Today one of World War II’s iconic “Rosie The Riveters” punched out on the time clock for the last time. Geraldine Hoff Doyle passed away at 86. A news photo of her working in a metal pressing plant is said to have inspired the famous ”We Can Do It!” poster encouraging women to seek industrial work in the war effort. While Norman Rockwell painted a woman doing war work for a magazine cover, it is the poster that has has become a pop culture icon.
If asked about your New Year’s Resolutions for 2011, the best response is “I am far from perfect, but self-criticism sessions went out with Chairman Mao. So Happy New Year, and let’s have another drink.”
If friends and family insist you make resolutions, perhaps at gunpoint, you may benefit from this list of the Top 10 Best New Year’s Resolutions Ever:
Technorati’s annual State of the Blogosphere report begins here, but the Fast Company version is a faster read.
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The bewitching Christine O’Donnell, Tea Party sweetheart, meat-eating anti-masturbation crusader and Constitutional scholar, is being investigated by federal authorities for improper use of funds from her failed Senate campaign. Somehow $20,000 in campaign funds just … disappeared. Must have been magic.
“I live on beans, legumes, vegetables, fruit,” Bill Clinton told Wolf Blitzer. “No milk.” The former President lost 24 pounds eating that way.
PETA named the veggie-lovin’ Ex-Prez its Person of the Year.
“God willing, he won’t be appearing nude in any future PETA ads,” writes Salon’s Mary Elizabeth Williams.
“SC’s governor mum on plans, affair as tenure ends,” Jim Davenport, Associated Press, via NPR.
“Sanford: No plans for Appalachia,” Jennifer Epstein, Politico.
“Mark Sanford: Legacy,” John O’Connor, The State.
“Mark Sanford says his affair helped him govern,” Andy Barr, Politico.
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Lucy O’Brien has an interesting post in the Britannica blog. Ms. O’Brien is author of She Bop: The Definitive History of Women in Rock, Pop & Soul and She Bop II, and she reflects on the role of women in the music industry, and how it has changed in the past quarter century.
It’s a rich subject. If you agree, here are a few more titles to consider:
Eastman Kodak introduced Kodachrome photographic film in 1935, and ceased production in July 2009. The beloved color reversal film was a mainstay of magazine photojournalism and family snapshots (confidentially, some of us preferred Ektachrome and Fujicolor). The Kodachrome development process is complicated and requires professional handling and proprietary chemicals.
Now that the stock of film and chemicals is exhausted, the last Kodak-certified processor, Dwayne’s Photo of Parsons, Kansas, will stop developing Kodachrome film at the end of this month. National Geographic photographer Steve McCurry bought the last roll of Kodachrome ever produced; Dwayne’s Photo developed it in July.
That’s not the end of the story, though. The last decades of the 20th century will always look like Kodachrome.
500,000 Christmas trees were sold in Egypt this month. The country’s Coptic Catholic Church, 200,000 souls strong, eschews reindeer, evergreens, and Santa. Secular-style Xmas is in fashion in the Land of the Nile:
“’I have been invited to at least four Christmas parties this year, and three of them are being held by Muslims. This is the first time I’ve felt such a huge emphasis on Christmas,’ 33-year-old investment banker Osama Abdelshafy said.
Rania El-Nazer, who works in PR and is herself throwing a Christmas party, says she will fill her house with Christmas decorations and have everyone exchange gifts. ‘It’s not about being Christian or not, I just like the idea of getting together and giving gifts in a festive atmosphere.’ Rania’s guests–although of both religious persuasions–include no one who will attend Christmas mass–or ‘Christ’s Mass,’ where the holiday’s etymology comes from.”
– “Egypt celebrates Christmas local way,” Mohamed-Elmeshad, Al-Masry Al-Youm.
Christmas may be popular in Egypt, but Christians are not. There has been violence and official repression.
h/t: Lorenz Khazaleh, antropologi.info
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Proof radio no longer matters: Congress finally passed the Community Radio Act authorizing broadcasting by more low power FM (LPFM) nonprofit stations. After a decade of stalling it by making proponents jump through hoops, the broadcast lobby now applauds the act’s passage. Broadcasters and publishers are simply too busy working the hyper-local Web and cell phone angles, and figure no one listens to radio if they aren’t driving anyway. Even community radio blogs seem more concerned with Net Neutrality than this long-running radio issue.
