Violinist Gives Thank You Concert for Cabbies

Violinist Philippe Quint took a cab home from the airport in New Jersey last month, and left his 285-year-old Stradivarius in the car. Cab driver Mohamed Khalil returned the $4 million instrument to Quint. As a “thank you,” Quint performed a special lunchtime concert for about 200 cabbies in the parking lot at Newark Liberty International Airport.

Artificial Beak for Bald Eagle

Beauty is an Alaskan bald eagle whose beak was shot off several years ago. She was taken to a refuge, but her beak did not grow back. Next month, Beauty will get a new nylon-composite beak, thanks to the work of volunteer engineers and veterinarians. The bird must remain in captivity, but will be able to drink and eat properly.

Self-tracheotomy with a Steak Knife

55-year-old Steve Wilder of Omaha, Nebraska awoke one night and couldn’t breathe. He had a similar episode once before, in which his air passage swelled shut. Figuring he didn’t have time to wait for emergency medical help, Wilder used a steak knife to cut a small hole in his throat, which allowed air to enter his windpipe. Doctors expect no adverse effects from the self-tracheotomy.

World Record Lego Tower

Legoland Windsor in Berkshire, England has the world’s largest Lego tower ever! The tower, shaped like a Viking longboat, was completed with the help of park visitors. Children built 20 cm sections, which were hoisted in place by crane. The previous record is held by a 96-foot tower built in Toronto last year.

X-ray Shows Python Swallowed Kitten

An eight-week-old kitten in Australia’s Northern territory was killed and consumed by a five-foot python. The cat’s head was three time the size of the snake’s head, but the python unhinged its jaw and swallowed the kitten whole, as an x-ray shows. The kitten’s owner found the bulging snake, and called a snake wrangler after rounding up the other cats. The python will be released after he has digested his big meal.

Chunky Monkeys Put on Diet

Visitors to Ohama Park in Sakai, Japan love to feed the monkeys. Now 30 percent of the monkeys at the zoo are so fat they have trouble getting around, and some weight three times as much as they should! Zookeepers have instituted a strict diet, and visitors are asked not to feed the monkeys.

What has a man at the beginning,
a man in the middle,
and an insect at the end?

Click here for the answer.

As the space shuttle lifts off, someone is prepared to destroy it. NASA has a “Flight Termination” plan in case the craft poses a danger to a populated area.
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Make your own ethanol at home? It’s possible with a new still that resembles a washing machine, but it may not yet be profitable.
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Enjoy the beauty of Planet Earth. Three minutes that will restore (or reinforce) your appreciation of the natural world.
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An animation from Chris Ware lets us all in on a married couple’s differing  versions of the same story. The story of “the story” is low key, believable, and altogether entertaining.
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Photographs of the Chaitén volcano eruption in Chile. Mythology is born from scenes such as these.
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A 29-year-old tech millionaire throws a big birthday party for himself and 300 homeless people. He plans to do it again, only with more people.
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Storm Troopin’. A Flickr set depicting hte secret lives of storm troopers.
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600-Year-Old Music Found Encoded in Chapel Walls. Decoded and arranged, it’s now called The Rosslyn Motet.
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I hope you enjoy the Morning Quiz, now called Sandy & Kara’s 5 Questions.

“I refer to my writing as ‘rotating’. I always say ‘I’m going to rotate’ because I have a series of spots that I rotate.”

There’s one in the lower East Side. “The waiters are all Australian and they play The Smiths all day long which I find so fabulous. I always go there on the weekends. Then there are restaurants in Little Italy that I go to. I often go to these places in the middle of the afternoon, when they’ll let me linger.”

As many freelancers go beyond “Working From Home,” they’re seeking social spaces in which to work together. Thus the phenomenon of Coworking arises: it’s the notion that people work better in social settings, even if there isn’t much socialization going on. Somehow, just having people together in the same space seems to help — or at least it feels like it helps.

The New York Times ran a piece on Coworking in February, entitled They’re Working on Their Own, Just Side by Side. It introduces the notion of formal Coworking coops in which people actually set up an office space and rent desk space by the hour, day, week, or month. Here’s a clip:

Coworking sites are up and running from Argentina to Australia and many places in between, although a wiki site on coworking shows that most are in the United States. While some have grown-up-sounding names, most seem connected somewhere between the communalism of the 1960s and the whimsy of the dot-com days of the ’90s, like the Hive Cooperative in Denver, Office Nomads in Seattle, Nutopia Workspace in Lower Manhattan and Independents Hall in Philadelphia.

The coworkers, armed with Wi-Fi laptops and cellphones, are in some ways offering a techie twist on the age-old practice of artists or writers teaming up to rent studio space.

Most coworkers say they were drawn to the spaces for the same reasons that inspired Mr. Neuberg: they like working independently, but they are less effective when sitting home alone.

Whether you go to the trouble of paying for space or simply find a group of friends, Coworking is an exciting idea — at least for people like me who are trying to get work done in a world filled with awesome distractions (TiVo, anyone?). If you don’t know about your local group, check out the Coworking Wiki that describes local Coworking setups around the world. Or you can do what I did — call up your freelancer friends and invite them to hang out at your place, or some mutually agreeable coffeehouse/bar/library/street corner while doing work. In my brief experience with the practice, Coworking has made me feel more productive — somehow, having other people in the room makes me focus on working and conquer procrastination. Or at least I feel like it does.

Any _floss readers out there care to share your Coworking stories, or tales of getting work done away from the office?

This weekend will mark the 170th anniversary of the birth of Walter Goodman to the portrait painter Julia Salaman Goodman and her husband, Louis Goodman. Walter Goodman grew up to be a fairly well-known painter, illustrator, and author in his time, but in recent years he has not been as well-known, partly because the present whereabouts of most of his works of art are unknown. Some flossy facts to get you acquainted with this talented British artist and his 1883 painting, “The Printseller”…

1. Goodman was reputedly the first English artist to receive a commission from a Chinese. In 1878, the Chinese minister to the Court of Berlin, Liu Hsi-Hung, commissioned Goodman to copy Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato’s “Madonna in Prayer,” which was in the National Gallery.

2. “The Printseller” is a tromp l’oeil, or “trick the eye,” painting of a printseller’s window, so the objects appear to be three-dimensional. The printseller himself is included in image, along with books, coins, vases, a teacup, a necklace, statues, and photographs, six of which depict great Victorian painters.

3. Goodman was a fan of the theater, and had even staged a play with his siblings in 1859 that received glowing reviews. Many of Goodman’s portraits are of Mary Anne Keeley, an English actress, whom Goodman highly admired and with whom he appeared in an 1884 production at the Prince of Wales theater. In 1895, Goodman published an appreciation of the whole theatrical Keeley family entitled The Keeleys on the Stage and at Home; it contained engravings of several of his portraits of Keeley.

4. With his wife, Clara Isabel, Goodman had five children: Walter Russell, Joaquin, Reginald, Julia, and Keeley. Presumably, Joaquin was named after Goodman’s good friend and fellow artist, Joaquín Cuadras, Julia after Goodman’s mother, Julia Salaman Goodman, and Keeley after the Keeley family.

5. Goodman contributed a weekly essay, “People I Have Painted,” to Sala’s Journal for several months in 1893. In each essay, Goodman described the often humorous circumstances surrounding a specific painting, including those of Napoleon III, Prince Leopold, His Excellency Kuo Sung Tao, Mary Anne Keeley, and Jack Sheppard.

6. The Jewish Chronicle commissioned Goodman to draw a study of his own mother, the portrait painter Julia Salaman Goodman, for her 90th birthday in 1902.

A larger, zoomable version of “The Printseller” is available here.

‘Feel Art Again’ appears every Tuesday and Thursday.

How 10 Well-Known Beverages Got Their Names

Coca-Cola was named for two of the ingredients that made up the drink at the time – coca leaves and kola nuts.

Mountain Dew is an old slang word for moonshine. It was marketed as “zero-proof moonshine” for a while and even used pictures of hillbillies in its marketing efforts until 1973.
Fanta - Two versions here, both based on the German word “fantasie” (fantasy/imagination). Story #1 – a contest was held for employees to name the drink. The inventors told employees to let their “fantasie” run wild. One salesman came up with Fanta. Story #2- same thing, except early versions of the drink were made from by products of cheese and jam production. Thus, the consumer would have to use their “fantasie” to imagine that the beverage actually tasted like oranges.

TAB – A computer randomly generated 250,000 three- or four-letter name possibilities. Why TAB was selected out of that list isn’t for certain, but Coca-Cola says it’s because it helps people keep “tabs” on their weight.

Pepsi – Used to be called the highly imaginative “Brad’s Drink”. Inventor Caleb D. Bradham bought the name “Pep Kola” from a local competitor, which eventually evolved into “Pepsi-Cola” and then “Pepsi”.

Canada Dry – Pretty simple explanation here. It was invented in Canada, and dry was supposed to mean “not sweet” (as opposed to “not wet”). There you have it.
Started in Canada. Dry = not sweet

A&W Rootbeer – This one’s pretty easy, too. A&W = the company’s founders, Roy Allen and Frank Wright.

Gatorade – This beverage was invented to help a football team with dehydration issues. The team? The University of Florida Gators. Gator-aid.

Dr Pepper – The rumor is that the man who bought the formula, Wade Morrison, used to live near a Dr. Charles T. Pepper and had a thing for his daughter. Also, as someone who considers the AP Stylebook akin to the Bible, I have to share - with this particular brand name there is never a period after the “r” in Dr.

Squirt – So-named because it “Squirts” in your mouth like a ripe grapefruit.

For sheer readability, few things make as much difference as proper punctuation. These examples from You Send Me, a book I wrote with my husband, show how much difference punctuation can make:

“Who got fired, Stacey?” said the director.

Who got fired? Stacey, said the director.

Who got fired? Stacey said the director.

See what I mean? Now I can’t tell you in a few paragraphs all you need to know about punctuation. But I can hit the high spots, the problems that come up most often.

1. The Indispensable Comma

The word “comma” comes from a Greek word meaning “to cut off,” and that’s what commas do. They cut sentences into pieces, organizing words into meaningful groups. Sometimes, the organization can make a big difference! Check out these sentences: (1) Jack said Harry wrecked the car. (2) Jack, said Harry, wrecked the car.

Here’s some comma-sense advice:

• Use commas and a connecting word (like and or but) to separate clauses—groups of words with both a subject and a verb. John had forgotten her birthday five times in a row, but Gloria thought this year would be different.

• Use commas between items in a list: Gloria was hoping for dinner, dancing, and flowers. She was furious that John hadn’t made a dinner reservation, called the florist, or even bought a card.

• Use commas before or after a quotation: Gloria said, “I might have known.” “I’ll make it up to you,” John promised. But don’t use a comma after a quotation that’s a question or exclamation: “Why not kiss and make up?” John asked.

• Use commas before or after the name of someone you’re addressing: “Gloria, you’re over-reacting,” he said. “Maybe you’re right, John,” she answered.

• Use a comma after an introductory remark if you want to emphasize the pause: Fortunately, the argument was soon over. Before long, they were cuddling on the couch.

• Use commas around an aside, as you might use dashes or parentheses: He dialed Chez Panisse, their favorite restaurant, and managed to wangle a reservation.

• Use commas around a clause that interrupts a sentence to insert a thought. These interruptions often begin with which, where, who, or when: They arrived at Chez Panisse, which was half an hour away, at ten. The waiter, who knew John and Gloria, joined them in a toast. (But don’t use a comma if there’s no interruption: John knew which wine was which. Gloria knew when she was ahead.)

2. The Underused Semicolon

The semicolon may be the most unappreciated and underused punctuation mark. If you find semicolons intimidating, relax. They’re great for tidying up a series of items with commas inside them. Imagine how hard it would be to read this sentence if only commas were used: Jack willed his house to Jill, his best friend; his collection of lederhosen to his neighbors, Hans and Franz; and his dog, Tige, to a friend, Buster.

Semicolons are also handy for joining chunks of a sentence that could stand alone. A comma by itself isn’t enough to hold together clauses like these: Jack broke his crown, Jill wasn’t seriously injured. (This is sometimes called a run-on sentence.) Unless you want to add a connecting word, use a semicolon: Jack broke his crown; Jill wasn’t seriously injured.

3. Chatty Quotation Marks

The trick with quotation marks is at the end of the quote. Does punctuation that follows the quoted material (period, comma, question mark, or whatever) go inside or outside the closing quotation marks? Here are the ins and the outs.

• Periods go inside. “I think I’m getting the flu.”
• Commas go inside. “I probably caught it at work,” he added.
• Colons go outside. Elizabeth didn’t like being called “Liz”: it was so predictable.
• Semicolons go outside. Don’t play “My Funny Valentine”; she hates it.
• Question marks and exclamation points are sometimes inside and sometimes outside. In most cases, they go inside the quotation marks: “What’s your name, sweetie?” said the cashier. “It’s not sweetie!” shouted the child. But question marks and exclamation points must go outside if they’re not part of the actual quotation. Have you seen the film version of Gray’s “Elegy”? Good heavens, I didn’t even know they’d filmed Gray’s “Elegy”!

• Parentheses go outside quotation marks if the entire quote is parenthetical: Mom had the deciding vote (“I said no”). Parentheses go inside the quotation marks if only part of the quote is parenthetical. She added, “Next time, ask me first (if there is a next time).”

4. The Much-Abused Apostrophe

As someone with an apostrophe in her name, I hate to see this punctuation mark mistreated. Here’s how it ought to be used.

• Possessives. Apostrophes help show who owns what. To make a noun possessive, add either an apostrophe with the letter s (’s ) or just the apostrophe alone, depending on the circumstances. The rules come in threes:

1. Add ’s to a singular word or name, regardless of its ending. (Yes, even if it ends in s or x or z—whether sounded or silent.) Ms. Jones’s favorite pastime is reading Camus’s essays and collecting Degas’s etchings. Her dog’s name is Rex, and Rex’s meals come from Paris’s finest restaurants. Her dress’s fabric is bamboo and her husband’s shirts are Egyptian cotton. “It was Jacques’s idea to live in France,” she said, “after we declared bankruptcy in the States.”

2. Add ’s to a plural word that doesn’t end in s. The children’s shoes cost almost as much as the men’s and the women’s. My feet’s bunions are killing me.

3. Add just the apostrophe to a plural word or name that ends in s. The Joneses’ and the Smiths’ and the Gonzalezes’ houses were vandalized, and their cars’ tires were slashed as well. The houses’ windows were broken too. NOTE: When you need a comma or a period after a possessive word that ends with an apostrophe, the comma or period goes after the apostrophe and not in front of it: The idea was the girls’, or maybe the boys’, but at any rate the responsibility was their parents’.

• Contractions. An apostrophe shows where letters have been dropped in a shortened word or phrase. For example, shouldn’t is short for “should not”; the apostrophe replaces the o in “not.” And I’ll is short for “I will”; the apostrophe is a polite nod to the dropped letters. You can’t say I didn’t warn you.

• Some unusual plurals. No, you DON’T add ’s to a word or a name to make it plural! You can, however, add ’s to form the plural of an individual letter. This makes for easier reading, and many stylebooks recommend it. At Swarthmore, Libbi got B’s and C’s and started spelling her name with two i’s.

5. The Helpful Hyphen

Look what a difference a hyphen can make: The stolen sofa was recovered. Or, The stolen sofa was re-covered. Don’t underestimate this handy punctuation mark. If in doubt about using a hyphen with a prefix, look it up.

When two words are combined to describe a noun, we sometimes use a hyphen between them. Generally if the compound follows the noun, it doesn’t get a hyphen: That duck is water resistant. But if the compound comes before the noun, it usually gets a hyphen: That’s a water-resistant duck. (And don’t ask why a duck.)

Yesterday: Five Lessons in Grammar. Tuesday: Debunking Etymological Myths. Monday: Debunking Grammar Myths. Coming tomorrow: Pat will be answering your grammar questions. You can ask said questions in the comments.

With the success of Iron Man, there’s already talk of a sequel. It seems like Hollywood can’t make a movie these days without also preparing a sequel. In this quiz, there are 12 descriptions of sequels, but only 6 of them are real. Can you pick out the real Part II’s?

Take the quiz.