Phu Phi Phum Pho Pharce

Why do people say that?  I’m delirious, and the wind is strong out.

We got home late.  Need to sleep now.

I wish I know how to take better care of it. 

NY Times reports, “Fazil’s Times Square Studio closed after 73 years as a ramshackle, homey rehearsal center that served as a mecca for everyone from movie stars to struggling tap, flamenco and Middle Eastern dancers.”

Robert Todd Lincoln, the first son of Abraham Lincoln, was present, or nearby three (three!) presidential assassinations: April 14, 1845, he was at the White House while his father was shot at the Ford’s Theatre; on July 2, 1881, he witnessed James Garfield’s being shot at the Sixth Street Train Station in DC; and on September 6, 1901, he was at the Pan-American Exposition when William McKinley was shot (McKinley died about a week later).

Anger, if suppressed, becomes depression. And if you’re a basketball coach, it’s best to let out all your anger on court. Above drawing based on a picture by H. Rumph Jr., of Dawn Staley, Temple U. women basketball coach.

The New York Times reports that the United States Olympic Committee, concerned with the high level of steroids they’ve found in Chinese chicken (they found a 14-in Chinese chicken breast), searched for more trustworthy food suppliers. And who better to provide food for America’s finest athletes than Kellogg’s and Tyson Foods? (Good thing the Olympics sports committee only checks for steroids, and not growth hormones or antibiotics.)

Does it take a 14-inch chicken breast to tell us that there’s something wrong with Chinese produce? Have you not noticed Yao Ming getting bigger each season? And I have always maintained that our honorable, professional athletes would not knowingly take steroids, and now it all makes sense - it’s the fault of Chinese chickens.

This also helps explain a puzzle that has been nagging me lately, regarding Mr. Spielberg’s resignation as an artistic adviser for the 2008 Olympics. There have been reports suggesting that Mr. Spielberg’s withdrawal has to do with China not doing enough to pressure Sudan to end the crisis in Darfur. I’ve always found that a little funny, given that Mr. Spielberg lives in and works for a country that attacked and ruined another nation - he couldn’t have possibly criticized another for, well, not doing enough. In any case, this explains it all: it wasn’t Darfur, it’s the chicken that Mr. Spielberg couldn’t stand.

I like reading old newspapers, it makes me feel prescient. This news, however, I have not heard about, and apparently, the actual event took place more than three months ago.

In last Saturday’s New York Times, there was an article about the J.K. Rowling case (where she and her publishing, Warner Bros. Entertainment, are suing and blocking the publishing of a book about Harry Potter, written by a librarian, fan, and webmaster of a popular Harry Potter website) and how Standard Law School’s Fair Use Project is defending RDR Books.

Fair use, as my limited understanding goes, is what allows my favorites shows, The Daily Show by Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report to take footages from FOX network, make fun of them, and not having to ask for permissions from the network to do so. And if you blog, draw, collage, design, or express yourself publicly in any way - then fair use is probably important to you.

Somewhat related articles: Judy’s take on fair use; The ecstasy of influence: A plagiarism, the infamous article by Jonathan Lethem; and his Promiscuous Materials Project.

Judy tells me that whenever we have potatoes, she thinks of the old farmer who sells us vegetables at the farmer’s market. The old farmer once told her that he likes the rounder, thin-skinned golden potatoes, and his wife used to like the darker, longer ones with thick skin.

My potatoes came out like rocks.

• Copyright Davis

• MoMA.org | The Collection | Prints and Illustrated Books
• The BookScans Database An amazing library of scanned images of vintage books (mostly covers).

• The World Clock Project : A Community-powered Timepiece

• ea