Alison Willmore: Netflix Makes Sublime Films Like Atlantics Widely Available - but Only if You Know How to Work the Algorithm (Slate)
It's not like there's a moral imperative to see a movie in a theater. I do it because I love it, because losing yourself in the dark, alone but together with a room full of people, is a genuine pleasure. I do it for the same reason I buy my meat at the local butcher shop in my neighborhood and go to the bookstore nearby whenever I can-because I prefer the experience, and also because I want to live in a world in which these things continue to be around.
Bad To The Bone Bob's Trivia Question from Yesterday
What is the name of the wire cage that fits over the cork of a bottle of champagne, sparkling wine or beer to prevent the cork from emerging under the pressure of the carbonated contents?
A muselet is a wire cage that fits over the cork of a bottle of champagne, sparkling wine or beer to prevent the cork from emerging under the pressure of the carbonated contents. It derives its name from the French museler, to muzzle. The muselet often has a metal cap incorporated in the design which may show the drink maker's emblem. They are normally covered by a metal foil envelope. Muselets are also known as wirehoods or Champagne wires.
When champagne was first produced the pressure of the sparkling wine was maintained by wooden plugs sealed with oil-cloth and wax. This method proved inconsistent either from leaking or blowing out of the stopper and a method of restraining the corks using cord was developed. In 1844 Adolphe Jacquesson invented the more secure method involving steel wire, however the early muselets were not easy to install and proved somewhat inconvenient to open. Further developments led to the modern muselet which is made of steel wire twisted to add strength and with a small loop of wire twisted into the lower ring which can be untwisted to release the pressure of the muselet and give access to the cork.
Source
Plus, traditionally, muselets require six half-turns to open...
Mark. was first, and correct, with:
Muselet.
Alan J answered:
A Muselet.
Randall wrote:
Muselet
Dave said:
Muselet. The modern muselet was developed in 1952 and is made by automation today.
Photos: After removing the muselet, do not remove the cork like that | Dan Gurney opened his bottle of champagne like this, but unless you just won the 24 Hours of Le Mans automobile race, I don't recommend spraying bystanders.
zorch responded:
It's a muselet or a muzzler.
Jim from CA, retired to ID, replied:
Muselet
Cal in Vermont wrote:
OK. The whole shebang, cork, wire and metal cover is called "muselet" and the wire part "agraffe or agrafe".
I did not know that but now I do. Also, Mrs. Cal's ringtone is "Bad To The Bone" which I find amusing because she is s 70-year-old speech pathologist.
Deborah said:
Ah, I know this: it's a muselet, which is derived from the French word "to muzzle." We'll be unmuzzling and uncorking a few bottles of bubbly tomorrow evening - we're having a few friends over to celebrate NYE and not staying up until midnight.
Happy New Year's Eve eve!
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~~~~~
Song: "Chard Blues" from the album THE CHARD URTON BLUES TREASURY VOL. 5
Artist: Tyla J. Pallas
Artist Location: United Kingdom
Info: "Tyla J. Pallas is an English musician, artist and poet. He first made a name for himself in the late 80's with rock n' roll band The Dogs D'Amour. He has since released a prolific succession of albums and toured the world over as a solo artist."
Price: Price: 1 GBP, aka £1. For the 11-track album, the price is £7.99.
Genre: Blues Instrumental. The album includes some vocal songs.
• Carl Sandburg reviewed books and lectures early in his career and movies late in his career. Occasionally, he gave anonymous reviews - sometimes of his own work! Walt Whitman also did this; when his Leaves of Grass appeared, he gave it a rave, unsigned review. Mr. Sandburg gave his own lectures and poetry excellent reviews. In October 1907, the editor of a labor newspaper brought Mr. Sandburg to Manitowoc, Wisconsin, to give a lecture. The editor also allowed Mr. Sandburg to review - anonymously - his own lecture on the front page of the newspaper. Mr. Sandburg wrote, "Sandburg proved himself a man of deep thinking ability and great oratorical ability." Mr. Sandburg quoted such reviews in advertisements for his lectures. He also would write blurbs for his own work and use a friend's name as attribution for the blurbs. Mr. Sandburg once said, "I am a ready liar for a good cause." Of course, Mr. Sandburg's lectures and poetry were often excellent.
• In an article for The Guardian published in March 2011, critic and writer Germaine Greer explained a few things about art. This is one point she made: "A kid doing graffiti will make no money and could go to jail. There is no truer example of the sacredness of the art enterprise." Another point she made is this: "Most art is bad, but you don't get the good art without the bad. Our best artists make stuff they know is bad; the difference is that they destroy it themselves." As an example, she uses the artist Tracey Emin, who earned an MA at the Royal College of Art. She is a successful artist, and lots of art dealers would love to have the art that she created to get her MA, but they never will. The art did not meet Ms. Emin's high standards, and she destroyed it. According to Ms. Greer, "That's the kind of thing real artists can be expected to do."
• Auditions do not always go well. At the very beginning of her career, modern dance pioneer Isadora Duncan auditioned for a traveling theatrical company by dancing passionately to Felix Mendelssohn's Songs Without Words. The manager of the company remained silent for a few moments after the audition, then said to Isadora's mother, "This sort of thing is no good for a theater. It's more for a church. I advise you to take your little girl home." By the way, Ms. Duncan danced from a very young age. When asked when she had started dancing, she always replied, "In my mother's womb."
• In the 17thcentury, Irishman Michael Kelly composed theater music and sold wine. His wine shop had this sign: "Wine merchant and composer of music." Richard Brinsley Sheridan preferred Mr. Kelly's taste in wine to his taste in music and advised him to change his sign to this: "Merchant of music and composer of wines." By the way, Dr. Samuel Johnson did not especially like music. He once listened to a virtuoso violinist play a pyrotechnical piece. Hearing a companion remark that the violin piece must have been very difficult to perform, Dr. Johnson remarked, "Difficult! I wish to God that it had been impossible!"
• Pianist Vladimir de Pachmann once dined with fellow musicians Leopold Godowsky (an especially good friend), Hans Richter, and Fritz Kreisler. In the course of the evening, Mr. de Pachmann said, "I am happy to be here with my four friends. There are four great musicians in the world. There is me. There is Godowsky. And then there is Bach and Chopin." By the way, critic Philip Hale detested the music of Johannes Brahms. He once proposed that exits in the Boston Symphony Hall be marked, "This Way Out In Case Of Brahms."
• Carl Gaertner, an artist, once attended a recital in which Remenyi, a famous Hungarian violinist, played Bach. Mr. Gaertner hissed during the performance, so Mr. Remenyi asked his critic to identify himself. Mr. Gaertner rose and said, "You play Bach like a fool." Mr. Remenyi remained calm, and merely said, "Perhaps so, but will my critic show me how notto play Bach like a fool?" Mr. Gaertner did not rise to the challenge, but simply left - to the laughs of the other members of the audience.
CBS begins the night with a RERUN'NCIS', followed by a RERUN'FBI', then another RERUN'FBI'.
On a RERUNStephen Colbert (from 11/19/19) are Helena Bonham Carter, Lucy Lawless, and Bret McKenzie.
On a RERUNJames Corden, OBE, (from 9/4/19) are Marc Maron, Jillian Bell, and Keane.
NBC starts the night with a FRESH'A Toast To 2019!', followed by the FRESH'NBC's New Year's Eve Special 2020'.
On a RERUNJimmy Fallon (from 12/5/19) are Jennifer Lopez and Camila Cabello.
On a RERUNSeth Meyers (from 11/5/19) are Kristin Chenoweth, Michael Kelly, and Sinéad Burke.
On a RERUNLilly Singh (from 10/23/19) are Justin Hartley and Lea Michele.
ABC fills the night with the FRESH'Dead Dick Clark's Prime Time New Year's Rockin' Eve With Ryan Seacrest 2020'.
Jimmy Kimmel is pre-empted.
The CW fills the night with the FRESH'Countdown To New Year's Eve 2020'.
Faux fills the night with the FRESH'Rupert (R-Evil Incarnate)'s New Years Eve With Steve Harvey: Live From Times Square'.
MY recycles an old 'Chicago PD', followed by another old 'Chicago PD'.
AMC offers the movie 'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2', followed by the movie 'The Hunger Games'.
BBC -
[6:00AM] DOCTOR WHO - SEASON 6 - EPISODE 4-The Doctor's Wife
[7:05AM] DOCTOR WHO - SEASON 6 - EPISODE 5-The Rebel Flesh-Part 1.
[8:05AM] DOCTOR WHO - SEASON 6 - EPISODE 6-The Almost People-Part 2.
[9:10AM] DOCTOR WHO - SEASON 6 - EPISODE 7-A Good Man Goes to War
[10:15AM] DOCTOR WHO - SEASON 1 - EPISODE 9-The Empty Child-Part 1.
[11:15AM] DOCTOR WHO - SEASON 1 - EPISODE 10-The Doctor Dances-Part 2.
[12:15PM] DOCTOR WHO - SEASON 8 - EPISODE 4-Listen
[1:20PM] DOCTOR WHO - SEASON 9 - EPISODE 11-Heaven Sent-Part 1.
[2:35PM] DOCTOR WHO - SEASON 2 - EPISODE 4-The Girl In The Fireplace
[3:40PM] DOCTOR WHO - SEASON 3 - EPISODE 10-Blink
[4:45PM] DOCTOR WHO - SEASON 4 - EPISODE 8-Silence in the Library-Part 1.
[5:50PM] DOCTOR WHO - SEASON 4 - EPISODE 9-Forest of the Dead-Part 2.
[6:50PM] DOCTOR WHO - SEASON 5 - EPISODE 7-Amy's Choice
[7:55PM] DOCTOR WHO - SEASON 5 - EPISODE 10-Vincent and The Doctor
[9:00PM] DOCTOR WHO: THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR
[10:40PM] DOCTOR WHO: THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR
[12:00AM] DOCTOR WHO: THE END OF TIME - Part 1 & 2.
[3:00AM] DOCTOR WHO: THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR
[4:20AM] DOCTOR WHO: THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR (ALL TIMES EST)
Bravo has the movie 'Fifty Shades Darker', followed by the movie 'Fifty Shades Of Grey'.
FX has the movie 'Daddy's Home', followed by the movie 'Jurassic World', then the movie 'The Hangover III'.
History has 'The UnXplained', and 3 hours of old 'The Curse Of Oak Island: Drilling Down'.
IFC -
[6:00A] The Three Stooges - The Ghost Talks
[6:15A] The Three Stooges - Gents Without Cents
[6:45A] The Three Stooges - Grips, Grunts and Groans
[7:15A] The Three Stooges - A Pain in the Pullman
[7:45A] Big Momma's House
[10:00A] Christmas With the Kranks
[12:00P] Ernest Saves Christmas
[2:00P] Ferris Bueller's Day Off
[4:30P] Ferris Bueller's Day Off
[7:00P] Ferris Bueller's Day Off
[9:30P] Ferris Bueller's Day Off
[12:00A] Monty Python's Flying Circus - Whither Canada?
[12:43A] Monty Python's Flying Circus - Man's Crisis of Identity in the Latter Half of the 20th Century
[1:25A] Monty Python's Flying Circus - Full Frontal Nudity
[2:07A] Monty Python's Flying Circus - The Ant: An Introduction
[2:49A] Monty Python's Flying Circus - The Naked Ant
[3:32A] Monty Python's Flying Circus - Dinsdale!
[4:14A] Monty Python's Flying Circus - The Spanish Inquisition
[4:56A] Monty Python's Flying Circus - The Buzz Aldrin Show
[5:38A] Monty Python's Flying Circus - Spam (ALL TIMES EST)
Sundance -
[6:00am] The Andy Griffith Show
[6:35am] The Andy Griffith Show
[7:10am] The Andy Griffith Show
[7:45am] The Andy Griffith Show
[8:20am] The Andy Griffith Show
[8:55am] The Andy Griffith Show
[9:30am] The Andy Griffith Show
[10:05am] The Andy Griffith Show
[10:40am] The Andy Griffith Show
[11:15am] The Andy Griffith Show
[11:50am] The Andy Griffith Show
[12:25pm] The Andy Griffith Show
[1:00pm] The Andy Griffith Show
[1:30pm] The Nutty Professor
[4:00pm] Addams Family Values
[6:00pm] Short Circuit
[8:00pm] Caddyshack
[10:00pm] Caddyshack
[12:00am] Coming to America
[2:30am] Blazing Saddles
[4:30am] The Andy Griffith Show
[5:00am] The Andy Griffith Show
[5:30am] The Andy Griffith Show (ALL TIMES EST)
Former first lady Michelle Obama has been named the "most admired woman" in the world for the second year in a row.
Obama, 55, bested current first lady Melania Trump in the 2019 results of an annual poll released Tuesday by Gallup.
Obama was the only woman to rank in double digits, with 10%, according to Gallup. After Obama and Trump (who garnered 5% of votes), former talk show host Oprah Winfrey and teen climate change activist Greta Thunberg tied for fourth place with 3% each on the most admired women list.
Michelle Obama was also named world's most admired woman in July in an annual study conducted by online research firm YouGov.
The former first lady's memoir, "Becoming", was the bestselling book of 2018.
Mariah Carey's legendary music career has been on Santa's "nice" list since 1990.
As the iconic singer-songwriter's perennial holiday hit "All I Want for Christmas Is You" tops the domestic chart (dated Jan. 4) for a third consecutive week, Carey becomes the first artist in history to score a No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100 in four separate decades, the publication announced Monday.
Originally released in 1994, the single became Carey's 19th overall No. 1 hit after rising to the chart's top position earlier in December, giving her the most No. 1 singles for a solo artist in history. She also holds the record for most singles (10) to have ruled the chart for three weeks or more, though her overall tally still trails that of The Beatles' (20 total No. 1 songs) by one.
Carey previously logged 14 songs at No. 1 in the '90s (the first being 1990's "Visions of Love"), followed by four in the 2000s. "All I Want for Christmas Is You" rebounds on the chart as her only No. 1 single of the '10s and the first No. 1 single of the '20s decade so far. The feat puts Carey ahead of eight other artists - Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Elton John, Janet Jackson, Madonna, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, and Usher - who've ranked atop the Billboard Hot 100 in three separate decades.
The single's third chart-topping week was bolstered by a 33 percent increase in streaming from last week, as the song registered 72.2 million U.S. streams for the week ending Dec. 26 (aided by the release of a new music video for the song, which dropped on Dec. 20). It also sold 17,000 digital copies and captured 30.9 million radio impressions across the same frame.
Since 2014, one of Ireland's main highways has had a bizarre service station dedicated to former US President Barack Obama.
Along Ireland's M7 highway, which connects the cities of Limerick and Dublin, there's a strange place - a service station dedicated to former US President Barack Obama.
The Barack Obama Plaza, as it's called, is a gas station with multiple food outlets, a shop, and, bizarrely, a museum dedicated to Obama and the US-Ireland connection.
Obama Plaza was built and named after Obama visited the nearby town of Moneygall in 2011 during his trip to Ireland. A genealogist had learned that Obama's great-great-great-grandfather, Falmouth Kearney, was from the town and had emigrated to the US in the 1800s.
Obama visited a pub in the town, where he and his wife, Michelle, famously had pints of Guinness and he said: "I feel even more at home after that pint that I had."
A North Carolina couple has started an incredible project that takes a page straight out of the "Lord of the Rings."
Mike Parrish, a self-described "huge fan" of the fantasy trilogy that was derived from the J.R.R. Tolkien books, showed off his one-of-a-kind home on Leisure Mountain Road in Woodfin to ABC News affiliate WLOS.
The first line in "The Hobbit," begins "In a hole in the ground, there lived a hobbit," and that's exactly how this property looks.
The 800-square-foot home has one bedroom, one bathroom, a kitchen and is nearly 90% below ground level.
But the "main attraction," according to Matt Robinson with Black Mountain Builders, who took on the project, is the handmade round mahogany door.
The US ambassador to Seoul has defended his decision to grow a moustache, with some South Koreans bristling that the facial hair is disrespectful and a calculated slight.
Harry Harris took over as US ambassador to South Korea in July 2018 after a distinguished 40-year career in the US Navy.
"I wanted to make a break between my life as a military officer and my new life as a diplomat", he said. "I tried to get taller, but I couldn't grow any taller, and so I tried to get younger, but I couldn't get younger. But I could grow a moustache, so I did that".
The second strike against Mr Harris is his ethnicity. The son of a US Navy officer and a Japanese mother, Mr Harris was born in Yokosuka, south-west of Tokyo, leading to allegations that he has a natural affinity for Japan - which has a complicated history with the Korean Peninsula.
Some South Koreans have accused Mr Harris of sporting a moustache that harks back to the years of colonial rule on the grounds that all eight Japanese governor-generals of Korea also had moustaches.
The bushfires in Australia are now so big that they are generating their own weather, in the form of giant thunderstorms that start more fires, according to the Bureau of Meteorology in Victoria.
"Pyro-cumulonimbus clouds have developed to altitudes over 16km in East #Gippsland this afternoon. These fire-induced storms can spread fires through lightning, lofting of embers and generation of severe wind outflows," the bureau tweeted on Monday.
Intense fires generate smoke, obviously. But their heat can also create a localized updraft powerful enough to create its own changes in the atmosphere above. As the heat and smoke rise, the cloud plume can cool off, generating a large, puffy cloud full of potential rain. The plume can also scatter embers and hot ash over a wider area.
Eventually, water droplets in the cloud condense, generating a downburst of rain - maybe. But the "front" between the calm air outside the fire zone and a pyrocumulonimbus stormcloud is so sharp that it also generates lightning - and that can start new fires.
If powerful enough, a pyrocumulonimbus storm can generate a fire tornado, which happened during the Canberra bushfires in 2003.
Annette Fayet was scanning a colony of Atlantic puffins off the coast of Wales when something caught her eye. A puffin, gently bobbing on the sea, held a stick in its orange-black bill. Then, the seabird used it to scratch its back.
"I was surprised and excited," says Fayet, an ecologist at the University of Oxford who studies puffin migration. Puffins (Fratercula arctica) had never been seen using tools. In fact, no seabird had.
Fayet recorded the unusual behavior in her notebook, but it would take four more years before she got photographic evidence. In 2018 on Grimsey Island in Iceland, one of her motion-sensitive camera captured a puffin snatching a stick from the ground and using it to scratch its chest feathers.
Those observations, described December 30 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, represent the only known example of a bird in the wild using a tool to scratch itself.
Scientists have long known that some birds use tools, mostly to extract food. Stick-wielding crows wow biologists with their ingenuity (SN: 9/14/16), some parrots grind down seashells with pebbles and Egyptian vultures can crack ostrich eggs with rocks. But seabirds, which tend to have smaller brains, were written off as prospective tool users, Fayet says. The puffin discovery suggests that tool use in birds may be more widespread and varied than previously thought, she and her colleagues say.
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