Don’t put those pencils away just yet! Even if school is out for the summer, the Exquisite Prompt Writing Challenge, based on the unpredictable episodic story “The Exquisite Corpse Adventure” (www.read.gov/exquisite-corpse/), continues with a new twist.
“Central casting” at AdLit.org and Reading Rockets is looking for young, creative writers and filmmakers to star in the Exquisite Prompt Write It, Film It Video Contest, with a chance to win fabulous prizes and 15 minutes of fame on YouTube.
Just closed as an exhibition at McKenzie Fine Art in New York City, Reader’s Delight still ‘lives’ on the Web. Here’s part of the text introducing the exhibition of art that “explores some of the myriad ways artists express their reverence and affection for books and the act of reading:”
Editor’s Note: We’ve lost three inches in a decade … or more … three inches is what we’re admitting to. We’ve even had a CT scan of our cervical fusions to find out if they’re faulty or deteriorating … they’re not, but our shrinking has become a family joke. Besides a pile of slacks (ExOfficio is a favorite) to take up, I’m beginning to think of other ways that this rapid shortening will be affecting me. One truly disconcerting way is to conjure up a mental picture of me driving with my eye level slightly above the steering wheel.
The September 2010 issue of Consumer Reports contains a car article that is headlined, Cars for the young, old, tall, and small:
In addition to naming good cars for young and older drivers, Consumer Reports also names good picks for all sizes and types of drivers including the tall and small. All the models on Consumer Reports’ lists have at least average reliability and are recommended vehicles. Consumer Reports named only one car suitable for all four driver types: the Honda Accord.
“When it comes to finding the right cars for seniors, we recommend vehicles that offer easy access, good visibility, a roomy driving position and comfortable seats,” David Champion, senior director of Consumer Reports Automotive Test Center in East Haddam, Connecticut.
Here is a look at some of Consumer Reports‘ picks for teens and seniors:
Good Models for Teen drivers: (ESC [Electronic Stability Control] is standard or optional starting with the years listed below).
Good Models for Senior drivers:
More information can be found in the September issue of Consumer Reports, available on newsstands August 3 and online at www.ConsumerReports.org.
[Editor’s Note: Check out Rose Madeline Mula’s New Car Shopping Blues and Julia Sneden’s New and Not Improved Enough.]
From the San Francisco Public Library‘s history of Reversing Vandalism exhibit:
“In early 2001, San Francisco Public Library staff began finding books hidden under shelving units throughout the Main Library. The books had been carved with a sharp instrument: covers and inner pages were slashed and odd almond-shaped pieces were cut out. As the mutilated books began accumulating, staff recognized that most of the volumes were related to issues of gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered individuals, HIV/AIDS and women’s health issues. Staff members united to help find and inventory the over 600 damaged books, as well as to observe the stacks waiting for someone to shove damaged books under a shelf.”
“Eventually the vandal was caught by a librarian, on her day off, who alerted Library Security. The perpetrator was arrested, charged and found guilty of a hate crime. When the reports of the crime hit the newspapers, an outpouring of support as well as offers to help replace the volumes came from sympathizers across the country.”
Two Examples of How the Internet Has Assisted Voir Dire
Consider this example: In last year’s federal terrorism case against then-suspected (and since convicted) “dirty bomber” Jose Padilla, a team of defense lawyers was using laptops to conduct Internet searches on the names of prospective jurors in a Miami federal courtroom. They discovered that one juror had lied on her jury questionnaire.
The woman, a Miami-area government employee who was not publicly identified, said that she had no personal experience with the criminal justice system. But in fact, she was currently under investigation for malfeasance (sometimes referred to as official misconduct), according to online information discovered by a jury consultant for one of Padilla’s co-defendants. After the judge was informed of this discrepancy, she dismissed the juror.
The Museum of American Finance, an affiliate of the Smithsonian, is presenting an exhibit that chronicles the most notorious of American financial scandals. The following Exhibit Excerpts from Scandal! Financial Crime, Chicanery and Corruption that Rocked America have been written by the Museum of American Finance:
The King of the Alley: William Duer and America’s First Financial Scandal
On April 19, 1792, a mob of angry rioters surrounded the jail near City Hall in New York City, chanting “We will have have Mr. Duer, he has gotten our money!” William Duer, former member of the Continental Congress and once Alexander Hamilton’s right-hand man at the US Treasury, was imprisoned there for playing a key role in the Crash of 1792. The sheriff dispersed the crowd, but the city was in a panic — Duer had attempted to corner the market in government bonds and shares in existing and proposed banks by borrowing as much money as he could, from everyone he could.
Ginia Bellafante has written an article long awaited, a well-written and researched review of the “little effort to reflect the realities of the customers’ proportions.” Perhaps manufacturers and advertisers might notice the ever-enlarging numbers of clothes left on the rack at the end of a season, seemingly designed for the tween population rather than the women who could only imagine the clothing on their 13 year olds, rather than themselves. A few paragraphs from the piece: