Dowbrigade

This Month’s Harper’s Index

ø

glasscastle - July 6, 2003 @ 11:08 pm · ESL Links

Sometimes revealing, sometimes ridiculous, these facts and figures work well with language students and statistics students.

Last one out, turn out the light

ø

glasscastle - July 6, 2003 @ 9:12 pm · ESL Links

Samira Yacoub, a small woman with bright eyes and jet-black
hair, in an unlikely spokesperson for the tiny surviving Jewish community
in Iraq.Yet, in a country buffeted by competing religious sects vying
for position in a new government, Yacoub declares Iraq’s Jews — all
35 of
them — should not be left out.

Somewhat surprisingly, there is a strong Jewish tradition in Iraq.
Under the Iraqi monarchy that was overthrown in 1958, the country had
nearly a half million Jews, many of whom were prominent in politics
as well as businesses; the country’s first finance minister was Jewish
and Jews were a vital part of Iraq’s large and prosperous middle class. From
the Boston Globe

New From Yoyodyne

ø

glasscastle - July 6, 2003 @ 7:21 pm · ESL Links

New from Yomega Corp. of Fall River,: Quickball.
The ball is smaller than a baseball, made of hard plastic, with 22 holes
and it curves, knuckles, and it flutters like a Wiffle ball. Hit it, however,
and it takes off from the plastic bat like a baseball, flying true, straight,
and fast. Yomega also makes the APB
paddle ball, a flying disc called Flyte Deck, and will be ready for the
next upswing in the yo-yo cycle; now under development is a model, codenamed
”Vector 6,” that uses
the company’s recently-patented triple transaxle. From the Globe

That’s MISTER Bunny to You

ø

glasscastle - July 6, 2003 @ 2:03 am · ESL Links

Mr Bunny: An interview with Ames Montgomery, who recently celebrated
his fiftieth birthday by legally changing his name to "A. Fluffy Bunny"

"It’s not like I’m going to walk around wearing a fluffy bunny suit.
"

by
Mark Sorkin, via Timothy McSweeney

Spam Attack

1

glasscastle - July 6, 2003 @ 12:50 am · ESL Links

A legal battle for the right to incorporate the word spam in the trademark
of software companies has begun in the US. Hormel Foods, the makers of
Spam luncheon meat, are challenging a technology company in Seattle which
wants to trademark SpamArrest, the name of its
software for email users.

Derek Newman, the Seattle lawyer who who represents SpamArrest, said: "Inexplicably,
Hormel is challenging anyone who uses the word spam as part of a trademark.

from The Guardian

The Bambino’s Curse

ø

glasscastle - July 6, 2003 @ 12:33 am · ESL Links

A Blog for the true Red Sox
fan. As the summer heats up and
the home nine are taking it hard to the hated Yankees, a sickeningly
familiar feeling begins to creep around inside us all, and despite self-preservation,
good sense and powerful anti-psychotic medication, despite desperately
trying not to listen, we begin to hear that tiny diabolic voice whisper
once again, "This is the year…."

The
Bambino’s Curse: Diary of a Red Sox Fan