Life

Things Missed (80s)

GENERIC FOOD. FOND MEMORIES OF shopping the Lucky’s store in Concord c. 1981 wherein a vast wall of white and yellow cans, boxes and bottles severally proclaimed “COLA.” “CIGARETTES.” “CHILI.” “DOG FOOD.” “BREAKFAST CEREAL.” “ART.” (That last is ironic, but if they’d only let in Andy Warhol and a big Sharpie we could’a had us a time.)

(For that matter, I also miss “Repo Man.”)

Torah

5 Thoughts: How To Preach A Sermon

1. Make ’em laugh with, but not at, you and your topic. But make ’em laugh first.

2. Remember that you’re a student too, no more learned (and perhaps embarrassingly less) than those listening to you. Your task is to reveal rather than entertain, to share rather than “teach.”

3. Be honest. It shows.

Read more →

Life

World’s Smallest Particle Accelerator!

SCIENCE NEWS IS REPORTING THAT the humble adhesive-tape dispenser packs more X-ray wallop than the most sophisticated electrical machines:

Forget fancy particle accelerators — a cheaper tool for emitting X-rays is right there in the office supply cabinet. Pulling back Scotch tape emits X-rays, the same high-energy light emanating from airport security scanners and the interiors of galaxy clusters, and scientists now have a better understanding of why.

The radiation becomes human-scale harmless within a hair’s-breadth of generation, but it’s still pretty cool. And important. See the whole story: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/64111/title/Tale_of_the_tape_