What does it mean to be Jewish?

[Paul is a Facebook friend. I've never met the man, although I have heard him play the guitar more than once. He's as good as it gets at least on this instrument, in this state. He posts excellent stories about music and musicians. This one, however, has nothing to do with music. Rather it concerns... Continue Reading →

My Kinda Guy

[Richard Heinberg is my kinda guy, because he obsesses about things like gas-powered leaf blowers, but also because he is not afraid to dig deep into full lifecycle analysis. Everyone wants the quick fix, the easy solution, the immediate gratification. Air is polluted? Easy-squeezy. Put solar panels on the roof and buy an electric car... Continue Reading →

Music to Go To The Dump By

[This tribute to Silverback Ken comes via the pen of Silverback Bill (Hinesburg SBs). Although the Silverback community is geographically disperse, as opposed to Vermont-specific, it is still highly highly-specialized, self-selected, and endangered. There is a wealth of wisdom to be gleaned by examining the legacy of SB Ken. SB SM] Photo Image courtesy Stowe... Continue Reading →

Pal O’Mine

[We lost SB Ed earlier this year. He was one of the original members of what was then the Silverback Film Society, but Ed was "one of the originals" in many other ways. At his celebration of life event in September, more than 600 folks packed Chandler Music Hall to remember him. For me, the... Continue Reading →

The Low Down on the Greatest Dictionary Collection in the World

https://www.atlasobscura.com/ From “unabridged” to “slanguage,” Madeline Kripke’s library is a logophile’s heaven (or hell). BY APRIL WHITE NOVEMBER 14, 2023 These boxes represent just a portion of Madeline Kripke's dictionary collection—around 10,000 volumes and counting. COURTESY LILLY LIBRARY MADELINE KRIPKE’S FIRST DICTIONARY WAS a copy of Webster’s Collegiate that her parents gave her when she was a fifth grader in Omaha in... Continue Reading →

David Sedaris: Punching Down

[I don't know how to properly credit this essay. It's written by David Sedaris. It was a podcast that was produced by someone at the Detroit Free Press, then posted on Facebook, where it was shared a zillion times. That said ... he makes some good points about overly-coddled children and unrealistic parents. SB SM]... Continue Reading →

Dog versus Cat people

[Suggested by SB Babs. The world is divided into two distinct groups of people. People who love the Grateful Dead/People who hate the Grateful Dead; people who toast their marshmallows/people who burn their marshmallow; Yankees/Red Sox; toilet paper towards the wall/toilet paper away from the wall. And the list goes on. SB SM] by Zoe... Continue Reading →

Funny Stuff #2

Merriam-Webster has this neat website that shows you the first time a word was used in print. In one column, we’ll give you some words and, in the other, we’ll give you years. Your job is to match the word to the year it was first used in print. Words AmbulanceBridezillaOligopolyPrototypeArtisanalWokeness Years 155218951825201119951939 (answers below) Thanks to... Continue Reading →

Powered by WordPress.com.

Up ↑