Stephen Messer (aka Zeno Alexander)

Using a Mountain to Weigh the World The story of how Schiehallion was chosen for Maskelyne’s famous experiment

I did not believe the plumb line thing, but apparently it is true! medium.com/roaming-phys...

Join Judy Allen Dodson and me for a virtual Friday program centering banned and challenged picture books.

RSVP here: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

It's in support of the national Fall of Freedom initiative & hosted by the Raleigh-Durham chapter of @authorsguild.org.

Please tune in and share.

The lightning factoid must have sounded a lot more impressive in 1935.

Georgia Public Libraries generate $3.75 return for every dollar invested, new study finds Georgia's public libraries generated $1.06 billion in services in fiscal year 2024, supporting 5,488 jobs and producing $3.75 of value per public dollar.

We need libraries for so many reasons.

www.11alive.com/article/news...

Pen wipers!

The power of librarians.

The Durham event was huge and peaceful! Heartening to attend.

Just joined! Thanks for the tip.

Looking forward to Helena Haywoode Henry's launch event for her debut YA, LAST CHANCE LIVE!, on Tuesday night at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh NC. She'll be in conversation with Kwame Mbalia. @quailridgebooks.bsky.social @helenahenry.bsky.social @kwamembalia.bsky.social

Yeah.

Freaks and Geeks

Freaks and Geeks

Demon Slayer Film Passes 30 Billion Yen, On Pace To Become Japan's Highest-Grossing Movie Ever Ahead of its global release this week, the new Demon Slayer film has become the fastest movie to reach 30 billion yen at Japan's box office.

Cannot wait to see it this weekend. www.endlessmode.com/anime/demon-... #demonslayer

Good piece!

Impressive! Congratulations. Next up: Candy? 😀

Set to become 1st female MLB umpire, Pawol represents beacon of hope and progress NEW YORK -- Jen Pawol was in the middle of umpiring a Triple-A game Wednesday night when Nashville Sounds third baseman Oliver Dunn identified some exciting common ground between them. “When I make it...

Congrats to Jen Pawol on becoming Major League Baseball's first female umpire. She's been umping in the minors for years. www.mlb.com/news/jen-paw... #mlb

Al Green's soundtrack to Blade Runner was transcendent.

Please support the workers, @redsox.com . www.reddit.com/r/baseball/c...

Background needs more rocks.

Congrats!

Big Lies An interview with Mark Kurlansky

I enjoyed Mark Kurlansky's Big Lies, a nonfiction book for kids. At a time when political lies are everywhere, Kurlansky urges us to look at everything with a critical eye and strengthen the systems that bring liars to account #humanrights #kidlit robinkirk.substack.com/p/big-lies

Slow news day in Biloxi!

I don't know if I can't do without it, but a cat on my lap helps.

Review of the Day: All of a Sudden and Forever by Chris Barton and Nicole Xu If we are talking about events that change us all and that we must collectively heal from (whether literally or figuratively) then this book might be precisely what we need. Because this isn’t just a...

A week from today is the 30th anniversary of the Oklahoma City Bombing. @fuse8.bsky.social's review of ALL OF A SUDDEN AND FOREVER, my 2020 book about it, still means a lot to me:

"It’s a book that is meant to help you learn how to heal & recover & hope..." afuse8production.slj.com/2020/04/19/r...

This is why I dropped all subscriptions to US news media.

I asked them that question, after comparing the place to a prison camp. Their answer: "Safety." Someone is quite unlikely to break into your house in the middle of the night in a place like that. I told them I could see how being 80yo might sway one's thinking on this.

The place is a snakepit. Neighbors report each other for violations like doing a 3-point turn in someone's else's driveway (not allowed, I was informed when I did it). It's like a minimum-security prison where the inmates are also the guards.

Sundown towns: Last year, I visited elderly relatives in a newly built gated development in South Carolina, akin to a large town, catering to retirees. At all of the entrances to this extensive development were signs warning that outside workers were not allowed on the premises after 5PM.

"Real food used in the banquet scene!" - marketing in 1900

Yank here. Individual states can't supersede federal laws. For example, a red state can't re-impose slavery, as much as they might want to, because it is illegal on the federal level. Another: red states couldn't outlaw abortion until they packed the Supreme Court enough to overturn Roe v Wade.