“Some novelty among the stars”

In the city of Andria “every street follows a planet’s orbit, and the buildings and places of community life repeat the order of the constellations and the position of the most luminous stars.” The city’s daily doings correspond to that day’s sky, “and thus the days on earth and the nights in the sky relect each other.” And yet — the city is always changing, older structures being removed, new ones being built.

Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities, trans. William Weaver (New York: HarperCollins, 1974).

Related reading
All OCA Italo Calvino posts (Pinboard)

Iggy Pop and Tom Waits play records

“Echoing their famous joint appearance in Jim Jarmusch’s Coffee and Cigarettes, the show sees Iggy and Tom pump the Confidential jukebox full of nickels and dimes”: Tom Waits joins Iggy Pop on Iggy Confidential (BBC Radio 6, via Austin Kleon).

Raise your hand if you know Captain Beefheart’s “Bat Chain Puller.” (Raises hand.)

Related reading
All OCA Tom Waits posts (Pinboard)

[I just started listening: in the first couple of minutes they mention the bassist Larry Taylor and Canned Heat. Iggy Pop: “Canned Heat were killer.”]

Tea, saving lives?

From the BBC, “How Britain’s taste for tea may have been a life saver”:

Economist Francisca Antman of the University of Colorado, Boulder, makes a convincing case that the explosion of tea as an everyman's drink in late 1700s England saved many lives. This would not have been because of any antioxidants or other substances inherent to the lauded leaf.

Instead, the simple practice of boiling water for tea, in an era before people understood that illness could be caused by water-borne pathogens, may have been enough to keep many from an early grave.

Orange Crate Art is a tea-friendly zone.

Related reading
All OCA tea posts (Pinboard)

Mystery actor

[Click for a larger view.]

Leave your guess(es) in the comments. I’ll drop a hint if one is needed.

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10:06 a.m.: The mystery is solved. The answer is in the comments.

More mystery actors (Collect them all)
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An “over and over”

Bill Griifth explains the “over and over” (the page is gone):

Zippy spouts words like jazz musicians play riffs. One of his favorite wordplay activities is the “over and over.” Zippy fixates on a series of words that just beg to be repeated as pure sound. Readers are always suggesting new ones.

I have one: “pickleball infrastructure.”

I heard the phrase on All Things Considered last night and immediately thought “Pickleball infrastructure! Pickleball infrastructure! Pickleball infrastructure!”

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Yes, I sent “pickeball infrastructure” to Bill Griffith, and it made an appearance in the February 8 Zippy, going up against “Tyvek, Tyvek, Tyvek!”.

Related reading
All OCA Zippy posts (Pinboard) : “Brick and mortar!” : “Eaton’s Corrasable Bond!” : “Golden creamery butter!”

[Where but on NPR would you hear about pickleball infrastructure?]

Recently updated

Words of the year Now with a second hallucinate and a “vibe of the year.”

“Without fear or favor”

John Kasich, former governor of Ohio, on MSNBC just now:

“Think about the implications, think about the implications of what could happen across this country if in fact we start saying somebody can’t get on the ballot.”

And I immediately thought of a passage from the decision barring someone from the ballot in Colorado:

“We do not reach these conclusions lightly,” a four-justice majority wrote, with three justices dissenting. “We are mindful of the magnitude and weight of the questions now before us. We are likewise mindful of our solemn duty to apply the law, without fear or favor, and without being swayed by public reaction to the decisions that the law mandates we reach.”

See — they did think about the implications, and they did not swerve. And: what about the implications of letting an insurrectionist remain on the ballot?

Mystery actor

[Click for a larger view.]

Leave your guess(es) in the comments. I’ll drop a hint if one is needed.

*

8:56 a.m.: That was fast. The answer is now in the comments.

More mystery actors (Collect them all)
? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ? : ?

“A sole Trude”

Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities, trans. William Weaver (New York: HarperCollins, 1974).

Related reading
All OCA Italo Calvino posts (Pinboard)

The Unmarked Graveyard

From Radio Diaries, an eight-episode podcast series: The Unmarked Graveyard: Stories from Hart Island.

New York City’s Hart Island is what’s typically called a potter’s field. Seven of the eight podcast episodes tell the stories of people buried there. One episode tells the story of an artist dedicated to documenting the island’s dead. Having listened to six episodes so far, I recommend this podcast with enthusiasm.

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A mother, in the eighth episode: “People don’t just disappear.”