Andrew Sullivan thinks that all the right-wing hostility towards Barack Obama has made him even more powerful.
Whilst flipping the news dial this evening, I happened upon some footage of an angry mob chanting, "No taxation without representation! No taxation without representation!" I assumed at first it was citizens who live in the District of Columbia and really do have taxation without representation. Turned out, it was people in Nebraska. Apparently, their idea of "no representation" is that their Senators and Congresspersons are voting on the losing side of some bills.
Now and then, we like to tackle the really important matters here at newsfromme. Here's one. Large size jars of peanut butter are misshapen.
Figure 1 above shows a typical large size jar of peanut butter. As you have no doubt observed if you've ever handled one, once you get down below about the halfway mark, it's very difficult to get the peanut butter out, especially if you have large hands. When you grip the handle of an average knife, about seven inches of blade protrudes. This is your scooping capability. The rim of the jar blocks your hand from going in deep enough to get the peanut butter from the bottom of the jar. When you try, you miss much and you also get peanut butter all over your hand, transferred from the rim of the jar. This is not efficient.
Figure 2 is a representation of how peanut butter jars should be once they exceed a certain size. The proportions are approximate but this is meant to depict a jar which by volume would contain the same amount of peanut butter at, one assumes, the same price. Note the wider mouth would allow your hand free access to the bottom of the peanut butter jar, enabling you to scoop out every last bit of peanut butter.
The world would be a better place if the manufacturers of peanut butter would take heed. Yes, I know some of them are preoccupied by the news that their product contains salmonella, which can kill people. Those companies are doing their customers a service by not enabling them to unjar as much peanut butter as possible. They would in fact be well advised to configure a jar that prevents buyers from getting any peanut butter at all out or failing that, they could remove the salmonella from their product. However, those who make and sell peanut butter without salmonella would be well-advised to look long and hard at Figure 2. Thank you.
Irving Berlin was one of America's great composers but from all reports, he wasn't much of a piano player or a singer. Everyone sounded great performing an Irving Berlin song except Irving Berlin.
In 1933, he was working on a revue called As Thousands Cheer. Moss Hart was the director and they'd been having trouble finding the right tune for the Act One finale. Berlin had written several that hadn't worked...but one day, he ran into a rehearsal with great enthusiasm. "I've got it," he yelled. "I came up with a new song and it's perfect." And with that, he sat down at a piano and began to play and sing his latest composition.
It sounded terrible. Hart didn't know what to do since Berlin was so excited. Finally, after the terrible tune was over and he'd had a chance to think about it, Hart said, "Irving...do me a favor and play 'Blue Skies!'"
Irving was puzzled. "Blue Skies" was (then) his biggest hit but what did it have to do with this song in this show? "Just humor me," Hart said. Play 'Blue Skies!'"
So he played "Blue Skies" and it sounded terrible, too.
When he was done, Hart said, "Irving...the new song is terrific!"
That it was. Audiences loved it and a few years later, MGM used it as the title song in a movie with Judy Garland and Fred Astaire. Here's that movie, very appropriate for today...
April 13, 2009
