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Cover roundup: Fields of Athenry
Fields of Athenry, a traditional Irish folk song from 1979 by Pete St. John, serves as an unofficial national anthem for Ireland.
Perhaps the most recognized version is by the Dublinners, sticking to the songs folk origins.
The Drop Kick Murphys channel fury into the lyrics and guitars.
The Ohio St. marching band gave a good rendition
The vocal harmony of Sina Theil & Caitríona O’Sullivan brings a resonance to the lyrics.
With the Ireland national team about to be eliminated from the 2012 Euro soccer tournament, the Irish fans began singing.
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Kevin Kelly’s travel tips
Kevin Kelly has listed 50 travel tips. Here are a few interesting ones:
If you hire a driver, or use a taxi, offer to pay the driver to take you to visit their mother. They will ordinarily jump at the chance. They fulfill their filial duty and you will get easy entry into a local’s home, and a very high chance to taste some home cooking. Mother, driver, and you leave happy. This trick rarely fails.
The rate you go is not determined by how fast you walk, bike or drive, but by how long your breaks are. Slow down. Take lots of breaks. The most memorable moments—conversations with amazing strangers, an invite inside, a hidden artwork—will usually happen when you are not moving.
Even if you never go to McDonalds at home, visit the McDonalds on your travels. Surprisingly, their menus are very localized and reflect different cuisines in a fun and easy way, with unexpected versions of familiar things. Very illuminating!
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Hockey hair
Apparently hockey hair is a thing in Minnesota. So much so, it garners its own highlight reel.
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Magnet Chess
Magnet Chess is an addictive web game where you drop different size and strength magnetic on to a board. You attempt to dispose of your pieces within 15 seconds without causing two or more pieces from connecting. First person to get rid of all their pieces wins or the first person to reach zero (0) loses.
As you level up, you receive different shaped pieces and differ board configurations that drive different strategies for placement.
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Max Scherzer on robo-ups
MLB is trialing robo-umps and a ball/strike challenge system this spring training. Max Scherzer, a smart baseball guy with opinions, raises good points.
“What problem are we really solving?”
…
“If you said, ‘Do we like the challenge system versus the status quo?’ Yes,” Scherzer said. “But do we like the challenge system versus maybe some other options here? That’s where I’m kind of skeptical.”
This is where we can almost catch you muttering, Uh-oh. But hear him out. He’s a fan of the technology. But …
“I just think there are two other ways to use the technology,” he said. “Look, the technology, the way we can measure this, it’s great. So how can we use it in a way that minimizes its impact in the game?”
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Forever March 2020
Five years ago, the onset of Covid cracked a schism in time. CNN goes long, detailing stories of iconic photos from those early days.
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Wikiportraits
“ No professional photographers ever have their photos on Wikipedia, because they want to make money from the photos,” said Jay Dixit, a writing professor and amateur Wikipedia photographer. “It’s actually the norm that most celebrities have poor photos on Wikipedia, if they have photos at all. It’s just some civilian at an airport being like, ‘Oh my god, it’s Pete Davidson,’ click with an iPhone.”
Dixit is part of a team of volunteer photographers, called WikiPortraits, that’s trying to fix that problem.
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Speed in 4K
Pop quiz hotshot. What 90s action movie starring Keanu Reeves, Sandra Bullock, and Dennis Hopper holds up nearly 30 years later?
It check all the boxes you want in in action movie:
✔️ a cool underdog to root for
✔️ a charismatic villain
✔️ a diverse cast of side characters adding life to the story
✔️ tight pacing with just enough breaks to catch your breath
✔️ snappy dialogue
✔️ thrilling action sequences that defy physics
✔️ explosions
✔️ a satisfying endingThe cinematography and camera work look excellent in 4K. One thing I appreciated was the sound mixing. The dialogue wasn’t drowned out by music or action, something that seems to be rare these days.
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Princesses Over 40 Publishing House
Life hits different after 40, even for princesses. Edith Zimmerman illustrates the covers, such as Silver Linings: Embracing Your Naturally Aging Hair by Rapunzel.
