What, no "Those who post loads of links every week" option? 
Happy invoicing!
- How Did Bob Dylan Get So Weird? - Bill Wyman attempts to figure out Dylan: ”He’s released more albums than Bruce Springsteen in the past 25 years and played more shows than Springsteen, the Stones, and U2 combined. Yet he hardly ever does interviews and does virtually nothing to publicize his albums or tours. For someone who seems to be in such plain sight, he remains hidden, present but opaque, an open book written in cipher.”
- Let’s fly: How to survive air travel - Handy hints from Craig Mod: ”Arrive early and move through the airport like the Dalai Lama. You are in no rush. All obstacles are taken in stride, patiently, with a smile. Approach the nearly empty check-in counter. Walk up and say, I’m a bit early but I’m here to check in to … Marvel at their surprise and then their generosity. Suddenly you are always able to get an exit row or bulkhead seat. Suddenly, sure, they can slip you into Business… This is what happens when there is no one behind you in line to check in.”
- The New Face of Richard Norris - "For fifteen years, Richard Norris had a face too hideous to show. Then, one day, a maverick doctor gave him a miracle too fantastic to believe. Richard got a face transplant, a new life, and a new set of burdens too strange to predict. What's it like to live with a face that wasn't yours—and that may never quite be?"
- Your ‘Craft’ Rye Whiskey Is Probably From a Factory Distillery in Indiana - Turns out that fancy label may be the only thing the “distiller” actually made: ”The distillery creates “small batch heirloom spirits handcrafted in New Mexico.” Each batch of their rye whiskies, vodka, and gin is “individual and unique,” and “each bottle is hand bottled and hand marked with batch and bottle number.”… But, in the new crowd of micro-distillers, it is now standard for the alcohol being sold to come not from their own distinctive stills, but from a hulking factory in Indiana.”
- How to Design a Great Flag - A useful guide from the North American Vexillological Association: ”A flag’s purpose is to represent a place, organization, or person, generally on a rectangular piece of cloth, to be seen at a distance, often moving, and reproduced in quantity and in many sizes.” (Hint: something to keep the kids occupied on rainy days in your caravan near Llandudno?)
- Markov Chains: A visual explanation by Victor Powell /w text by Lewis Lehe - "Markov chains, named after Andrey Markov, are mathematical systems that hop from one "state" (a situation or set of values) to another." Interesting introduction to the subject, with interactive demonstrations, and a transition matrix editor so you can muck around
- The Abortion Ministry of Dr. Willie Parker - "In Mississippi, there is only one clinic where a woman can go if she needs an abortion. The state is trying to close it down. At that clinic, there is a doctor who tends to the needs of these women, and he has to fly in from out of state to do it. There is no shutting him down." (N.B. There are descriptions of medical procedures towards the end of this one that may be upsetting.)
- Guitarist Randy Bachman Demystifies the Opening Chord of ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ - I’ve heard guitarists of my acquaintance debate and discuss this one many times; in this clip from a US radio show, the Bachman-Turner Overdrive guitarist explains how he sorted it out when allowed to hear the original tapes track-by-track: ”As it turns out, the sound is actually a combination of chords played simultaneously by George Harrison and John Lennon, along with a bass note by Paul McCartney. Bachman breaks it all down in an entertaining way.”
- Sympathetic Memories - Emergency care consultant Dr Malcolm McKenzie (some of you may know him from the early series of 24 Hours in A&E) explains how memory can deceive us: ”We *had* planned to go in the same vehicle, but due to some preparations on the day I had gone ahead separately! I was never in the car with this friend on the way to the event, just didn’t happen… My good friend had made up entirely a false memory of the events. To the extent of an action and phrases I had said and was using this by way of introduction for me.”
- Modernist Petrol Stations - They don’t make ‘em like this anymore:
Happy invoicing!
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