The inbox still needed a little more sifting through in order to consider it cleaned for a while and after the last cleaning, I was able to set things up to make this one a non-sports version.We start with two passings from outside the sports world with the word of the death of Charles Van Doren at the age of 93.
Van Doren, the Columbia professor, who famously received the answers to the questions that would be asked on the 1950's quiz show "Twenty One" beforehand and was subsequently disgraced passed from natural causes in Connecticut.
The scandal would be developed into the film "Quiz Show" that focused mainly on Van Doren, the opponent that he defeated, Herb Stempel and congressional investigator Richard Goodwin and the status of television during the fifties.
Before the Robert Redford produced film, PBS did an "American Experience" documentary, which I thought was even better than the film, which as most films are, was embellished for the purposes of the film.
Van Doren lost his job as a TODAY show correspondent and would spend the remainder of his career working at the Encyclopedia Brittanica writing and editing books often using a pseudonym as well as a return to teaching later in life.
Van Doren rarely discussed the scandal but finally commented in a large reminiscence in the New Yorker in 2008.
Goodbye to Scott Walker at the age of 76.
Walker, who first gained prominence with the Walker Brothers (none of the brothers were actually related) in the late '60s with various hits such as "The Sun Ain't Gonna Shine Anymore' being the highest on the U.S. charts, would move away from not only pop music, but even contemporary music. preferring to make more experimental and progressive cuts instead.
Walker's takes on some classic tunes range from interesting in a good way to wondering why someone would even think of releasing this, but Ryan has always been a huge fan and I've recently been listening to some of his non-pop work, some of which I've enjoyed a great deal and others... well not so much!
Walker would have his own television series in Great Britain and is unusual for the small amount of footage that is available.
Even then, music programs would often be archived for future use, which is why we have so many terrific performances from the various ages of television and I'm surprised that the Walker series is bereft of material.
The title of the link above from Billboard may have said it best- Scott Walker changed the face of pop music by turning his back on it.
The Guardian brings word of Ken Lawson of Australia, who as an amateur photographer and astronomer nails the perfect shot of the International Space Station crossing the face of the Moon.
It appears that Lawson just got lucky with the photo on March 14 with his telescope and camera, but alas it took plenty of planning, patience and practice as Lawson says that he had attempted to get it right for over eight years before he finally snapped the picture on a rare pass near his home that he says occurs about as often as a solar eclipse.
Joe Plum sent me this link to the website Yupitexists.com offered up this fastball on Pestalotiopsis Microspora.
Just what is that?
Well, it's a mushroom that can eat plastic!
I would imagine this won't be on a large scale in my time, but imagine the possibilities of removing plastic from the environment and generating an edible product?
In controlled conditions of testing, the mycelium breaks down the plastic and in a few weeks, the plastic is gone and in its place?
A mushroom brought to you by your friends in nature.
And we wrap up with 13th Dimension and their ratings of the top 13 Batman action figures ever made.
One would think we could not pass that up and we didn't!
How many do we own? Two.
How many would we like to? Far More
How many are on the list to buy? Three.
With that, the inbox is now scrubbed clean for a while.
Coming soon, last weekend's road trip to Lexington, tonight's Crawford-Khan bout and early next week, some thoughts on the draft for the Browns and a rare draft day without a first rounder.
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