Vintage Airstream Trailers

Here's a look at some great vintage Airstreams and the Shady Dell Trailer Park in Bisbee, Arizona. Here's a close-up of the park and another of Massachusetts Institute of Technology sophomore Lisa Smith standing in the doorway of a 1950’s Spartan Manor trailer.

U2 - In America

U2's Bono has composed music that is heard in movies In America and Gangs of New York.

Socrates Cafe

Democracy descends when comfort and stability take precedence over the life of ideas. Ideas for conducting a Socratic dialogue by Christopher Phillips and Cecilia Phillips, founders of The Society for Philosophical Inquiry.

"Would Shakespeare Get Into Swarthmore?"

John Katzman, Andy Lutz and Erik Olson in Atlantic magazine show how Hemingway and Shakespeare, among others, would have difficulty passing the essay portion of the new SAT in "Would Shakespeare Get Into Swarthmore?" So just what does the College Board consider good writing?

Orwell's Six Rules for Writing

In his essay "Politics and the English language," George Orwell provides six simple rules for all writers of English:
- Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
- Never use a long word where a short one will do.
- If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
- Never use the passive [voice] where you can use the active.
- Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
- Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

Pete Seeger and then some

Listened to NPR interview with Pete Seeger this morning followed by a piece about Malcolm X's grandson Malcolm Shabazz. Got me to thinking about other "Voices of Their Generation" - we talked about F. Scott Fitzgerald and T.S. Eliot in class today, which reminded me of Kerouac and Ginsberg in their day - was On the Road the Gatsby of the 50s and "Howl" that era's "Wasteland?" All connects to our talks about Modernism.

Freedom Forum and Newseum

"The Freedom Forum, based in Arlington, Va., is a nonpartisan foundation dedicated to free press, free speech and free spirit for all people. The foundation focuses on three priorities: the Newseum, First Amendment and newsroom diversity."

Museums

Thinking about cool museums I've visited - National Steinbeck Center, Petersen's Automotive Museum, Getty, the Museum of Television and Radio, and of course the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Homemade Music

Check out this guy - Dan Reeder - heard him reviewed on Fresh Air yesterday afternoon. He made the instruments, wrote the songs and recorded his own CD. And got John Prine to help him sell it at Oh Boy Records. Sounds good, too.

The Day in Photos

The Washington Post's Camera-Works pages contains a daily slideshow of events around the world.

My Back Pages

Bob Dylans's My Back Pages - lyrics at BobDylan.com. One of his greatest songs. And he's still touring.

Nelson Mandela

The Long Walk of Nelson Mandela was a PBS program featuring extensive interviews and biographical information on Mandela's life and incarceration.

The Rose Gallery

The Rose Gallery holds work by depression era photographers Horace Bristol and Dorthea Lange as well as contemporaries including Rosamond Purcell.

Found Art - Rosamond Purcell

Rosamond Purcell creates installations that replicate found compositions of what some people might call junk. Join Rosamond Purcell on a multimedia tour of her installation exhibit "Two Rooms."

More Artistic Intersections

Jamaica Kincaid discusses the influence of Jane Eyre and John Milton on her writing at NPR's Intersections.

1984 Macintosh Computer SuperBowl Ad

This is the 1984 Macintosh Computer SuperBowl ad that began the tradition that fills the space between the plays in today's game. Vote for your favorite ad from Superbowl XXXVIII at adbowl.com. Also, check out How To Read Ads.