Weekend Links 4-30-21

 Hard to believe we are already at the end of April. Where has this year gone? Hopefully you have some fun plans for the weekend that include reading the articles below. 

In 1888 baseball was still a relatively new pastime. But that didn't stop Albert Goodwill Spalding (later founder of the successful sporting goods company) from taking his Chicago White Stockings team on a worldwide barnstorming tour that would include among other stops playing baseball at the foot of the Sphinx. 

Food served to astronauts has come a long way since the early days of space travel. I am surprised to learn that astronauts have never eaten astronaut ice cream in space. I feel so lied to. Special thanks to my daughter Katie for this tip. 

Fish sticks were a regular feature on Fridays in the school cafeteria when I was a kid. Here's the surprising history of their success. 

Is Citizen Kane the best movie of all time? It's certainly one of the best I have ever seen and one that anyone who is serious about studying film should watch. 

There was a time I wouldn't dream of eating a steak without a little A. 1. Sauce. Little did I know that originally it was created for a king. 

Book review: why Hercule Poirot is the greatest fictional detective in the world. 

Caroline Crampton, hostess of one of my favorite podcasts Shedunnit, explores the world of Honkaku - the fiendishly clever world of the Japanese whodunnit.

Long read of the week: a father, a daughter, and K-pop. 

Weekend Links 4-23-21

Your weekly roundup of interesting reading. Hope you enjoy reading these articles as much as I enjoyed finding them.

The Oscars are this weekend. The folks over at Cine-Pop were kind enough to ask me to cast my votes for who I thought would win. Here is a compilation of the votes and comments from all their writers.  I will be completely honest and tell you I haven't seen any of the nominated films yet though Minari is on my watch list. I cast my votes solely based on what I had heard about each film. I suspect I will be nowhere close to picking the actual winners. 

Speaking of movies, check out this story about how one studio got in trouble for employing a fake film critic. Can you really trust the blurbs in movie ads?

Potterheads rejoice! Harry Potter New York is scheduled to open this summer. 

How Arthur Conan Doyle and Oscar Wilde are connected. 

I don't have an opinion on this (as I have never tried it) but I at least appreciate this writers heartfelt love for McDonald's Filet-O-Fish sandwich.

The story behind the lyrics of "Smelly Cat" from Friends. I was surprised to learn the song originally wasn't about a cat.  

Roget is best remembered for his thesaurus. Perhaps less well known is the fact that earlier in his life he had to flee from Napoleon. 

The earliest appearances of Hercule Poirot on radio and television. A book excerpt from Agatha Christie's Poirot: The Greatest Detective in the World by Mark Aldridge.

Weekend Links 4-16-21

It's a veritable cornucopia of interesting links for your weekend reading. Enjoy!

Before the days of the internet research involved spending hours in libraries surrounded by books or searching through newspapers on microfilm. In theory being able to do your research on the internet should be easier. But sometimes internet research can actually be more difficult as this article points out. I found this story strangely fascinating.

Last week The Masters was held in Augusta, Georgia. Along with great golf there is also a long tradition of iconic snacks including their famed pimento cheese sandwich. But the sandwich is at the heart of a controversy.  I am actually curious to try the recipe in the article. 

Full disclosure: I haven't seen the films mentioned in this article so I don't have an opinion on which film should have won the Best Picture Academy Award in 1999. But it is interesting to see how this particular Best Picture campaign changed the way producers campaign for Academy votes .

See World War II in color. These pictures are amazing. 

How All In the Family changed television forever. This begs the question: would this series get made today? 

This just goes to prove you can get a degree in just about anything. An Irish academic is getting his PhD in whiskey. I actually find it interesting that he's trying to revive long lost whiskey recipes. 

I hadn't thought about this before: what happened to the Ford's Theater actors the night Lincoln was shot? 

Long read of the week: the woman who made van Gogh. I somehow always knew that van Gogh was not commercially successful during his lifetime but I never stopped to think how he became known as an artistic genius. 

In Brooklyn, you can visit the world's largest library of sketchbooks. 

Need a question answered? Forget Google. Consult a librarian. They are the best detectives. 

Answering the important questions: Why didn't Sports Jeopardy! succeed the way Jeopardy! did? 

Yesterday marked the anniversary of Jackie Robinson's major league debut in 1947 and the breaking of the so-called color barrier. But there was another player that almost broke the color barrier....in 1905!

That time that the New York Mets replaced their mascot Mr. Met with a live mule. It didn't end well. 

President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum Bob Kendrick has a fabulous new podcast called Black Diamonds in which he profiles the key figures of the league. He is a fantastic storyteller and this podcast is well worth a listen.

Weekend Links 4-9-21

 Maybe it's just me but this has felt like a strange week. The baseball season has just gotten underway and already in some quarters there is panic because teams aren't playing as well as they are expected to play. My take is that we're only a handful of games into a long season. It's far too early to be passing judgements on teams or individual players. Check back in around June and see how guys are doing. By then you should have a better idea of how the season is going to shake out. 

This week's roundup is mostly baseball and crime stories. Not sure why it worked out that way. Also, I normally try to only feature one story per website but this week I am breaking that rule as you will see below. It's my blog and I can break the rules if I want to, right? Anyway, here are this week's links:

It's Oscar season so time to rank the best movies that have won Best Picture. I can't vouch for the quality of all these films as I have only seen about a third of them. I don't know that I would necessarily be keen to see the ones I haven't seen, either. 

The story behind a new Netflix documentary about one of the world's most lucrative art heists. The thing that struck me is that the crime remains unsolved. I haven't seen the documentary so I can't necessarily vouch for it. 

Speaking of heists, who knew that stolen LEGO were so lucrative?

From the New York Times, how the New York Yankees luckiest batboy ended up in an unmarked grave. The story has a happy ending. 

Hard to believe that 40 years on, Fernandomania is still a thing. 

How a potato ended a catcher's career. Yes, you read that correctly. 

Anyone who reads this blog on the regular (and I know there are at least a couple of you) know that I link regularly to CrimeReasds. It is one of my favorite sites. This week I am featuring three of their stories (thus breaking my own rules because I can) as they are really good. 

First up, ranking Sherlock Holmes portrayals from worst to best. Honestly I didn't know that (a) there were so many and (b) that some of these portrayals existed at all. It's an interesting list of names. 

Next, Jane Healey, author of The Secret Stealers, uncovers the history of women who served in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the World War II precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). 

Finally, Flynn Berry, author of the new novel Northern Spy (which was just selected by Reese Witherspoon as her book this month for her book club) uncovers the history of women who were involved in the IRA. 

Weekend Links 4-2-21

 "You always get a special kick on opening day, no matter how many you go through. You look forward to it like a birthday party when you're a kid. You think something wonderful is going to happen." ~ Joe DiMaggio

Yesterday was Opening Day in Major League Baseball. After a pandemic-shortened 2020 season they will attempt to play a full season. Fans will also be gradually be allowed back in ballparks which means that slowly things are returning to normal. Optimism abounds as every team starts with the exact same chance to win it all. In case you have forgotten, here's why baseball matters:

Here are a few things for your weekend enjoyment....

Something strange is always bound to happen on opening day. Cody Bellinger of the Los Angeles Dodgers hit a home run, was called out, and only credited with a single. 

In honor of Opening Day I wrote this article for Cine-Pop Movie Reviews on the Top 5 family friendly baseball movies. 

One more baseball related link: one of the greatest April Fool's pranks revolved around a New York Mets phenom. Why we are still curious about the case of Sidd Finch.  If you're not familiar with the original story you can read it here. 

Ranking the best Hercule Poirot novels.

Long read of the week: a band of rare book thieves pulling off capers reminiscent of Mission: Impossible. 

Video of the week: Dave Kindred covered most of the major sporting events during his illustrious career. No doubt he had thoughts about settling down to a quiet retirement. Then he went to a girls high school basketball game and it changed everything. Writers gotta write.