Woody Guthrie’s to-do list

A list of thirty-three “New Years Rulin’s.”

Other posts with lists
“Ambercroombie & Flitch” (Ways to be cool)
Amy Winehouse’s to-do list (“When I do recorddeal”)
Blue crayon (Supplies for an imaginary camping trip)
John Lennon’s to-do list (“H.B.O. Guy coming between 3–5”)
Johnny Cash’s to-do list (“Kiss June”)
Review: Liza Kirwin, Lists (Artists’ lists)
Whose list? (A found list)

Thanks, Trent.

Recipes I stopped reading

“1. Fold each licorice piece in half and push ends through centers of 12 marshmallows. Set aside.”

I stopped there.

VDP fills out the Bullett questionnaire

[“Contented, I know that I’m 20 feet from the spotlight, where I’m able to see the stars.”]

Van Dyke Parks fills out the Bullett questionnaire. The page is a little difficult to negotiate: click the arrows for the full-page view and do the best you can.

Rick Santorum and Wal-Mart

Watching Rick Santorum on television last night, I felt that I was watching a satellite transmission from Htrae. I was struck especially by Santorum’s explanation of why manufacturing jobs have gone overseas: “It’s because government made workers uncompetitive, by driving up the cost of doing business here.” And then: “When Republican purists say to me ‘Well, why are you treating manufacturing different than retail?’ I say ‘Because Wal-Mart’s not moving to China and taking their jobs with them.’” Wal-Mart: keeping jobs on Htrae!

Browsing around this morning for santorum and wal-mart, I found this page. Suddenly the Iowa caucuses seem to make sense:

[A reality check: in June 2011, Time reported that the average manufacturing wage in China is $3.10 an hour. In the United States: $22.30. According to Time, rising wages in China are driving manufacturing to Cambodia, Laos, India, Vietnam, and the United States.]

Mitt Romney, job creator?

At the Washington Post, Greg Sargent looks at Mitt Romney’s claims about job creation. The conclusion: Romney’s claim to have helped create 100,000 jobs is “at best unsubstantiated.” And the number of jobs created by Bain Capital may be surpassed by the number of layoffs resulting from the firm’s work.

Related posts
The Los Angeles Times on Mitt Romney and job creation
Mitt Romney at Bain
Mitt Romney: the soul of a poet

Ink&paper

Ben Proudfoot’s Ink&paper is a short film about Aardvark Letterpress and McManus & Morgan, the last letterpress printer and the last paper store in downtown Los Angeles.

A related post
The Henington Press (A press closes in Brooklyn)

Thanks, Lisa, for pointing me to this film.

Happy birthday, VDP

Van Dyke Parks turns sixty-nine today. Happy birthday, Van Dyke.

[Sixty-nine is the new fifty-two. The explanation: the special theory of relativity.]

Pinboard is was down

At least they have a sense of humor about it, as was the case in June 2011.

I am a big fan of Pinboard, which I use to make an index of sorts for Orange Crate Art.

12:19 p.m.: Pinboard is back.

Moleskine stickers

When I tore the wrapper from my 2012 Moleskine datebook, I was surprised to find three pages of tiny stickers with which to decorate the pages. These three stickers caught my eye, and I looked closely to make sure that I was seeing what I thought I was seeing: tiny-sticker-sized evidence of large-scale cultural change. These stickers, most likely meant to mark the name and telephone number of a beloved, acknowledge that love comes in assorted varieties. Everyone gets a sticker.

[Can anyone use some stickers? I’m kind of old for this stuff. Besides, I have my wife’s name and our number memorized.]

The name of the year

Ben Zimmer on what to call the new year: Twenty-what? Two thousand who? (Boston Globe ).

For much of the twenty-first century, the appropriate way to say the name of the year has been the subject of ongoing talks in my family. And as they say in the world of diplomacy, the talks have been frank. Me, I’ve been starting with twenty- since 2001.