Weekend Links 6-5-20

We are back after an unexpected hiatus. Actually, I had taken some time off from the day job and consequently spent less time online than normal. As a result, this week's post is a little bit longer as I have been saving a few things that I had wanted to share. Hopefully this week's post will offer you will a needed diversion from the concerns of the week.

As I write this I am waiting for baseball to return. Tom Verducci from Sports Illustrated checked in with Vin Scully to see how he is recovering from his recent fall. Turns out he is missing baseball too. 

Meanwhile, MLB.com writers share their favorite baseball books. Lots of great titles on this list. 

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the Negro Baseball Leagues. Check out this article on why black baseball still matters after all this time. 

Recently at Arlington National Cemetery they opened a 105 year old time capsule. They discovered that the contents had hardly aged. 

Nostalgia alert: Necco Wafers will soon be available in stores again.

This is a fascinating story: a real life Lord of the Flies that turned out far differently from the novel. 

Ranking the 10 best Sherlock Holmes stories.

Why is classic crime fiction still so popular? You can't do any better than asking Martin Edwards. His book The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books is an indispensable resource. 

More interesting history: How the Black Plague gave rise to the British pub culture.

Alan Jacobs' advice to journalists: stop saying "experts".

This brings back memories: the history of Pac-Man.

An appreciation of one of the best crime dramas of all time: The Rockford Files.

Finally, if there is one writer I can heartily recommend in these dark times it is P. G. Wodehouse. His sunny dispositon and endless optimism is the perfect antidote to these dark times. This New Yorker article explores what happened to Wodehouse following his ill-advised radio broadcasts from Germany during his internment.  Meanwhile, this BBC article headline says it all: the man who wrote the most perfect sentences ever written. 

Weekend Links 12-29-17

A sampling of interesting things I found on the internet this week:

The title of this article is pretty provocative: The World Might Be Better Off Without College for Everyone. What's more interesting is it's written by someone who has spent the past forty years in education. (Hat tip: Acculturated)

Broadway's The Music Man celebrates its sixtieth anniversary this year and is still one of the best musicals ever made. 

As a Cubs fan, I am intrigued by this proposal: Kris Bryant as leadoff man.

There are reasons that Coke tastes better out of the fountain at McDonalds.

The curator of the U. S. Naval Academy Museum recently made a fascinating discovery: flags captured by the Navy during the 19th century.

As the calendar flips to 2018, many folks will make a New Year's resolution to read the Bible. Perhaps they will choose a plan that has them reading all of the Bible in a year. Here are three suggestions on how to read more of the Bible by intentionally reading less.

It's a safe bet that Casablanca couldn't be made today. 

Last week, sportscaster Dick Enberg died at 82 years old. His passing brought to mind an episode of Later with Bob Costas where Enberg appeared with fellow sportscaster Al Michaels to discuss their careers in sportscasting. It's an amazing interview for several reasons. First, both Michaels and Enberg say that the best sport to broadcast is baseball. Second, they both say that part of what made them great broadcasters was that they both started in radio. Finally, they were each asked to name their favorite sports moment they broadcast and then the show cuts to clips of the actual calls. They gave me chills. Take a look.