Sep 30 2004
Fun, fun, fun. The industrious reporter, the origins of Little Red Riding Hood, & swimming through syrup
- D.C., where art thou? Rick Lyman cobbles together an article that’s surprisingly readable—and interesting—despite the fact that it revolves around his (Mr. Lyman’s) inability to actually connect with his subject, the inscrutable Dick Cheney. “Desperately Seeking Dick Cheney” is, almost astonishingly, hilarious, and you ought to read it. (NYT: “Desperately Seeking Dick Cheney,” [local version] by Rick Lyman [September 19, 2004])
- Mae West, Pt. 2. And, because Mae West references are apparently coming back into style (not that they ever went out), there’s no sense in breaking the trend. Thus: Catherine Orenstein at Ms. Magazine starts off (and ends) an article on Little Red Riding Hood with mentions of Mae West. (Ms. Magazine: “Dances with Wolves: Little Red Riding Hood’s Long Walk in the Woods,” by Catherine Orenstein [Summer 2004], via MeFi)
- Syrupy Swim. FYI, just in case you were wondering, it’s no more difficult to swim in syrup than it is in water. This is because the drag experienced by swimming through a liquid that’s more viscous than water is essentially cancelled out by the additional force generated with every stroke. According to Edward Cussler of the University of Minnesota, anyway.
Apparently, the most difficult (or “troublesome,” in the article’s words) part of the experiment was obtaining the necessary permits and whatnot in order to fill a swimming pool with syrup.
(news @ nature.com: “Swimming in syrup is as easy as water,” Michael Hopkin [September 20, 2004])