Ouch!

From a 1957 article summarizing a 1887 debate that was pivotal in establishing Franz Boas as a central figure in anthropology:

"The opinions [Boas] expresses may justifiably be characterized as anti-scientific ... We belabor this point for we have so often heard of the rigor Boas brought to ethnology from his sojourn in physics. We are unable to see wherein he exhibits this rigor."

Marginalia

In the margin of my 1957 printing of Peter Geach's Mental Acts someone has written "It has been suggested that 'rouge', 'rot, and 'red' are not co-extensive."

There was a time when you could say that kind of stuff and get away with it.

Classic Beats and Riddims

How awesome is it that the following songs have been so influential in hip hop and reggae?

In hip hop, The Shadow's 1960 recording of "Apache" (which was inspired by the 1954 Burt Lancaster movie of the same name), was covered by by a studio band put together in 1972 by Michael Viner (as the result of the unexpected success of his score for the B movie "The Thing with Two Heads"), which was then adopted as a semi-official B Boy anthem by hip hop DJs in the Bronx (such as Grandmaster Flash) in the late 1970's, before being sampled countless times since then, by everyone from Nas to The Roots.

In reggae, Bert Kaempfert & His Orchestra's equally mellow "An African Beat" has had a similarly wonderful influence on reggae, as more than one well-researched YouTube videos demonstrate.

Google Search

Here's what happens when you search for "Eskimos". I hope this means that people will get it if I make a joke about the number of Eskimo words for blue in the title of a talk I'm planning to give.

Michael Mann Mug

Last time I checked out Etsy, I came across some paintings based on Michael Mann's films. This time I came across this mug, based on Mann's "Thief".

Goodbye, Sweet Friend

I lost one of my favorite pens this week, on the subway. (I had taken this photo of it just last week.)

History

Went to a grad school alumni event tonight at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum. The good part: the director of the museum gave an awesome talk about how the urban immigrant experience defines America. The bad part: the other alumni consistently asked "questions" that took the form of advice: i.e., "Have you ever thought about drawing upon the Ellis Island record search in order to research the history of the people who lived here?" I'm being serious. It was obnoxious and annoying. The director had already told us how they've done extensive research on the 7,000 (!) people who lived in their particular tenement building from the 1860s to the 1930s. So, yes, they've thought about consulting the records at Ellis Island. And they've done a lot more than that.

There was one moment of justice, however. It was when another alumnus volunteered that "As someone on the Board of Directors of a historic home, let me tell you that you should look into whether there are any reports of ghosts in this building. If you talk about those reports, it will greatly increase the number of visitors." The director's response was perfect. He said two things.

(1) We already have so many visitors we're turning away 20 people a day.
(2) We've actually gotten a number of awards recently for our historical rigor. (The unspoken implication being: WE'RE FUCKING HISTORIANS HERE, WHO ARE TRYING TO GET THE FACTS STRAIGHT ABOUT THE ACTUAL HISTORICAL RECORD. GHOSTS DON'T EXIST. SO WE'RE CERTAINLY NOT GOING TO INCLUDE THEM IN OUR HISTORY OF THIS BUILDING.)

I mean, seriously. I lose all respect for historic buildings when they launch into their "ghost story" mode. Encouraging that kind of bullshit undermines the whole point of historic preservation in the first place.