From the same Lifehacker fellow who brought you the trick here of how to cool a can of beverage in two minutes comes a new one that's even more practical, which some people might use regularly. It's how to fold a shirt in under two seconds. Really. This isn't a magic trick. And I can vouch for this one because I tried it -- and was able to duplicate it time after after time. Now, this video only shows folding t-shirts and works on sport shirts, as well, butt as you see below it, apparently works on longsleeve shirt, too. (Though this would take more than two seconds, since you'd have to button it up.) But this is quite remarkable. I say that because, among other things, I am not a good shirt folder. I've been taught, repeatedly and I try hard, and come close, but...no go. It's always a bit sloppy. Most especially with longsleeve shirts. (Admittedly, sports shirts and t-shirts aren't nearly as difficult, but even there it's always taken me far longer than two seconds.) But now, particularly with sport shirts, this not only works near perfectly, but...in two seconds. (Okay, disclaimer: I don't feel as confident with it yet as the Lifehacker guy blithely flipping the shirt through the air, so it takes me more than two seconds. But it's still only about 4-seconds.) I did try it several times with a longsleeve shirt, and actually came close. I haven't figured out how to pull that off properly yet -- my results were not nearly as department-store smooth as this picture -- but it was semi-reasonable enough that I might use it when next packing. Watching this video and then practicing will make you anxious for it to be laundry day...!
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You might want to warm up your Internet machine to the official White House live video stream here at noon, West Coast time.
At 12 o'clock 3 PM in the East), President Obama is presenting the National Medal of Arts to a variety of honorees, including Broadway composer John Kander, who wrote such huge Broadway musicals as Cabaret, Chicago, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, and the song "New York, New York" from the movie of the same name. My only question is...geez, what took them so long?!! After all, it might have been nice for some earlier Administration to have given the medal when Kander's lyricist partner Fred Ebb was still alive! They only been writing together for nearly half a century! Well, better now than never. (I chose not to say "better late" since Mr. Ebb is indeed "the late," and it's not better...) As my friend John Kander II (his nephew) rightfully notes, both the other John Kander and Fred Ebb did receive the Kennedy Center Honor in 1998, so it's not like they've been without important national note. But still, if one is deserving of the the medal, as obviously they are, it would be nice to have done so in a timely manner. Especially when both fellows were around to appreciate it. So, lately, I've been posted a bunch of pieces about how bitter, venal, vicious commentary by Republicans against President Obama and women has seemingly given "aid and comfort" to conservatives in general to be as nasty and cruel as they like, believing it to be the tenor of the times and acceptable behavior.
O joy, we get to add another one to the list. Stephen Steinlight is a senior policy analyst at the Center for Immigration Studies. In a speech to the Highlands Tea Party in Florida -- okay, you just know this is not going to end well -- the scholar, or what passes for a scholar among conservatives these days said -- "We all know, if there ever was a president that deserved to be impeached, it’s this guy. Alright? And I wouldn’t stop. I would think being hung, drawn and quartered is probably too good for him." Mr. Steinlight also said more -- though oddly, the one thing he apparently didn't say anything about is what exactly President Obama has done that is, in fact, a "high crime and misdemeanor" deserving of impeachment -- but the rest of his words, spiteful as they are for a senior policy analyst, pale in comparison to suggesting that the President of the United States should be "hung, drawn and quartered." (Yes, this actually was from a conservative think tank. Which puts into perspective their concept of the word, "think.") In reaction, the director of research at Mr. Steinlight think tank, Steven Camarota, responded to an inquiry by the Huffington Post, saying, -- "Steve was speaking figuratively and hyperbolically, obviously, for effect. In that respect his intemperate comments were similar to those who are often critics of President Bush, and I would say like those comments, they are ill-advised, I would also say that the Center for Immigration Studies does not in fact support drawing and quartering the president." And what I would like to say is that I'd love to hear from the CIS spokesman for him to name one policy analyst who had ever suggested that President Bush be hung, drawn and quartered, or killed in any way -- hyperbolically, figuratively or otherwise. I am going to guess that he would be hard-pressed to find a single one. And I will guess further that if by chance he did actually find one, or even several, I would add that I'll bet they weren't sloughed-off by their employers with an "Oh, they were just joking" hand wave -- nor should have been -- and "Fox News" likely spent days being outraged at how All Liberals Felt. The executive director of the Center for Immigration Studies, Mark Krikorian, did acknowledge that the senior policy adviser had been dealt with, so at least there was a consequence. "I reprimanded him and put a reprimand in his personnel file," Ouch, that'll show him. And if one ever wonders -- still -- why conservatives believe that they can say the most heinous thinks about a black President of the United States, or women, or pretty much anyone or minority group they dislike without thinking it's bad behavior and with the knowledge that their actions are accepted by the party...there yet another example why. As I always note -- this is not about political correctness. This is about people saying things that are mean-spirited, nasty and intended to be as hurtful as possible...and not being honest or "man enough" to at the very least acknowledge that what they said was mean-spirited, nasty and intended to be as hurtful as possible. This week's contestant is Katherine Oxnard Ellis from Savannah, Georgia. As I was listening to the song and got it quickly, I knew that this is a song one will either know almost instantly, and with a smile, or you won't know it at all. And later, in discussing the song with Ms. Oxnard Ellis as she tries to guess it, composer/pianist Bruce Adolphe makes that very point. And she does eventually get it. The composer style is very gettable, but not obvious.
Hey, it's Hall of Fame weekend, so you're not getting away with just one article about it. I knew to most people who follow baseball, they see Greg Maddux as an Atlanta Brave. It's where he really skyrocketed to his most national fame, winning three Cy Young awards, winning a Word Series, and winning most of his games. He ended up, by the way, with 355 wins -- the eighth most in the history of the game. (In fact, the second most wins in what would be considered the modern era, only a mere eight wins fewer than Warren Spahn.) But whatever most of the baseball world thinks, to Chicagoans Greg Maddux is a Chicago Cub. It's where he began his career, where he won his first Cy Young Award and won 133 games. He spent the first seven years of his career with the Cubs. And it's where he probably would have spent his entire career, if it wasn't for the Cubs being oh-so-stupid. Basically, when Maddux was in the last year of his contract, the Cubs made him a "take it or leave it" offer. It still stings. Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune wrote about it the other day here. Former general manager Larry Himes told the Tribune in January: "Looking back, you always can say I could have approached Tribune Co. for a few extra bucks. But I didn't think I should. I thought we had enough money on the table." But this isn't all second-guessing, hyperbole, or wishful thinking. There's the reality of what Greg Maddux did after the fact. Not just that he made the decision to return to the Cubs at the end of his career, but what he did when he was elected to the Hall of Fame.
When a player is voted into the Hall, and if he played on more than one team. he's allowed to select what team cap will be on his plaque. Clearly, most everyone assumed Greg Maddux with pick the Atlanta Braves. But Maddux, who spent a career surprising batters, surprised everyone. As Mark Bowman wrote for MLB.com -- "Maddux notched 194 of his 355 career victories while wearing a Braves uniform. But he never lost touch with the appreciation he has always had for the Cubs. Thus instead of slighting one fan base, Maddux will be inducted into the Hall of Fame today as neither a Brave nor a Cub. He will simply stand as one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history." But don't simply take his word for it, or take my biased diehard Cubs fan-word for it. Just listen to Greg Maddux himself -- "I thought I would probably retire [in Chicago]," Maddux said. "Things change over time. It was nice going back there. I was received very well there. I loved the city, loved the team and loved the location. I love Wrigley [Field]. I liked the weather, believe it or not. It's nice having different weather. There were just so many good things about Chicago. To be able to go back there was a bonus." Greg Maddux was elected with an amazing 97.2 percent of the vote, one of the highest in history. Most people think of him as an Atlanta Brave. But Greg Maddux and I have another opinion on that. The Chicago Cubs famously haven't won a World Series in 108 years. Over the past century, people have debated the many possible reasons. But what they overlook is that decisions like letting Greg Maddux leave is high on the list... Back in January, I wrote that when the Baseball Hall of Fame announced its new inductees, I was thrilled. I was happy to see Greg Maddux named -- who began his career with the Cubs (who idiotically traded him, though he returned later...), but that was expected. But the biggest joy was Roger Angell, who was totally unexpected. Angell is a sportswriter (which is somewhat like saying Shakespeare tells stories) for the New Yorker and received the J.G. Taylor Spink Award. Among other things, I wrote -- Why it stood out for me is a simple question -- What took them so long???! It's foolish that it took the Hall of Fame this long or that it even has that "daily" rule. They've long-since changed their rules for ballplayers themselves, having inducted members of the old Negro Leagues, and often changes the requirements for the Veterans Committee. To have excluded sportswriters because they didn't write daily?? Well, at least they've now had the belated wisdom to let in Roger Angell. The main Hall of Fame ceremonies are today, and will be broadcast on the MLB Network. A pre-show starts at 9 AM West Coast time, with the inductions beginning at 10:30 AM. Angell, though, was inducted the day before. One thing I learned, which for some reason I'm shocked I never knew, is that his step-father was the legendary writer E.B. White! Here is an excerpt of Roger Angell's Hall of Fame induction speech. Alas, for reasons known only to the Hall of Fame Gods, it's only just two minutes of it, but after all this time, that's plenty enough. Just to round things out a bit, here's another five minutes of video. It's from after the induction itself, and is part of the Q&A with Angell and fellow Ford Frick Award winner Eric Nadel (for broadcast media) about their experiences at Cooperstown. |
AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
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