Prime collaborations

Pure joy, tangentially related to prime numbers: the Supremes and the Temptations singing each other’s hits on The Ed Sullivan Show. But if there’s a live version of “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me,“ I’ve yet to find it.

Something I realized only after listening to “I’m Gonna Make You Love Me“ for maybe a dozen times over the last few days: what I always thought was a echo effect at 2:37 is Eddie Kendricks singing with Diana Ross. No tricks.

[Ed Sullivan oversimplified: the Temptations were originally called the Elgins, not the Primes. Two members came over from the Primes. As a quartet, the Supremes were originally called the Primettes.]

Cicadas in their primes

I somehow developed an interest in prime numbers. But I know when I’m beat. I understand enough though to enjoy this passage from Marcus du Sautoy’s The Music of the Primes: Searching to Solve the Greatest Mystery in Mathematics (New York: HarperCollins, 2003). It’s about two species of cicada, Magicicada septendecim and Magicicada tredecim. The first emerges from the ground to mate and die every seventeen years; the second, every thirteen years. “Why,” du Sautoy asks, “has each species chosen a prime number of years as the length of their life cycle?”

There are several possible explanations. Since both species have evolved prime number life cycles, they will be synchronised to emerge in the same year very rarely. In fact they will have to share the forest only every 221 = 17 × 13 years. Imagine if they had chosen cycles which weren’t prime, for example 18 and 12. Over the same period they would have been in sync 6 times, namely in years 36, 72, 108, 144, 180 and 216. These are the years which share the prime building blocks of both 18 and 12. The prime numbers 13 and 17, on the other hand, allow the two species of cicada to avoid too much competition.

Another explanation is that a fungus developed which emerged simultaneously with the cicadas. The fungus was deadly for the cicadas, so they evolved a life cycle which would avoid the fungus. By changing to a prime number cycle of 17 or 13 years, the cicadas ensured that they emerged in the same years as the fungus less frequently than if they had a non-prime life cycle. For the cicadas, the primes weren’t just some abstract curiosity but the key to their survival.

I remember the Great Confluence of 1998 well. An endless din. Shells everywhere. Every moment outside was aural agony. The cicadas were in their primes.

[From a review of the book: “just enough maths to befuddle the layman.”]

A last 2¢ about phonics

Imagine trying to learn a new language — Greek, say, in any of its varieties. It would be impossible to figure out words and their pronunciation without knowing the sounds that the letters make.

Now imagine being four or five or six and learning to read in your own first language. It would be impossible to figure out words and their pronunciation without knowing the sounds that the letters make.

I think that’s the clearest case that can be made for the importance of phonics.

[I thought of this brief bit on my own before realizing that there’s something like it in the podcast Sold a Story, about college students who are taught to read a few words in Korean with or without learning the Korean alphabet. The students who hadn’t learned the alphabet were, of course, lost when looking at unfamiliar words.]

A last 2¢ about the elections

I don’t think the results mean that younger voters think of themselves as “Democrats,” as aligned with a party. Rather, I think the results mean that younger voters oppose autocracy, fascism, inequality, racism, xenophobia, voter suppression, and state control of bodies and futures. And if they do, voting for Deomcratic candidates becomes the only game in town.

Word of the day: fanboy

From Anu Garg’s A.Word.A.Day: fanboy. I am surprised to see that it goes back to 1919.

Many a teacher will know fanboys as a mnemonic to help students remember the seven coordinating conjunctions: for, and, nor, but, or, yet, so.

The Automat on TCM

Lisa Hurwitz’s documentary The Automat (2021) airs on TCM, November 22, in the company of several movies with Automat scenes. The Automat is also now streaming at HBO Max.

The documentary is deep nostalgia, and it makes me feel grateful to have eaten at the Automat, even if only once, even if it was only coffee and a piece of cake or pie, even if the place was wildly depressing — nearly empty, with a few old people sitting alone at tables.

Related reading
All OCA Automat posts (Pinboard)

[The documentary cites the rise of Chock full o’Nuts as one factor in the Automat’s decline and fall.]

Chock full o’Nuts on sale

Chock full o’Nuts is having Black Friday sale, 25% off, and free shipping for orders over $45. The code: BF2022. The sale ends on Friday, November 25, at 11:59 EST.

Only a zealot would think this news worthy of a blog post. I am a zealot.

On a related note, a friend tells me that Lee Hays of the Weavers wrote jingles for, among other products, Chock full o’Nuts frozen doughnuts. It’s right there in Doris Willens’s biography of Hays.

Related reading
All OCA Chock full o’Nuts posts (Pinboard)

Katie Hobbs wins

[Made with the Mac app Acorn.]

In Arizona, Katie Hobbs will defeat Kari Lake in the race for governor. Lake’s response, as reported in The New York Times: “Arizonans know BS when they see it.” An interesting comment from someone who hides behind a filter.

Nancy and wrapping paper

[Nancy, December 19, 1949. Click for a larger view.]

In today’s yesterday’s Nancy, Nancy is visiting her neighborhood grocer. You’ll have to click through to see why she needs wrapping paper. Yes, it’s December 19, but that hint is also a form of misdirection.

I hope the grocer has an enormous roll of string suspended from the ceiling with which to wrap packages. And a pair of scissors to cut the string. Or at least a tape machine.

Related reading
All OCA Nancy posts (Pinboard) : A selection of paper-roll cutters (Pinterest)

Dustin, blogger

Dustin Kudlick is starting a blog. His sister Meg is helping him add a counter. It feels quaint just to type those words — blog, counter.

But as they say, the best time to start a blog was twenty years ago. The second-best time is today.