may be hiding an ocean/ Man proposes over Twitter/ Men are emotionally clueless
9:39 AM ET | 03-24-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post
A bear hunting guide in Alaska fished a bottle of the water and found inside it an old message sent by a fourth grader 1,700 miles away, back in the 1980s. "It was just kind of a once-in-a-lifetime thing," Emily says.
1986 message in bottle drifts 1,735 miles/ Sarkozy's ex-wife marries in N.Y. Instant replays for computer crashes/ Stressed Singapore hunts for its happiest person
9:25 AM ET | 03-24-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
Because they can: Lord of the Rings: Return of the Peep
What is it about setting Peeps on fire? On today's show, Kate Prouty tells us about new uses for those (opinion: yucky) leftover Easter candies. Like have them joust with toothpicks and then set them on fire for YouTube.
And for people who seriously cannot get enough, nine minutes and 45 seconds of Peep Wars.
8:54 AM ET | 03-24-2008 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post
We've started compiling a list of weekly highlights from the Bryant Park Project. We send it through our Facebook group on Friday afternoon. It's free, easy and features lingering notes of citrus and smoked chocolate.
First, you need a Facebook account (that's the free part, and it's largely painless, too). Then join the BPP group (that's easy). Come on over.
8:09 AM ET | 03-24-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post
You're probably in one of those NCAA tournament office pools, and you've probably already gotten a bunch of picks wrong. But don't feel bad, even the "experts" never get it right. In fact, here at the BPP, we're so confident that expertise has nothing to do with picking an NCAA bracket that we're stacking BPP sports guy and former ESPN hand Bill Wolff up against editor Tricia McKinney's four-year-old daughter Cassie.
After the first day of the tournament, Bill is leading Cassie 13-3. But Cassie is a real gambler. By which we mean a proverbial gambler. For instance, even though a #16 seed has never upset a #1 seed in the history of the tournament, she predicted it would happen FOUR TIMES this year. A kid can dream.
But Cassie does have one secret weapon: Butler University. She picked them to go all the way to the finals, and if it happens, she'll amass enough points to beat the Big Bad Wolff. So, why Butler? Well, here's some sound of Cassie making her picks. This should give you some idea...
3:26 PM ET | 03-21-2008 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post
To kick off the celebration of Purim, BPP's executive producer Sharon Hoffman's kids challenge BPP's Laura Silver and Dan Pashman in a bake-off of biblical proportions.
2:38 PM ET | 03-21-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post
12:22 PM ET | 03-21-2008 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post
(With thanks and a good Good Friday to Andrew Sullivan.)
9:39 AM ET | 03-21-2008 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post
Filed under: Music, Video
Formed in 1992 by Daniel Littleton and Elizabeth Mitchell in Brooklyn, Ida was recognized immediately for its innovative indie-rock-meets-folk flavor. Since then, they have toured the country with Sunny Day Real Estate and Low, among others. But when Littleton and Mitchell had their first child, Storey, a new chapter opened for Ida...they started making music for children, too. Although now Ida has two audiences, they think of their music as one cohesive whole - with no age limit.
Check them out doing "Green Green Rocky Road" on the BPP:
7:54 AM ET | 03-21-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post
The BPP would like to congratulate singer-songwriter and and unofficial BPP musician-laureate Tay Zonday for winning the music category in the annual YouTube Video Awards for his original song, "Chocolate Rain."
Well done Mr. Zonday.
7:19 AM ET | 03-21-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post
Josh Sommer,a Duke University junior , was diagnosed in January 2006 with chordoma, a rare bone cancer with no cure and few possible treatments. Sommer recieved a fellowship grant and has taken the semester off to focus on research with the Chordoma Foundation, which he founded with his mom to help coordinate cancer research efforts.
"I guess the way I look at it is that there will be a time for every disease when one can in essence outrun their disease," Josh writes in a late-night e-mail to a reporter who had been spending time with him.
College student fights his own cancer/ Apple succeeds by breaking the rules Israeli immigrant solves 38-year-old math riddle/ Duke almost bounced by ... Belmont?
6:31 AM ET | 03-21-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
Back in January, a century-old irrigation canal failed and flooded the rural town of Fernley, Nevada. Yesterday, a team of scientific experts concluded burrowing rodents are to blame for the flood.
According to a report for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, muskrats, beavers, gophers and other rodents dug holes as deep as 25 feet into the canal embankment.
"Obviously, rodents are a problem here. That is what the evaluation team felt was the cause," said Jeffrey McCracken, public affairs director of the bureau's Mid-Pacific Region in Sacramento.
Rodents caused Nevada flood/ French court holds ban on gene-altered corn seed/ Shoplifter forgets son/ Tolkien's Hobbit fetches ??60,000 / Buddha statue sold for more than $14.3 million
6:19 AM ET | 03-21-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
2:55 PM ET | 03-20-2008 | permalink | comments (9) | e-mail post
A new book with suggestions for what do with those Peeps you can't eat.
One of my favorite things about this time of year is marshmallow Peeps. They are so squishy and cute and -- best of all -- covered in sugar. I like to leave them out for a day or two so they get slightly stale and hard before I eat them. If you don't like to eat Peeps, Charity Ferreira's new book Peeps! Recipes and Crafts to Make with Your Favorite Marshmallow Treat has a number of other ways you can use them -- as modern chopstick holders, pin cushions, or table levels.
2:01 PM ET | 03-20-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post
Filed under: News
The first time I attempted the BPP newscast, I was so scared I heard my heart beating in my ears. It occurred to me that I might could die from the sheer stress. And then they turned on the mic.
I've been working the newscast again this week. I'm happy to report that my heartbeat has returned to its normal resting condition beneath my ribs. Still wish I could get to all the news we aim to do. Today, these stories just never quite made their way onto the show:
Continue reading "News We Just Could Not Get To" »
10:08 AM ET | 03-20-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post
These days, independent artists can make some serious cash by spilling the beans on their liaisons with the politically powerful.
Well, not BPP musical columnist Jill Sobule.
9:56 AM ET | 03-20-2008 | permalink | comments (17) | e-mail post
Filed under: Personal/Private
Yesterday, I was working on a segment about botnets. Several times in my notes I wrote the phrase "malicious botnets." Except it was late in the day, my brain was broken and I could not, for the life of me, remember how to spell "malicious." I wasn't off by one letter, or two. I tried looking it up. Nothing.
I was so far off that typing a word into Google and getting back "Did you mean: blank" didn't work. People, I was spelling it "militious." As if it meant "of a militia," or something. I did it over and over. I knew it was wrong but I couldn't figure out why. It got me thinking. I judge others silently and harshly for their bad spelling, but I do have a couple words I just can't spell. I never get "weird" right, for instance. Do you have words you can't spell?
9:05 AM ET | 03-20-2008 | permalink | comments (11) | e-mail post
Filed under: Links From the Show, Personal/Private
Since 1985, an animal rights group called FARM has declared the first day of spring the Great American Meatout. They want you to give up meat today...and they're hoping once you're off it, you'll stay off.
I'm one of those people who thinks, "Yeah, someday I should give up meat," but then I just stick with it out of inertia and, let's be real, laziness. So I reached out to someone who's currently giving up meat to find out how hard it is. Rod Dreher may only be giving up meat temporarily and for religious reasons (Lent), but he's still working through the practical aspects of a meat-free life. He's also blogging about it for the Dallas Morning News' religion blog.
His most helpful (to me) tip? Hot sauce.
I also found a great website called the Savvy Vegetarian. I'm thinking of maybe actually trying this for myself. One day. Sometime. Possibly? (We'll see).
7:35 AM ET | 03-20-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post
Filed under: The Dagobah System
Can't stand these eggs.
Did you feel any different at 12:48 a.m. EST? Feel like the laws of physics changed?
The vernal equinox today marks the beginning of spring and is characterized by equal parts day and night. Every year, when the equinox rolls around, a rumor resurfaces. It says that you can stand a raw egg on its end today -- and today only.
Is gravity so misunderstood that it's conceivable it could change the rules on us for a single day? Even if this were true, why could only eggs stand on end? Why not eggplants? Or pickles? And why not on the autumnal equinox too?
Fact is, gravity is the same today as it always was; perhaps it just needs a better public relations campaign. You can stand an egg on its end any day of the week, month, or year. Try it. This guy sure did!
Now, go smell the flowers and celebrate spring the old-fashioned way.
Summer Ash
7:00 AM ET | 03-20-2008 | permalink | comments (8) | e-mail post
A court in Sicily decided that an accused Mafioso can be put under house arrest because he is too fat for any Italian jail cell. Salvatore Ferranti, who weighs 462 pounds, was allowed to go home after spending six months in four different Italian prisons, his lawyer told Reuters.
Italian guards claimed that there were no prison beds big enough for him, that he couldn't fit through the bathroom door, and that they wouldn't be able to transport him to a hospital in an emergency.
Mafia man too fat for jail/ Seven people charged in global art scam/ Spring comes to early?/ Japan appoints cartoon ambassador
6:54 AM ET | 03-20-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
I've always loved the idea of celebrating the people who break through all kinds of barriers to become the first to achieve something -- men and women who have crashed the gates of all-boys clubs, all-white clubs, or all-of-one-kind-or-another clubs. Today, we're kicking off a new series on the BPP to profile trailblazers like these.
Of course the biggest news in possibly impending firsts is the country's first female or African-American president. Exciting, but I think it's amazing that in 2008, there are still so many firsts yet to be achieved. No Oscar-winning female directors, no Asian-American Supreme Court justices, no Latino governors of California.
Is there a first you're just itchin' to finally see happen? Or know of someone about to break a barrier of their own for the very first time? Give us a shout.
Angela Ellis
6:53 AM ET | 03-20-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post
David Rodriguez, a police sergeant from New Rochelle, N.Y., and husband of a WNBC-TV news anchor, was charged on Wednesday with the rape of a 17-year-old girl. Rodriguez, 36, is accused of entering the girl's home and raping her last month. The rape occured just a few hours after Rodriguez and three other officers arrested her 35-year-old live-in boyfriend for a domestic violence charge.
His lawyer, Stephen Worth, said the charge was false, and suggested that the girl had a "number of motives to make up a false allegation." He did not elaborate.
Police sergeant charged with rape/ New "Anne of Green Gables" book stirs debate / "Virtual massage" for phantom limb pain/ The return of the Knights Templar/ Runaway bride's ex-fiance marries another / Did sausage sandwich fix prevent I-95 collapse?
6:39 AM ET | 03-20-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
3:13 PM ET | 03-19-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post
From 1988 to 1993, Krista Summitt lived in Chicago and attended Trinity United Church of Christ. This week, when she heard one of Rev. Jeremiah Wright's sermons on endless replay, she thought back to the clergyman she admired then and still admires now.
The marketing pro gave us her take on Barack Obama's former pastor, the man whose sermons about race, America and 9-11 sparked a pivotal speech Tuesday by Barack Obama. Summitt gives a personal take on the outrage over Wright's remarks:
More: Summitt writes about her former church's public persona Today's BPP: The challenge for Obama now Today's BPP: On-air segment with Krista Summitt
10:03 AM ET | 03-19-2008 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post
My Shih Tzu Cosby has developed a taste for Brillo pads, apparently. I freaked out yesterday morning when I discovered that the little troublemaker had consumed a small portion of the stuff after digging around under the sink. I hurried him over to the vet, who determined that Cosby hadn't eaten enough to really cause great alarm, but that I would need to monitor his...er...output to make sure the steel wool wasn't going to stick in his digestive tract.
Cosby, Hungry For Cleaning Products
To spare you the gory details, suffice it to say that everything came out OK. But still, this freaks me out. What else should I be protecting him from? I mean, for Pete's sake, that's metal! Why on earth would he even want to eat that?
My "pet" theory is that it had something to do with texture, and director Jacob postulates (rather unscientifically) that maybe Cosby has an iron deficiency and was motivated by the smell of something ferrous. Engineer Manoli rather Socratically asks: "Why do people chew gum?"
Any other thoughts out there? Does anybody else have a similar horror story?
9:21 AM ET | 03-19-2008 | permalink | comments (12) | e-mail post
Ashley Alexandra Dupre, the call girl at the center of the Eliot Spitzer sex scandal, lost potential earnings from her new-found fame by $1 million on Tuesday when old nude videos of her emerged.
In the height of this political sex scandal, "Girls Gone Wild" offered to pay Dupre $1 million to pose nude in a magazine spread, but after discovering the old footage of a semi-nude Dupre in its video archives, the company took back its offer.
Spitzer's call girl loses $1 million offer/ McCartney's divorce settlement has been published/ Starbucks CEO to announce major changes today/ Record-setting pilot dies at 26
8:42 AM ET | 03-19-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post
Abraham Karpen, 25, a Hasidic Jew from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, was cast to play Natalie Portman's husband in a short film called New York I Love You. A few weeks after filming started, Karpen's rabbis discovered Karpen's plan to act and ordered him to withdraw from the film or face the possibility that his children would be kicked out of their religious school.
"We don't watch TV, use the Internet or see movies. It's against our religion and our traditions. There are strong guidelines about what you can and can't do," Abraham said.
For a full story, check out BPP's Ramble.
Actor quits film on rabbis' orders/ Student not expelled over facebook group/ Japanese train-seat etiquette/ Sugar-makers bitter about vandalism
8:35 AM ET | 03-19-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post
Puppeteer David Rudman began his career as an intern at the Jim Henson Workshop. Since then, he's been a staple on Sesame Street, having played half of the Two-Headed Monster, and the legendary Cookie Monster. In his time there, Rudman even created his own character, Baby Bear. Now David has created a new Disney show, Bunnytown, which has become a mega-hit amongst both children and parents. He was in our studio recently and told us a little about what makes his puppets so dang adorable.
8:04 AM ET | 03-19-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post
Filed under: City Living, Video
Today on the BPP, we spoke to Dr. Billy Goldberg who gave us some expert advice on how to handle a hangover. But we also made a point to drop by our local pub yesterday to check in on how midday revelers were planning on dealing with their veisalgia.
Check it out:
6:17 PM ET | 03-18-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post
4:18 PM ET | 03-18-2008 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post
(UPDATE, 04.01.08: The BPP Book Club is now in session.)
The ancient tale of Scheherazade -- in which a beautiful woman saves her own neck by spinning tales for a murderous sultan -- is sometimes seen as symbolic of the civilizing power of the feminine. But in Hisham Matar's In the Country of Men, the inaugural BPP Book Club selection, the mother of the 9-year-old narrator -- herself a furious prisoner of an increasingly repressive society -- has quite a different take on the story:
Nothing angered Mama more than the story of Scheherazade. I had always thought Scheherazade a brave woman who had gained her freedom through inventing tales and often, in moments of great fear, recalled her example.
"You should find yourself another model," Mama once began. "Scheherazade was a coward who accepted slavery over death."
Our online discussion of the book is coming up on March 28, a week from Friday, but I'm hoping to talk to some of you who have been reading it -- about the cowardice of Scheherazade or any other aspect of the book. Drop a line in the comments if you're up for that, and we can set up a time for a quick audio interview.
Sarah Goodyear
1:55 PM ET | 03-18-2008 | permalink | comments (9) | e-mail post
Barack Obama's speech in Philadelphia
Barack Obama gave a speech today in Philadelphia in which he addressed the issue of controversial remarks by his former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who recently retired from Chicago's Trinity United Church of Christ. Here's NPR's first take on it. The big quote:
"We can play Rev. Wright's sermons on every channel, every day, and talk about them from now until the election, and make the only question in this campaign whether or not the American people think that I somehow believe or sympathize with his most offensive words," he cautioned. "But if we do, I can tell you that in the next election, we'll be talking about some other distraction. And then another one. And then another one. And nothing will change."
12:20 PM ET | 03-18-2008 | permalink | comments (32) | e-mail post
Carrie Brownstein of Sleater-Kinney
The BPP didn't make it to Austin for South by Southwest this year, but we had the great pleasure of checking in with nearly all the folks who made the trip as part of NPR Music's sterling coverage of the fest. Last Monday, former Sleater-Kinney guitarist Carrie Brownstein shared her experience at SXSW as a musician -- as well as what she was looking forward to this year, as a blogger for NPR Music. Tuesday we got a double-decker treat: a preview of up-and-coming bands playing the festival from the Mayor of SXSW himself, Andy Langer, and a look at South By Southwest interactive, from NPR's own Andy Carvin, who found himself in the middle of a Twitter tornado. On Friday, Bob Boilen shared his favorites from the many bands who played the NPR-curated shows earlier in the week. And Monday, Arts reporter Neda Ulaby put a neat little bow on our coverage with a postcard from the streets of Austin.
Thanks for everything, guys. It's just like we were there! Somebody grab me a Shiner and some BBQ!
Bonus: Full South by Southwest music coverage
Jacob Ganz
12:12 PM ET | 03-18-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
8:45 AM ET | 03-18-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post
Later this week, we're planning an open mic on the economy. Is the country heading for a recession? Are we in one now? What happened to all the value at Bear Stearns? What can you do with a weakened dollar? Should you wait to buy a house or borrow money for school -- or go for a lower rate now?
Post your questions about the economy and we'll throw them into the mix.
UPDATE: Kelly Evans takes our questions on the BPP.
8:25 AM ET | 03-18-2008 | permalink | comments (16) | e-mail post
6:35 PM ET | 03-17-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post
Ireland is part of Europe.
Two titans of Irish baking clashed this morning in the BPP St. Patrick's Day Irish Soda Bread Bakeoff, as Caitlin defeated Tricia to extend her bake-off streak to two (certain posters of this post still contest her first victory). Above is an excerpt of the mashup we played as they entered the gladiator arena studio. Danny Boy vocals by John McDermott. If you don't know what the other song is, you're probably not awesome.
11:44 AM ET | 03-17-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post
It's St. Patrick's Day, which means whether your last name is McKinney or Pashman, you're likely to be doing some drinking today. (Unless of course you go to bed before sundown so you can wake up in the middle of the night to assemble a radio show that shines like a beacon of hope unto civilization. In that case you've already started.)
So if you have to get up to go to work tomorrow, you may need to fend off a hangover. But how? I'm a big believer in the idea that a hangover must be stopped before it starts, so I recommend a grilled egg and cheese sandwich before bed.
What's your hangover cure? We'll feature some of your remedies on tomorrow's show.
11:41 AM ET | 03-17-2008 | permalink | comments (13) | e-mail post
Caitlin Kenney's winning Irish soda bread on the left. Loser Tricia McKinney's bread on the right.
I would like to thank judges Brian McCabe (official Irish citizen) and Ian Chillag (wannabe Irishman) for selecting my Irish soda bread as the winner of the BPP Bakeoff. Ian described my bread as "sweeter" and a "more enjoyable eat", and Brian chose it for its classic presentation.
I used a more traditional recipe than my competitor Tricia McKinney, who used currants and caraway seeds, but I must admit my recipe includes a few ingredients you would never see in a real Irish soda bread. I made a few tweaks to the recipe I used by leaving out the caraway seeds, adding more buttermilk to the dough after mixing it, and letting it rest for 30 minutes before baking.
I would like to thank the ultimate Irish culinary team Margaret Martin and Joe Jackson for their thoughtful advice and guidance. Beannachtai na Feile Padraig!
9:26 AM ET | 03-17-2008 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post
How modest is too modest? That's the question some Orthodox Jews in the Israeli town of Beit Shemesh are asking after a local woman started pushing burqa-like dress for Jewish women.
One editorial in the Israeli press says a Jewish woman's choice to cover her body from head to toe is "self-effacement to the point of self-obliteration." Here's an excerpt from a January 2nd editorial in the Jewish Chronicle, which says Orthodox Jews pushing for extreme modesty are opening a "Pandora's Box."
"Some bloggers have cited parallels to eating disorders. Both anorexics and the burka women are denying their bodies in order to make them 'disappear.' Both are reacting to unattainable cultural ideals, be they size-zero thinness or increasingly stringent standards of modesty in the Charedi world, by taking them to an obsessive extreme. And anorexia is often understood to be a desperate way for women to assert control over at least one aspect of their lives. Surely, wearing a burka or vowing silence can be construed similarly."
9:12 AM ET | 03-17-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
New York City's Second Avenue Deli opened in 1954 and quickly became an institution. When it closed in 2006 because of a lease dispute, people wept. Or at least I did. Now the deli has re-opened in a new location. But is it as good as ever? And what sets a truly great New York deli apart from the pretenders? Win Rosenfeld and I found out...
If you could only eat one more meal at the Second Avenue Deli, what would you order and why?
8:39 AM ET | 03-17-2008 | permalink | comments (14) | e-mail post
Filed under: Personal/Private, What I Made for Dinner
I normally write about what I made for my family's dinner, but I'm actually working ahead today in preparation for tomorrow's St. Patrick's Day meal of corned beef and cabbage. I don't usually work ahead, but I happened to glance at the package of corned beef I bought and found out it takes 3 hours to cook. So I'm boiling it today and we'll finish 'er off tomorrow.
Here's what you do (super complicated!):
Buy a package of corned beef (what makes it corned? I don't really want to know, do I?) Open the package Dump the meat into a pot of water. Make sure the water covers the meat Turn the heat on Bring the water to a boil After it boils, turn the heat down to a simmer Simmer for 3 hours
The cabbage: No idea. I guess I'll wash it, and throw it in a pot of water and boil it to death. Maybe an hour?
The potatoes: Gotta buy some of those. Then boil them unpeeled for about 1/2 hour
Serve the whole mess up with mustard. Wash it down with Guinness (the kind in a can with the little gas charge that activates when you open it, not the best, not bad).
6:19 PM ET | 03-16-2008 | permalink | comments (8) | e-mail post
Matt and Trish with the Rundown.
4:43 PM ET | 03-14-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post
Ouch.
NPR engineer Josh Rogosin sends this:
My friend Maurice lost everything recently when his apartment burned down -- including this brand new MacBook. And no, Applecare wouldn't cover its replacement. Any suggestions for repairs or spare-part potential would be greatly appreciated.
2:49 PM ET | 03-14-2008 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post
Almost to the second!
3.14159. You do the math.
2:24 PM ET | 03-14-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post
Filed under: City Living, Personal/Private, The Dagobah System
"Je quitte ma planete."
Sometimes you need help from an astrophysicist, and that's when you're glad for Summer Ash (aka).
Summer came to my emotional rescue this week after I read this headline in the New York Times: "Kissing the Earth Goodbye in About 7.59 Billion Years."
Maybe it was the part about how, in the end, "there won't even be fragments." Maybe it was the part where the scientists say never mind the Himalayas. Maybe it was that I'd just read Cormac McCarthy's post-apocalyptic novel, The Road. Or maybe it's that we're reading The Little Prince at my house -- and no matter what he says, you can't just up and quit your planet.
Whatever caused it, I had a case of existential suffocation. And I called on Summer Ash, who's used to dealing with our universe's cold infinities, to pull me out.
9:46 AM ET | 03-14-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post
The taste of honey was simply too luring for a bear in Macedonia, which repeatedly ransacked a beekeeper's hives. Now the bear has a criminal record after a court found it guilty of theft and criminal damage.
The case was started by the frustrated beekeeper after a year of struggling to protect his beehives. And because the animal had no owner and belonged to a protected species, the court ordered the state to pay for the damage to the beehives - a sum around $3,500.
Bear convicted for honey theft/ President Bush sings an off-key spoof of "The Green Green Grass of Home"/ Snoop Dogg to remix ABC soap opera theme/ Pink poodle case goes to court Student suspended for buying Skittles in class
7:26 AM ET | 03-14-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
In London, Balletlorent is currently recruiting 12 pregnant women to star in a dance production called, "MaEternal." Artistic director Liv Lorent, who, coincidentally, is pregnant herself, says she has always been interested in combining trained dancers with normal people from all ages to make her ballet productions more authentic.
"I've done projects in the past where I have invited all sorts of people -- children, old people, builders, footballers doctors, all sorts -- to take part," she told Reuters.
The performance takes place in the northern English city of Newcastle this May.
Pregnant woman ballet/ Pluck of the Irish: Beer costume stolen/ France's sordid housing crisis/ Michael Jackson will keep Neverland Ranch
7:09 AM ET | 03-14-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
A pie for Pi Day
Happy Pi Day, y'all.
Ian Chillag's girlfriend, Nora, celebrated by baking a pie. With pi on it. She said she would, in our pi-ku contest.
On the radio: All about Pi Day
7:09 AM ET | 03-14-2008 | permalink | comments (11) | e-mail post
Funny Games comes out tomorrow. It looks like a pretty disturbing film from director Michael Haneke, in which two young men take a vacationing family hostage. As you may know, Haneke has covered this subject matter before. In fact, he made this exact movie before, in 1997, in Austria. The trailers go nearly shot-for-shot. A comparison -- and be warned, they really are disturbing -- after the jump.
Continue reading "A Tale of Two Trailers" »
2:48 PM ET | 03-13-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post
We've got some special guests to help with the Rundown today.
1:45 PM ET | 03-13-2008 | permalink | comments (13) | e-mail post
Tomorrow is March 14, 3/14, 3.14, or as it's known to many unlikely to have other plans, Pi Day. I'm learning about a few ways Pi Day is celebrated by so-called mathletes. There are pie contests and pizza parties. Those who can recite more than just three digits do so out loud to no one in particular, and the Exploratorium in San Francisco holds an all-day celebration. And some people, we understand, write pi-ku--haiku about pi. I say we take it one step nerdier and make new rules.
First line: 3 syllables Second line: 1 syllable Third line: 4 syllables
What you got, BPPeople?
11:20 AM ET | 03-13-2008 | permalink | comments (104) | e-mail post
Sometimes you need candy and nothing else will do. That's what we had at the end of The Most today. Terry Gross, host of WHYY's Fresh Air joined us for the fun.
That's right. Terry Gross.
You may not know this, but she is a huge Idol fan.
The segment wasn't totally candy, though -- we did learn the meaning of the phrase "Jai guru de va om."
9:19 AM ET | 03-13-2008 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post
Created by MIT alums Dan Paluska and Jeff Lieberman, Absolut Quartet is a "large-scale electromechanical sculpture," which takes simple pieces of user-created music over the Internet and turns them into complex melodies. The machine itself is actually a combination of three very analog instruments -- a marimba played by flying rubber balls, a rubber and glass apparatus that simulates the "finger on the wine glass" trick, and a "drum kit" of percussive instruments played by robotic arms.
The online user first provides a melody theme, which plays over a speaker near the machine. The machine interprets the melody and then comes up with its own version, which it starts playing. It also matches the user-generated melody with a composition from its algorithmic music library. As the machine plays, the user can interact and inspire the machine to play in different ways. The result is a complex, robotically generated song, co-produced by man and machine -- and performed live by the Quartet. (You can try it on Absolut Machines.)
Watch Alison and Rachel speak with the creators and play with the Quartet:
8:17 AM ET | 03-13-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post
Click to enlarge
Earlier this week, we ran what we call an "assisted listen" to the late Jeff Buckley's 1993 record Grace. The song "Hallelujah" has soared to the top of the iTunes charts, owing to a performance of it on American Idol.
Buckley died in 1997, swimming across a tributary of the Mississippi River in Memphis. Twitter friend @thespacebase, aka, happened to be in Memphis this week, and late last night he sent us this picture of the place Buckley died. Full text on Radio-sweethearts.com.
Bonus: More pictures from Memphis.
7:44 AM ET | 03-13-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post
In Munich, Germany, a woman was stopped at the airport after baggage control handlers found the skeleton of her brother sealed in a plastic bag in her luggage, police said Wednesday.
After authorities questioned the woman, they discovered that she trying to fulfill the last wish of her brother -- who died 11 years ago in Sao Paulo, Brazil -- to be buried in Italy.
Airplane stops skeleton luggage/ Copper theft stops Australian trains Asparagus mystic/ Lil Jon Winery
7:01 AM ET | 03-13-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post
On Tuesday, representatives from the Pacific Management Council said the number of salmon living in the ocean and rivers along the Pacific Coast is so sparse that salmon fishing will have to come to a halt unless an emergency exception is granted.
"This is unprecedented," said Dave Bitts, a commercial salmon and crab fisherman based in Eureka. "The Sacramento fish are our bread and butter, and there are not even any crumbs. It's horrible. It means half or more of my income is not going to be there at all this year."
Such a move would jeopardize the livelihoods of close to 1,000 commercial fishermen and put a stop to 2.4 million recreational fishermen.
Feds warn to halt salmon fishing/ 'American Idol' cuts first finalist/ SPM Communications: A jerk-free work environment/ Why Jacobson won't be watching "Law & Order"/ Penguins who have never seen snow/ Last Harry Potter book becomes two films
6:48 AM ET | 03-13-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
OK, this is usually Tricia's domain, but I did whip up a tasty meal from my favorite cookbook -- which claims you only need five ingredients to make a good meal. In this case, I used chicken, apples, onion, butter and brandy.
Chicken Tenders with Apples and Onions Salt and pepper 1 pound chicken. Sautee until almost cooked. Put aside. Sautee 1 onion in 1 tablespoon butter in same pan until soft. Add apple slices (2 apples), 1/4 cup water and 3 tablespoons brandy or apple brandy. Cook until apple slices are soft. Return chicken to pan....let the flavors live together for a little while.
Nice.
5:15 AM ET | 03-13-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post
Click for an NPR slideshow, "Standing by Their Men"
When then New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer made his unspecified apology on Monday, his wife, Silda, was at his side. She was there again today, when he resigned after two days of headlines about his alleged use of prostitutes.
Silda Spitzer is hardly the first political wife to don the powder-blue suit and that determined gaze, as you can see from this NPR slideshow, "Standing by Their Men." One of the wives in it, Dina Matos McGreevey, provides another take in the New York Times with an op-ed headlined "Stand by Yourself."
3:07 PM ET | 03-12-2008 | permalink | comments (10) | e-mail post
The Rundown for Thursday is here:
2:29 PM ET | 03-12-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post
Filed under: City Living, Personal/Private, The Best Song In The World Today
Solar flares: I suppose you could say they're pretty.
Call me Vic Chestnutt, but I'm kind of about to choke.
The New York Times reports on a new theory that the Earth will meet its demise by getting sucked into the sun. "Kissing the Earth Goodbye in About 7.59 Billion Years," the paper warns. As it renders the theory: "Earth will be dragged from its orbit by an engorged red Sun and spiral to a rapid vaporous death."
A few weeks back, I read Cormac McCarthy's novel The Road, a post-apocalyptic tale peopled by cannibals and a few desperate moral souls. The book's protagonist is a dying father trying to save his son. Never mind the movie rights -- this thing already plays behind my closed eyelids. The last thing I needed was for actual science to pile on.
Riding to my rescue in half an hour is astrophysicist to the (radio) stars Summer Ash. She promises the news is not so bad. I'm aiming to share the interview on Thursday's show. (UPDATE: Have to hold this until Friday's show.)
1:22 PM ET | 03-12-2008 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post
Eliot Spitzer leaves his Manhattan apartment with his wife, Silda, on his way to resign.
From his opening throat-clearing to the reporter asking if he ever thought it would come to this, Eliot Spitzer's resignation speech passed in a blink. I could have held my breath for the whole thing if I hadn't been typing it up for Twitter. Before the New York governor stepped down, some had said Spitzer was trying to leverage his exit for a deal with the prosecutors naming him as a customer in a prostitution ring.
With regard to that idea, the U.S. Department of Justice sends this message: "In response to press speculation, Michael J. Garcia, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said: 'There is no agreement between this Office and Governor Eliot Spitzer, relating to his resignation or any other matter.' "
The change of office is slated for March 17, at the request of Lt. Gov. David Paterson. Paterson, who's legally blind, will become the first African-American governor of New York.
11:52 AM ET | 03-12-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post
The online user first provides a melody theme, which is heard over a speaker near the machine. The machine interprets the melody and then comes up with its own version, which it starts playing. It also matches the user-generated melody with a composition from its algorithmic music library. As the machine plays, the user can interact and inspire the machine to play in different ways. The result is a complex, robotically generated song, co-produced by man and machine -- and performed live by the "Quartet".
Watch Alison and Rachel speak with the creators and play with the Quartet here:
10:29 AM ET | 03-12-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post
Two Japanese sisters, Hatsue Shimizu, 64, and Yoshiko Ishii, 55, were arrested on suspicion of hiding a large sum of yen they inherited from their father. The two sisters hid the cash in cardboard boxes in what may be Japan's biggest-ever tax dodge, media said.
Shimizu told prosecutors she had forgotten about the cash, most of which was hidden in her garage. Her sister Ishii admitted the allegations.
Japanese sisters stash $56 million/ Red-light camera could increase car crashes/ World's fastest clapper/ Book returned to Finland library after 100 years
8:47 AM ET | 03-12-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
Adriana Tores-Flores, 38, a forgotten prisoner, spent four days in an isolated holding cell at a court house. Tores-Flores was left with no food, water, or toilet, claim authorities.
Tores-Flores appeared in court last Thursday and pleaded not guilty to a charge of selling pirated CDs, but when the judge foudn out that she was an illegal immigrant, he ordered her to be kept in a holding cell.
"She was feeling like she was going to die. She had to use the bathroom on the floor," said her daughter Adriana. It's the BPP's Most.
Prisoner forgotten in cell for four days/ Middleborough Town Hall is haunted/ Superfruits, super powers?/ Actress from 'Gilligan's Island' serving probation under plea/ A boy named Sue, and a theory of names
8:30 AM ET | 03-12-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
Filed under: Election 2008, Sound Off
Former Democratic vice presidential candidate Geraldine Ferraro
Here's Geraldine Ferraro talking to the Daily Breeze of Torrance, Calif., about Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama:
"If Obama was a white man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman (of any color) he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept."
And here's Ferraro talking to the New York Times about those remarks:
"Every time that campaign is upset about something, they call it racist," she said. "I will not be discriminated against because I'm white. If they think they're going to shut up Geraldine Ferraro with that kind of stuff, they don't know me."
Your turn to talk's in the comments, right below. You know what to do.
Bonus: Politico has a Ferraro flashback.
7:58 AM ET | 03-12-2008 | permalink | comments (27) | e-mail post
The Rundown for Wednesday is here:
2:21 PM ET | 03-11-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post
Sure, reputable news sources may be reporting that New York's Democratic governor, Eliot Spitzer, is thinking of resigning. But if he listens to the stars, he'll wait at least a day. Here's his honor's horoscope for Tuesday, courtesy of the New York Post. Hello, Gemini:
March 11, 2008 -- You would be wise not to make any major announcements over the next 24 hours. You may be bursting to tell your nearest and dearest what you have been up to and what you have accomplished but you will get a much better response if you leave it until tomorrow. By then it will be even better news.
The question is, better for whom?
And because I always do this when a big name in the news is facing a big life change, Governor Spitzer's horoscope from yesterday is after the jump:
Continue reading "Announcement Not in the Stars for Spitzer?" »
2:16 PM ET | 03-11-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
From the Las Vegas airport
A listener sends this picture from the Las Vegas airport. If you're listening, Jeff Deck, fix this one, please.
After the jump, "flat totp."
Continue reading "Typos to Eease You're Day" »
1:12 PM ET | 03-11-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post
From Long Island Newsday:
New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer had at least seven or eight liaisons over the last several years with prostitutes supplied by an international call girl ring based in New Jersey, according to sources familiar with the investigation into Spitzer's relationship with the ring.
Meanwhile, the New York Times, joining the Spitzer resignation watch, has Lt. Gov. David Paterson taking steps for a transition.
1:03 PM ET | 03-11-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
The California courts have come down hard on home schooling families in the state. A new appellate ruling means parents who teach their kids may be breaking the law.
Luis Huerta of Columbia University says religious belief remains the top reason for going the home schooling route, but there's also a sizable "unschooling" movement. Not to mention people who end up home schooling kids who for whatever reason are a tough fit with the system (been there, years back -- not fun). No one knows how many people in California or elsewhere could be affected by the court ruling.
In some cases, "if they chose to home school, they've chosen not to report to the state," Huerta says.
Report to us, please. Ever considered the home school route?
Full read: California home schoolers get the heave-ho.
12:44 PM ET | 03-11-2008 | permalink | comments (16) | e-mail post
Former Libyan political prisoner Fathi al-Jahmi
Our inaugural BPP Book Club selection, Hisham Matar's In the Country of Men, is set in Libya in 1979, a time when the country was ostracized by much of the international community.
In the last couple of years, though, the United States has reestablished full diplomatic relations with Libya, responding to Muammar Qaddafi's pledge to give up his pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, as well as his sponsorship of international terrorism.
But what is the situation like for dissidents inside Libya? For some, at least, it is as grim as ever, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Take the case of Fathi al-Jahmi, a 66-year-old Libyan who was imprisoned for, among other things, calling for free elections in Libya. Initially arrested in 2002, al-Jahmi is said by authorities to finally have been released this week.
Continue reading "UPDATE: For Dissidents, Libya Grim as Ever" »
11:08 AM ET | 03-11-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post
Newspaper editors show Gov. Spitzer grimacing at the podium
It's no surprise that New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer's bombshell admission of...something...yesterday made the front page of all of the local papers here in NYC today. It made the cover of the Washington Post as well. All of the local papers except one picked a picture of the governor grimacing. Or maybe pursing his lips? It's hard to describe exactly what he's doing, but it's easy to see that he's not smiling.
Which paper decided to go with a more dignified facial expression for the governor? The paper that broke the story, the New York Times.
9:42 AM ET | 03-11-2008 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post
Google for "New York government"
Thanks to Wonkette
So, we just saw this on the Wonkette and it probably means nothing -- but I and others have surmised that Google knows everything. Even stuff in the future. And alternate reality futures!
9:11 AM ET | 03-11-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post
China will launch "the most luxurious train in the world," which will travel from Beijing to Tibet's capital Lhasa, state media reported Sunday.
"The interior of the train will be decorated according to the standards of a five-star hotel, making it the most luxurious train in the world," said Zhu Mingrui, general manager of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Corporation.
This luxurious train is expesnive. Tickets will cost 20 times more than the ordinary fare of about 2,000 yuan (roughly $280 dollars). If you do the math, that's a $5,600 dollar train ticket!
China's luxury train to Tibet/ Idaho library pulls sex books/ Hotel offers reader-in-residence/ Firefighter saves dog by performing CPR
8:54 AM ET | 03-11-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post
Joy Douglas, owner of Zing Hair Salon in Boulder, Colo., has received a $1,000 ticket from an animal-control officer for using coloring her white poodle pink with organic beet juice.
"We do it to promote awareness of breast cancer," said 30-year-old Douglas, who has owned the hair salon for three years. "Cici is a conversation piece. Customers come in and ask why the dog is pink. So we tell them about breast-cancer awareness, about the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure, and then we ask for a donation."
After several customers complained about the pink dog, the Humane Society of Boulder Valley investigated the situation. The Human Society's visit is what caused a formal citation.
Woman fined for dying poodle pink/ A venti and a calico/ UK's National anthem lyric questioned/ Vatican lists new sinful behaviors
8:37 AM ET | 03-11-2008 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post
Businessweek Columnist Sarah Lacy's interview of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at SXSWI did not go well. Soon after it started, the crowd started grumbling, and Twittering, about Lacy's rambling, fawning non-questions of Zuckerberg. Now, the cut of the interview above is hosted on Viddler. The site/app enables viewers to post comments in the progress bar, tied to specific moments in the video, so it echoes what was going on, twitterwise, in the unruly SXSW crowd.
8:25 AM ET | 03-11-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
Nomination for most eye-popping quote about the N.Y. Gov. Eliot Spitzer prostitution mess, from the Wall Street Journal:
His brother, Daniel Spitzer, a neurosurgeon, said: "If men never succumbed to the attractions of women, then the human species would have died out a long time ago."
(Thanks to EP Sharon Hoffman, on a train to NPR HQ in D.C.)
8:12 AM ET | 03-11-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post
NPR's Andy Langer reported this morning from music festival bazonkernaire South by Southwest, where a Brooklyn singer-songwriter named Jaymay is turning it up to 11. Langer traces Jaymay's success -- if not her sound -- back to the likes of a certain KT Tunstuall. KT, we loved you way back when.
KT Tunstall gives a loop pedal tutorial.
7:46 AM ET | 03-11-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post
New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer (right) with Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno in June 2007
AP sends this photo gallery from N.Y. Gov. Eliot Spitzer's career. Monday, after reports that a federal wiretap had caught him arranging a Feb. 13 meeting with a prostitute in Washington, D.C., Spitzer apologized for an unspecified wrong and said he'd report back shortly.
See for yourself: FBI agent's affidavit. "Client 9" shows up around page 34.
6:57 AM ET | 03-11-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
The Rundown for Tuesday is here:
6:42 PM ET | 03-10-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer speaks to the media with his wife, Silda Wall Spitzer, while delivering an apology following reported links to a prostitution ring
Spitzer speaks, reporters ask, "Are you going to resign?":
New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer has been linked by a federal wiretap to a prostitution ring, reports the New York Times:
An affidavit in the federal investigation into a prostitution ring said that a wiretap recording captured a man identified as Client 9 on a telephone call confirming plans to have a woman travel from New York to Washington, where he had reserved a hotel room. The person briefed on the case identified Mr. Spitzer as Client 9.
Promising to report back shortly, Spitzer made a public statement today. "I have acted in a way that violates my obligation to my family and violates my or any sense of right or wrong," he said.
What I can't shake is the sickening sense that here, again, is a leader in trouble of his own making. It gets to be predictable after a while, and that's no fun for anybody. As Twitter person Sam Felder put it, "Eliot Spitzer, you idiot, why throw it all away like this."
3:34 PM ET | 03-10-2008 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post
Posted six minutes ago from the Twitter feed @barackobama:
"In Columbus,MS & wondering how somebody who's in second place is offering the vice presidency to the person who's in first place. Vote Tues!"
1:52 PM ET | 03-10-2008 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post
Saturday Night, live at the White House: President George W. Bush crooned his own version of the "Green Green Grass of Home", lampooning Vice President Dick Cheney and political journalists. Bush belted out his longing for his Crawford, Texas ranch and his dog Barney.
Referee sent into hiding after lookalike attacked / Girl in Hillary ad supports Obama / What to do while watching March madness: recover from vasectomy / Town of Athol upset over Comcast ad
9:39 AM ET | 03-10-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post
Antibiotics, anti-convulsants, mood stabilizers and sex hormones -- they're all in the drinking water of 41 million Americans, according to an Associate Press investigation.
Utility companies insist that the trace amounts of drugs in the water supply are too minuscule to affect the health of the people who swallow them. In a five-month study cited by USA Today, the Associated Press discovered that drugs have been detected in the drinking water of 24 major metropolitan areas -- from Southern California to Northern New Jersey.
When Mom or Dad Asks To Be a Facebook 'Friend' / Rare pygmy hippos caught on film / Some parents wait a year for their kids to start kindergarten / Melody Gardot's Road to Recovery
9:11 AM ET | 03-10-2008 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post
Yours for $1,626.
Want some star sand from the island of Iriomote? David Horvitz will get you some -- for a price. Strike the right price, and Horvitz will go as far from his house as possible (Perth, Australia, here he comes!) or think of someone he owes an apology and pay up in writing (you get a copy of the letter).
I'm interested in whether the BPP crowd would like to meet this guy. Check him out and let us know.
7:18 AM ET | 03-10-2008 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post
Keep on trucking.
The past couple of weeks, my walk from the subway to the office has included the faintest hint of dawn over the East River.
And now, thanks to Daylight Saving Time, that hint of dawn is gone. I'm thinking I'll see it again sometime in the first week of April. For now, I'm grumpy and noticing on our Twitter feed that I'm maybe not so alone.
From @sgtret: "It is dark out here. Depressing. At least I won't have the sun in my face for the morning commute . . ."
7:00 AM ET | 03-10-2008 | permalink | comments (13) | e-mail post
An article on Spiegel Online says that folks in Denmark are starting to notice that IKEA "only names cheap doormats and wall-to-wall carpeting after Danish towns, reserving Swedish names for its more expensive furniture."
This kinda brings to mind a segment we did a while back about the way the IKEA names its products. It turns out there's a method to the madness.
2:47 PM ET | 03- 7-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
The Monday Rundown for the BPP:
2:34 PM ET | 03- 7-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post
Some breaking political news....Samantha Power stepped down as foreign policy adviser to Sen. Barack Obama's campaign after reports got out about an apparent off-the-record comment she made to a British paper...referring to Sen. Hillary Clinton as a "monster." Power made the comment during an interview with The Scotsman while on a recent visit to London.
Power is a former journalist who covered the Balkan war in the 1990s. She founded a human-rights think tank and is a professor at Harvard.
When the Clinton campaign caught wind of the comments, they demanded she be fired from Obama's campaign. In a statement, Power said, "It is wrong for anyone to pursue this campaign in such negative and personal terms. I apologize to Senator Clinton and to Senator Obama, who has made very clear that these kinds of expressions should have no place in American politics."
Obama's campaign says Power's comments did not reflect Obama's views and that they have accepted Power's decision to resign.
11:54 AM ET | 03- 7-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post
On today's show, we took advantage of the "direct message" button on Democrat Barack Obama's Twitter account. Host Alison Stewart sent a message asking if he'd like to be on our show. Turns out, we were able to do that because Obama follows our Twitter feed -- along with 13,577 others.
The reason we can't send a direct message to Hillary Clinton's Twitter account -- the reason no one can -- is that she doesn't follow anyone. Which is a not unreasonable choice, when you consider what Obama's Twitter page must look like with 13,578 people yakking away. NPR Twitter guru Andy Carvin recommends posting @hillaryclinton, which I just tried.
In other Twitter news, Republican John McCain does appear to have a Twitter account. It's a little different from the ones on the Democratic side, not least because it has about twice as many posts. But it also has a somewhat different tone, with entries like today's "Glory is not a conceit. It is not a decoration for valor. Glory belongs to the act of being constant to something greater than yourself," and "Obama campaign advisor seems to endorse McCain http://tinyurl.com/3xcfoy" I just posted @johnmccain2008, too.
Gonna call the campaigns now and talk Twitter.
9:47 AM ET | 03- 7-2008 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post
Filed under: Election 2008, Media, Sound Off
Tomorrow features yet another contest for the Democratic presidential hopefuls, and the fight for the nomination is getting grittier by the day.
If you read Maureen Dowd's column in the New York Times this week, you'll know that she wrote about gender and race and the current political climate. Specifically, Dowd addressed the way Clinton and some of her supporters are weaving the issue of gender into her profile as a candidate.
Dowd then raised this "elephant in the room" question:
People will have to choose which of America's sins are greater, and which stain will have to be removed first. Is misogyny worse than racism, or is racism worse than misogyny?
What do you think?
9:44 AM ET | 03- 7-2008 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post
David Pogue has a great blog post today. He collected some of the most ridiculous tech support calls ever. He's got a bunch in the post, here's one of my favorites:
Caller: Hey, can you help me? My computer has locked up, and no matter how many times I type eleven, it won't unfreeze.
Agent: What do you mean, "Type eleven?"
Caller: The message on my screen says, "Error Type 11!"
Kinda brings to mind the classic Homer Simpson moment when he boots up his computer and reads the screen: "To start press any key...Where's the any key?"
9:27 AM ET | 03- 7-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
Eduardo Carrillo is a Colombian filmmaker who uses animation to tell the saddest tales of the toll of war on his country's children. His animated documentary Born under Fire is based on stories and drawings by children ranging from eight to 13 years old, all of whom have grown up amidst the chaos and violence of the armed conflict in Colombia.
Eduardo's film is currently featured at the Miami International Film Festival this week- in a special program called Encuentros - a showcase for emerging Latin American directors. It' his first feature-length animated documentary, based on a short film he did in 2003 called Little Voices. Here's a clip from that film.
8:54 AM ET | 03- 7-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post
As listener Adriana Rodarte pointed out yesterday, Democrat Barack Obama's Twitter account lets you send him what Twitter calls a "direct message" -- but the account of his party rival, Hillary Clinton, has those features turned off.
A few minutes ago, we sent Obama a message inviting him to appear on our show. We'll see if he writes back.
8:43 AM ET | 03- 7-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
A child's drawing as seen in Born Under Fire
Colombia hasn't known peace for more than 60 years. Violent clashes between guerrilla groups like FARC and paramilitary groups, combined with the brutalities of the drug trade, have left the country's people caught in the crossfire-- and the youngest victims are children. On Friday's show, Eduardo Carrillo, a Colombian filmmaker, talks about giving voice to the forgotten children in his new animated documentary, Born Under Fire.
A Child's View of War
8:11 AM ET | 03- 7-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
Tiffany Ludwig and Renee Piechocki asked nearly 600 women in 15 states one simple question: "What do you wear that makes you feel powerful?"
The result is their new book, Trappings: Stories of Women, Power and Clothing, a study of women and their clothing choices. This week, Ludwig and Piechocki walked us through some of the answers they got.
Replay: The authors on the Bryant Park Project.
7:46 AM ET | 03- 7-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post
Last Friday, a 30-year-old Australian convinced a car dealer to let him test drive a Honda Accord. When the test driver got in the new car, he took it out for six days on a 1,988-mile test drive.
"He seemed a legitimate gentleman. He stood at the desk right in front of a camera. He wasn't afraid of being photographed or videoed," said Ian McKenzie, the owner of the car yard.
The test driver was charged with aggravated unlawful use of a motor vehicle and unlawful possession of property. He will appear in court on Thursday.
2,000 mile test drive/ Tippling ministers sometimes trip on budget day/ Curtains may fall on faux theater due to nonsmoking laws/ High-priced prostitutes
7:05 AM ET | 03- 7-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
While pro golfer Tripp Isenhour was filming the TV show "Shooting Like A Pro," a red-shouldered hawk was making noise off in the distance. Isenhour, annoyed by the bird, started hitting golf balls in its direction. According to witnesses, one of the golf balls hit the bird, which caused it to fall to the ground and bleed from both it's nostrils. After several minutes of squirming in pain, the bird died.
"As soon as this happened, I was mortified and extremely upset and continue to be upset," Isenhour said in a statement issued through his management company, SFX Golf. "I want to let everyone know there was neither any malice nor deliberate intent whatsoever to hit or harm the hawk. I was trying to simply scare it into flying away."
On Wednesday, Isenhour was charged with cruelty to animals and killing a migratory bird. These misdemeanors carry a maximum penalty of 14 months in jail and $1,500 in fines.
Pro golfer apologizes for killing hawk/ 'Magical Lizzy' accused of operating bordello out of Maryland apartment/ Tons of food aid rotting in Haiti ports/ NY Pub bans 'Danny Boy' on St. Patrick's day
6:50 AM ET | 03- 7-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post
Like his Democratic rival, presidential candidate Barack Obama has a Twitter account. Obama has posted a grand total of 76 times, compared to 64 for Hillary Clinton.
Before today, Obama's last tweet was aimed at getting out the vote for the March 4 presidential contests. Today, on March 6, he shows up in our Twitter stream again:
In Chicago, hoping you will help Bill Foster win Cong. Dist. 14 in this Saturday's Special Election. Visit: http://my.barackobama.com/f...
3:01 PM ET | 03- 6-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post
The Friday Rundown for the BPP:
2:40 PM ET | 03- 6-2008 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post
What's wrong with this picture?
Jeff Deck and the Typo Eradication Advancement League are wandering the country, even as we speak, bringing the red pen of justice to typos everywhere.
Seen any? Tricia McKinney spotted the one above. After the jump, one from David Hollis of Hamilton, New York, and Radio Free Hamilton.
Continue reading "Seen Any Good Typo's Lately?" »
1:15 PM ET | 03- 6-2008 | permalink | comments (81) | e-mail post
Libya in 2005
For much of the last 40 years, Libya -- setting of the BPP's inaugural book club selection, In the Country of Men -- has been an enigma to Americans.
But in 2004, restrictions on the use of U.S. passports to travel to the country were lifted. One of the first people who took advantage of the opportunity to travel there was freelance journalist Michael J. Totten, who wrote about his trip in the LA Weekly. His piece details an atmosphere of oppression and lethargy. It's not exactly what the Libyan tourism industry would have commissioned:
Tripoli's aesthetic brutality hurt me.
Continue reading "BPP Book Club: An American in Tripoli" »
12:21 PM ET | 03- 6-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post
It's the one made by a teacher
People in my family swore by Airborne's fizzy elixir. I found it nauseating, at least at first. And I can't say it ever saved me from a cold or kept a cold from being worse than it might have been.
What I can say is that we haven't got receipts from our purchases, which will make it at least little harder to cash in our share of Airborne's $23.3 million settlement in a class-action lawsuit over false claims. On our show today, David Schardt, a senior nutritionist with the Center for Science in the Public Interest, takes a closer look.
UPDATE: Turns out you can get refunded for up to six bottles without receipts. Directions here. I'll play an audio interview with more details Friday on the blog/show.
11:03 AM ET | 03- 6-2008 | permalink | comments (69) | e-mail post
"Doll" is the first word Anne Sullivan (right) spelled to Helen Keller.
Me, I can't hear Helen Keller's name without tearing up. As a toddler, Keller was left blind and deaf after a bout with what might have been meningitis. She lived in isolation until Anne Sullivan, a teacher, gave her the gift of language. And then she flew through life, sometimes literally.
Now a newly discovered photo from 1888 shows Helen, at age eight, on a family vacation in Cape Cod. She's sitting with Sullivan, holding Sullivan's hand and a doll. Experts say it could be the earliest photo of the two together, and the only one showing the child with a doll. "Doll," as the AP reports, is the first word Sullivan spelled to Keller.
Special thanks to the New England Historic Genealogical Society for sharing the photo.
8:39 AM ET | 03- 6-2008 | permalink | comments (11) | e-mail post
John and Judy Borger are dealing with some separation issues. It's not just that they're officially empty nesters, since their youngest son graduated from college. And it's not just that they're moving from the home where they raised their children to an apartment in downtown Minneapolis. It's also that they've decided to donate John's collection of 40,000 comic books, valued in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, to the University of Minnesota. They talked on our show today about giving up what Judy calls "a piece of our family history."
Judy wrote a great piece about the donation for MinnPost.com. There's also a video that includes John, Judy and the comics. Check it out:
8:20 AM ET | 03- 6-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post
Canadian-born twin sisters Tegan and Sara Quin recorded their first two LP's in their high school's recording studio, and haven't looked back since. Their live show, a combination of comic banter and indie rock, has delighted critics and audiences for years, and their music has been a staple on shows such as The L Word and Gray's Anatomy.
Here's "Nineteen," off their new album "The Con."
7:55 AM ET | 03- 6-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post
The United States Army recently offered up samples of their newest innovation: special packets of easy-to-eat, high-nutrition, high-calorie foods designed for mobile forces. Items on the menu include blackened catfish, teriyaki chicken, French toast squares and pumpkin cake.
The chow, mostly bagged, finger-type foods that soldiers can tear open and eat on the run, will be available in the field next month.
Sink your teeth into the BPP's Most.
Army unveils new menu/ Blind Melon finds new lead singer/ Britain's first Bollywood acting school/ Cemetery full, mayor tells locals not to die
Also, you can check out NPR's Most listened to piece, "Into the Brain of a Liar," by Radio Lab's Robert Krulwich and Jad Abumrad from WNYC.
Check out Radio Lab's podcast here.
6:51 AM ET | 03- 6-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
Britain's 101-year-old Buster Martin plans to become the world's oldest marathon runner by completing the London Marathon and celebrating with a pint of beer and a cigarette.
"I've said I'll attempt it," he told Reuters by telephone from his workplace at Pimlico Plumbers. "I haven't said I'll complete it. If I do make it, all the better. I hadn't thought of doing it before but someone asked me and the money goes to charity so why not?"
101-year-old marathon runner/ Wikipedia's creator is facing allegations/ Patrick Swayze diagnosed with cancer/ New theories on animal evolution
6:20 AM ET | 03- 6-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
The Thursday Rundown for the BPP:
3:16 PM ET | 03- 5-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post
By now we've heard all the pundits, parsed the exit poll numbers, blamed the media for getting it wrong and looked at Hillary Clinton's campaign strategy for clues to her success in the primaries yesterday.
But did anybody check the candidates' horoscopes?
My horoscope page of choice, in the New York Post, was amazingly spot-on for the candidates yesterday.
Hillary Clinton was born on October 26th. Hello, Scorpio!:
March 4, 2008 -- If life has been getting on top of you lately you will get the chance to reverse the process over the next 24 hours. Forget about making excuses. Forget about blaming others for your failures. You are, or should be, the master of your fate, so get out there and make things happen. It's easy when you try.
Barak Obama was born August 4th. Hello, Leo!:
March 4, 2008 -- There will be a lot of minor distractions over the next 24 hours and, not surprisingly, you will get rather frustrated at how slowly you are moving towards your goal. You have got to be aggressive about your private time. You have got to let others know you need your space - and peace and quiet to go with it.
The Republicans after the jump:
Continue reading "Primary Horoscopes" »
2:46 PM ET | 03- 5-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
Listen to our chat with hardcore Packer Backers Patrick and Bonnie
Today we had a great interview with BPP pals and hardcore Green Bay Packer fans Patrick Daley and Bonnie Wasserman. Click the listen link just above this, and you'll understand why Brett Favre's retirement isn't just a sports story--it's a human story.
This also gives us an excuse to re-post a video we did back in January in which we featured the Kettle of Fish bar in Manhattan, where Wisconsin expats gather to watch Packer games. That's where we first met Patrick and Bonnie. Enjoy...
12:46 PM ET | 03- 5-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post
Not going to embed it.
On today's show, we wrestled with the latest viral video sensation, a clip depicting an American service member throwing a puppy off a cliff in Iraq.
Virginia Heffernan of the New York Times says there's no way to know if the clip is real. But she notes that clips of human suffering from the war haven't had nearly the kind of play given to this video.
"The one that seems to show footage of a dog is the one we're all talking about," she says.
Your turn's in the comments. Can't wait to see what the BPP crowd says about it.
10:14 AM ET | 03- 5-2008 | permalink | comments (30) | e-mail post
A new mystery has developed on the islands along British Columbia. Over the past six months, three human feet have surfaced on the rocky coastlines of three separate islands in the Strait of Georgia.
"This is the first incident in recent memory where we've had three such similar sets of remains come to our attention in a certain time frame and a certain geographic area," said Jeff Dolan, assistant deputy chief coroner for the British Columbia Coroner's Office.
For more details, check out the BPP's Most.
Three human feet float ashore/ Israeli researcher says Moses could have been high on drugs/ S. Florida mom and daughter convicted of slavery/ Google trends: http://www.Glit.com
8:41 AM ET | 03- 5-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
Bill Scher on today's 'BPP'
Clinton v. Obama goes another round.
Winning three out of four primaries Tuesday, Democratic presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton is claiming a comeback. Meanwhile, blogger Bill Scher of LiberalOasis.com says it's almost "impossible" for her to beat Barack Obama. He suggests the big winner here is Republican John McCain, who clinched the nomination yesterday and can now watch Obama and Clinton pummel each other.
Not sure what I think about all that. You?
8:39 AM ET | 03- 5-2008 | permalink | comments (12) | e-mail post
Last Wednesday, Allison Penn gave birth to identical triplets at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, New York. Penn was impregnated with just one embryo which split in half and then one of the split halves split in half again.
"This is the first one we're aware of in the literature in the country in which they only put back one embryo" and a woman gave birth to triplets, said Dr. Victor Klein. "Most people put back two or three embryos and you just never know."
An obstetrician estimated this rare birth might happen just once in 200 million births.
Identical triplets/ Six Flags in Bubai/ Amy Winehouse diagnosed with skin disease/ Magna Carta still legible
8:29 AM ET | 03- 5-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post
Mmmm . . .
Much time spent yesterday debating the opposite of a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich. Is it a cricket flavored with bacon and cheese powder? Or is it not food at all? Is the mathematic inverse of a BE&C in fact a delicate flute solo? Questions remain.
But we may be a step closer to discovering what we get when we multiply a BE&C by a BE&C. I contend it's not a double bacon, egg, and cheese or an M1 Abrams tank, as has been long believed. It's this. The Lady's Brunch Burger. Yes, this sandwich on a donut bun is called the Lady's Brunch Burger, from Paula Deen and the Food Network. Can you do worse better?
7:16 AM ET | 03- 5-2008 | permalink | comments (13) | e-mail post
Outside the St. Mark's Church polling place in Burlington, Vt.
Twitter friend @danyork (here, too) sends these photos from his polling place, Ward 4 in Burlington, Vt. Supporters of the dueling Democrats in the race got in some last-minute pitches.
On the Republican side, John McCain won. On the Democratic side, it was Barack Obama.
Voting in Burlington, Vt.
After the jump, a sweet food pic.
Continue reading "Voter Checks in from Vermont" »
6:52 AM ET | 03- 5-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
I just caught this headline when I was surfing msnbc.com for election news: "Why Carpal Tunnel Cases Are Plummeting." Apparently the rash of diagnoses of carpal tunnel syndrome back in the late 90s may have been premature. Somebody tell that to my right wrist.
I'm a full-on ergo-keyboard, little bean bag mouse wrist-rest using, ibuprofen-taking, sometimes-wrist-brace-wearing carpal-tunnel-syndrome sufferer. My right wrist started hurting in the late 90s along with everybody else's. Coincidentally, that's also about the time I started working on a computer full time. It still hurts, but it's totally manageable.
As to the article's assertions that the evidence doesn't bear out that keyboards are to blame? Fine by me. My carpal tunnel flare-ups have more to do with mouse use anyway.
7:26 PM ET | 03- 4-2008 | permalink | comments (4) | e-mail post
So Matt's all proud of this big theory he has about tonight's American Idol... which is that David Hernandez is going to sing "Private Dancer." And he's all, "if I'm right, I get to eat a bacon, egg, and cheese." And he's further all, "if I'm wrong, I will eat the opposite of that."
Well, I know an easy bet when I see one. And we just happen to have the indisputable opposite of a bacon, egg, and cheese right here in the office, thanks to a previous weird segment.
The minute you see Mr. Hernandez NOT singing "Private Dancer" tonight, think of poor Matt eating crickets tomorrow. Because the truth is, he asked for it.
Sharon Hoffman
5:31 PM ET | 03- 4-2008 | permalink | comments (3) | e-mail post
The Wednesday Rundown for the BPP:
2:51 PM ET | 03- 4-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
David Hernandez: American Idol finalist, Private Dancer.
According to the Associated Press, American Idol finalist David Hernandez used to be a stripper.
At a male strip club.
For males.
Gordy Bryan, the manager of the club, said he performed completely nude. "He had the look and the type that people like, so he made pretty good money here," Bryan said.
It's yet another in a long line of American Idol scandals, which brings me to a theory I have and the title of this post.
I think the producers of American Idol knew about the David Hernandez thing all along and were holding the news back until this week because it is 80's week and that gives him the opportunity to sing Tina Turner's brilliant song, Private Dancer! Whatcha think about that!
Everyone in the office thinks I'm crazy. Maybe so. If I'm right, though, I will break my Lenten vow of giving up bacon, egg and cheese sandwiches (BC&E). I mean, if I'm right that'll be pretty amazing. I totally deserve that sandwich.
And if I'm not right? What then? Well, if I get to put the BC&E on the line then it's only fair that I eat the opposite of a BC&E if I turn out to be wrong. The question for you: what's the opposite of a BC&E?
2:47 PM ET | 03- 4-2008 | permalink | comments (9) | e-mail post
Another in our ongoing series dreamed up by web editor Laura Conaway about the food I cook for my family for dinner:
Last night was a semi-disaster. I attempted to make a homemade pizza and a green salad. The salad went okay. The pizza not so much:
Here's my salad recipe:
Semi-wilted boston lettuce (wilting optional) A cucumber, peeled and sliced width-wise A handful of precut "baby bella" mushrooms Baby carrots chopped up small A green pepper, sliced into chunks of varying sizes (slipshod knife-work) I would have done tomatoes but I think I saw a mold spot A bottle of the only salad dressing in our fridge (balsamic vinaigrette) Chalk to write note on blackboard: "buy more salad dressing"
The Pizza after the jump:
Continue reading "What I Made for Dinner: 3/3/08" »
1:04 PM ET | 03- 4-2008 | permalink | comments (11) | e-mail post
Green Bay Packers' legendary quarterback Brett Favre announced today that he is retiring after 17 years in the league. How are all those loyal Packer Backers responding? Well if this quote from a January Sports Illustrated piece is any indication, not well. Here's how Robert Ruprecht, a 39-year-old optometrist from LaCrosse, Wisconsin, said he'd handle the news:
When Brett Favre retires, I will cry. In fact, the day he retires I will call in sick. I won't be able to work. You don't understand. I have lived through Randy Wright, David Whitehurst...people used to leave free tickets under your wiper blades with a note saying 'please take these.' This guy Favre has brought us so much joy. He is the greatest Packer ever. To us, he's Michael Jordan. I am totally serious . . . This is going to sound weird, [but] I dream about this guy. I dream that I'm going shopping with him. I'm not kidding. I'm just saying, we worship Favre.
We're trying to book Robert for tomorrow's show. In the mean time, the news offers us an excuse to link back to this video we did in December.
11:53 AM ET | 03- 4-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post
Our inaugural BPP Book Club selection, In the Country of Men, tells the story of a young boy coming of age in Moammar Gadhafi's Libya in the late 1970s. It is a tale haunted by political violence; the boy's father, a member of the resistance, is continually under threat.
For the book's author, Hisham Matar, that milieu has a deeply personal meaning. While the book is not strictly autobiographical, Matar's own father was active against the Gadhafi government. In 1990, he was abducted from his home in exile in Cairo and taken to a Libyan prison. His family has not seen him since, and his fate remains unknown.
Matar tells the story of his father's disappearance in a moving essay from the Independent of London, published in 2006:
To this day, every knock on the door could be my father. But the only way in which he visits unannounced is in dreams. I dream of him frequently. He sometimes comes as a young man; other times, wounded by his prison torturers. Most recently, his visit was so vivid, I am yet to recover from it. He was an old man, the age he should be now, and had the reticence of someone accustomed to solitude. He had acquired new habits, new manners of speech: attaching the phrase "you see?" at the end of every other sentence. His character has been coloured by his companions, I thought jealously in my dream. He spoke briefly, courteously, the way a fellow train passenger might do to pass away the time. When I placed my hand on his shoulder, he fell silent.
Not quite a month from now -- Friday, March 28th -- we'll have our book club meeting online. We'll generate some questions for the author. Then we'll talk to the author on our radio show and give you a chance to have your questions answered.
10:16 AM ET | 03- 4-2008 | permalink | comments (8) | e-mail post
With the launch of this year's spring product line, Old Navy will transition its store image from "quirky kitsch" to "trendy sophistication." The clothing company is trading its full name for the minimally chic initials "ON," with a brand new logo.
"We're launching more than just a new line," said Old Navy spokeswoman Rebecca Weill. "We're celebrating, really, a whole new Old Navy."
The new look at Old Navy/ 10 barely-legal gadgets/ Wikileaks champions whistle blowing after US court triumph/ Iranian court orders man to give his wife 124,000 roses
9:14 AM ET | 03- 4-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
Robert Irvine, the star of the Food Network series "Dinner: Impossible," has been cut from the network due to an over-embellished resume. Irvine falsely claimed to have cooked meals for Britain's Royal Family and Various U.S. presidents.
"I was wrong to exaggerate in statements related to my experiences in the White House and the Royal Family," Irvine said in a written statement. "I am truly sorry for misleading people and misstating the facts."
The Food Network said it might revisit its decision at the end of this season, but for now would begin searching for a new host for the series.
False resume gets chef cut/ Moms brawl at Chuck E. Cheese/ Father misidentifies son as homicide victim/ Deadly jellyfish named in victim's honor/ Mothman sightings top Google trends
8:59 AM ET | 03- 4-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post
Filed under: Inside The BPP, Sound Off
So you know we tried something new, producing-wise, with the A-Block yesterday. (Or if you don't know that, listen to it here.) I'm fascinated by the conversation that experiment started; your comments are insightful and helpful to us as we figure out how best to evolve as a great news show.
Tell us more -- for example, HOW do you listen to us? Do you stream us live? (Why or why not?) Do you hear us on Sirius, or the radio? Do you prefer the podcast? Do you listen to the whole thing?
8:13 AM ET | 03- 4-2008 | permalink | comments (53) | e-mail post
Today on the show we're talking to Josh Klein, who figured out a way to train crows to bring him coins they find on the ground in exchange for peanuts. He hopes to get them to do other things too, like picking up trash instead of coins.
Follow this link for a video in which Josh explains how the device works. And here he is making a one-minute presentation at Gadgetoff 2007:
7:36 AM ET | 03- 4-2008 | permalink | comments (6) | e-mail post
(Above: Stunning video of what you might see, especially if you're NOT in New York City.)
Are you a stargazer? Want to give it a try? Here's introducing GLOBE at Night, an annual initiative from the hands-on, school-based science education program Global Learning and Observations to Benefit the Environment (GLOBE).
Continue reading "Be an Astronomer for a Night!" »
7:09 AM ET | 03- 4-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
Filed under: Biking the Iditarod
Imagine getting here under your own power -- and then getting out again.
Biking 350 miles in Alaska's human-powered Iditarod, she had some miserable moments, and she had great moments. Being Jill Homer, she told us about them both.
Wet bike, wet boot, inner demons :
But it's awfully beautiful out there:
5:08 PM ET | 03- 3-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
We tried something a little different in the "A Block" of our show today. The "A Block" is what we call the first 16 minutes of the audio broadcast -- it includes our open, the lead story, the newscast and a topical, talkable news interview.
Well, we blew that up today. There was no featured lead, no segmented newscast and no news interview. Instead, it was a mix of news from the morning and the weekend told with soundbites and excerpts from stories culled from the NPR newsroom.
I'm going to talk more about why we decided to do what we did tomorrow on the show, but before I do I want to know: what did you think?
Click on our handy flash player to give a listen -- and don't forget to leave a comment.
4:20 PM ET | 03- 3-2008 | permalink | comments (28) | e-mail post
Exhibit A: A Chop't restaurant. Exhibit B: Elixirs to cheat metro-death.
Is living in a city healthy for its inhabitants? Lots of studies list the benefits of city life -- chief among them, the 8 to 10 pounds urbanites keep off by walking all over the place. There are other perks, too, like centralized healthcare and a sense of community.
But when I walk around most big cities, I rarely think, "Damn, these are some healthy people." This time of year, they just seem pale, and maybe a little out of it.
Continue reading "Life in the Big City: Desperate for Air (and Green Leaves)" »
Bill Chappell
12:44 PM ET | 03- 3-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
Painting it like he sees it in Washington, D.C..
I first saw this truck around Washington, D.C., a few years ago, but I had no idea it was any kind of an institution in its own right until a friend mentioned it a few weeks back. Then, lo and behold, there it was again, and I snapped a photo.
A quick search yielded an odd entry on, of all things, the Guinness World Records site. "RubbaBanMan" makes no mention of the van, but he does include some of its spray-painted text. Evidently, the guy hopes to accumulate a record-worthy rubber-band ball.
Continue reading "Paging Mr. C. Kret: Your Van Is Causing a Web-Jam" »
11:16 AM ET | 03- 3-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
I can't figure out if this story is about the worst zoo in the world or the best zoo in the world.
The Las Vegas Zoo (yes, it exists) acquired two animals this year, a leopard and a binturong. The leopard has already gone from arthritic to dead, and the binturong (also know as a bearcat, although it's related to neither bear nor cat) smells of popcorn and Fritos, as is characteristic of the species. His name is Bruce.
10:02 AM ET | 03- 3-2008 | permalink | comments (7) | e-mail post
MSNBC (full disclosure: I used to work there) uses a lower-third banner that screams out "Watch This!" for particularly scintillating video of sometimes dubious news value. Today they used it for some truly awesome amateur video of an aborted plane landing. MSNBC, CNN and other news organizations got the video from liveleak.com. Here it is--watch this!
It reportedly happened over the weekend as blustery winds rocked an Airbus 320 owned by Lufthansa as it came to land in Hamburg, Germany.
You can see the wing scraping the ground at one point.
The pilot aborted the first attempt at landing, but landed safely the second time around.
9:50 AM ET | 03- 3-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post
Fish aren't the only species that switch gender because of pollutants, reports Wired's blog. Scientists from Cardiff University in the U.K. report that starlings are also prone to change their tune after exposure to toxins. Earthworms rich in endocrine disruptors give starlings higher-pitched voices, which, as it turns out, helps them get increased attention from the lady birds.
Crotch scratching banned in Italy/ Grunting girl banned from tennis / Baltimore's Chinatown disappears
9:22 AM ET | 03- 3-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
Reid Stowe and Soanya Ahmad aboard the schooner Anne.
Reid Stowe, 2007.
There were many stars in the sky touched with a crescent moon. Reid had the first watch from about 7pm to 11pm and I woke up and watched from about 11pm to 2 am after which Reid catnapped and I slept a little more soundly. When we woke up about 6:30am, we saw the sun rise on a glassy ocean and no land in sight. Right now, we are about forty miles offshore and the water is turning turquoise. I haven't gotten seasick yet and am enjoying the ethereal beauty around me.
Soanya and Reid had planned to spend 1000 consecutive days at sea without touching shore. But by December, debilitating seasickness began to overtake Soanya, leaving her unable to complete even the smallest tasks. After 305 days at sea, Soanya left the boat and Reid behind. A special transfer was arranged with the Royal Perth Yacht Club and Soanya set foot on land for the first time in nearly a year in Fremantle, Australia.
Today she is back home in New York and she stopped by our studios to tell us about her trip.
9:04 AM ET | 03- 3-2008 | permalink | comments (13) | e-mail post
In this week's New York Times magazine, Gershom Gorenberg tells the story of an Israeli woman who had to prove she was Jewish to be married under the state's Orthodox rabbinate, the only body which grants marriage licenses in that country. The Israeli-born bride, the daughter of a Jewish-American mother and a non-Jewish British father, enlisted American relatives to search for her grandparents' marriage certificates and take photos of her ancestors' gravestones.
How Do You Prove You're a Jew?/ U.S. Health Care Gets Boost From Charity/ Canadian Rocker Jeff Healy dies of cancer/ I Need a Virtual Break. No, Really/ A swig of live fish: A Flemish town's ritual draws condemnation/
8:59 AM ET | 03- 3-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post
Peacebone - Animal Collective - Fan Video for StG from Luke Wilhelmi on Vimeo.
Those puppets up there, in that video? They're award-winning puppets. And we need some.
Readers of the Canadian blog Said the Gramophone took the challenge to make their own music videos. A take on Animal Collective's "Peacebone" won.
We like it so much, we're asking you, dear listener, to make a music video for the Bryant Park Project's theme song. Upload it to YouTube, blip.tv or Vimeo. Tag it as bppmusicvideo so we can find it. We'll feature ones we love, like, or can't figure out on our blog.
Here's the music. Now get cracking, before we turn all official and set a deadline.
Press play and start dreaming.
An awful sample after the jump....
Continue reading "Challenge: Make a Music Video for the BPP" »
8:11 AM ET | 03- 3-2008 | permalink | e-mail post
At 4:20 local time Saturday, snow cyclist Jill Homer reached the end of Alaska's 350-mile Iditarod Trail Invitational. With a time of six days, two hours and 20 minutes, Homer fared better than the eight days she expected to spend on the trail. Not that it was by any means easy. Can't wait to catch up to her for an audio interview. Meanwhile, she writes:
I came to an open stream crossing that was running knee-deep, which at subzero temperatures is a big deal. But I was in a hurry so I wrapped my garbage bags around my legs and quickly duct taped the tops, then hoisted my bike and stepped right into the creek. But the bike's weight and rushing water were too much for me to handle, and I dropped the bike.
Read the rest on her blog.
Bonus: News of the other racers tumbling toward home.
7:08 AM ET | 03- 2-2008 | permalink | comments (1) | e-mail post
My husband pointed this blog out to me: It's Garfield comics without Garfield. Suddenly some tired three-panel strips find new life as an examination of modern loneliness.
4:32 PM ET | 03- 1-2008 | permalink | comments (5) | e-mail post
Snow cyclist Jill Homer reached the Nikolai checkpoint yesterday at 4:20 p.m. That puts her about 50 miles from McGrath, Alaska, the end of the 350-mile Iditarod Trail Invitational. Homer had set a blistering pace early in the race, fast enough to put her within reach of the women's course record.
Then she slowed down, way down, and the only news was that she hadn't slept to speak over the first few nights. Later, she was found in a bivvy sack napping beside the trail to Nikolai. You could practically hear everyone on the race's message board let out their breath when Homer posted an account at Nikolai. It's pasted in full after the jump.
Continue reading "Thank God: Jill Homer Checks In" »
8:54 AM ET | 03- 1-2008 | permalink | comments (2) | e-mail post
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