Snark's New Writeups

Chuck Klein (person)

2005-05-10T23:04:44Z

A Major League Baseball player inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1980, Charles "Chuck" Herbert Klein was born on October 7, 1904 in Indianapolis, Indiana, and died there nearly 54 years later, on March 28, 1958. In between, Klein – the "Hoosier Hammerer" – was a two-time All Star and won the National League Most Valuable Player and Triple Crown awards. He led the National League in HRs four times during his career, and also picked up two RBI and two hits titles. Remarkably, the former steelworker led the league in stolen bases and home runs in 1932 – the same year he won MVP honors – and remains one of only three players in MLB history to achieve this feat. The next year, he led the NL in homers, batting average, and runs batted in (but came up short in MVP voting, losing out to Carl Hubbell). He also hit four home runs in a game in 1936.

Overall, Klein hit .320 and finished his career with exactly 300 home runs. When he retired this total was good for sixth-best on the all-time…

One who doesn't ask, eats wax (idea)

2003-12-30T00:47:44Z

An aphorism from Zambia. In Nyanja, it reads a more concise Safunsa amadya pula. The story from whence it came is something akin to a fable, minus the animals. It can be told many ways; this is mine.

A poor man from town learns his parents have died, and moves back to their village to inherit their holdings. He has been living in town since childhood, and despite his poverty and ignorance of country life, he looks down upon the villagers living around him.

Unwilling to condescend to ask a simple question, the man resorts to eavesdropping on his new neighbors in hopes of learning the rural ropes. At dawn one morning, he sees two farmers thwacking at a bee hive in a tree. Hiding behind a distant bush, the man observes the pair killing the bees, breaking up the hive, and eagerly stuffing the pieces into their mouths. Hungry for breakfast himself, the man waits until the two have left, and then runs to what's left of the hive. He chews and swallows piece after piece of…

Nyanja (thing)

2003-12-29T15:42:56Z

A trading language spoken or understood by more than 5 million people in central Sub-Saharan Africa, including parts of Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania. Nyanja per se is most widely spoken in Zambia, where it is the primary language base of Eastern Province, and also very common in the capital city of Lusaka. Nyanja is very similar to the Chewa language spoken in much of Malawi, however, and thus most widely understood in that country.

Nyanja is classified as Niger-Congo by family, Benue-Congo by subgroup, and Bantu by branch. It has acquired vocabulary and syntax from neighboring dialects including Ngoni, Kunda, Nsenga, and Tumbuka. The former three dialects, as well as Chewa, are mutually intelligible, with Tumbuka more of a stretch. Nyanja speakers can generally pick up on a fair amount of Bemba, and some may also find they can understand a small amount of Swahili, although the Arabic does tend to muddle things.

There is…

The Wrens (thing)

2003-12-29T12:30:33Z

A four-piece indie rock outfit based in Secaucus, New Jersey, the Wrens are:

Charles "Mexico" Bissell (guitars and vocals)
Greg "G." Whelan (guitars)
Kevin "Sett" Whelan (bass/vocals)
Jerry MacDonnell (drums)

The Wrens are also occasionally inspiring, often frustrating, and generally improbable. A brief history:

In the late 1980s, the Wrens start out as Low, issuing an eponymous 7" in 1993 before discovering they are not the slowcore group of the same name. They change their name to "The Wrens," before discovering that they are not the 1950's R&B/doo-wop group of the same name. They do not change their name again. They are fired from their first regular gig -- on the Cape May/Delaware ferry -- for playing the Pixies' Debaser to audiences primarily comprising potential members of the AARP.

After signing with Grass Records/Dutch East India, they release their first full-length album, Silver, in 1994. It is good,…

Shamash (thing)

2003-12-28T00:16:11Z

Also "servant" in Hebrew, the shamash is the light used to start the other braches of the menorah burning. It is not counted as one of the "official" lights. On the original menora, it was the seventh and westernmost branch; on the hanukiya -- the menora used for Hanukah -- it is the ninth, and on most hanukiyot is either the center candle or has an elevated position unto itself.

In the Temple, the shamash stayed lit every day, unlike the other six lights, which were extinguished and cleaned daily. This shamash has been symbolized in synagogues as the ner tamid, or eternal light. The Hanukah shamash is the first candle lit; it goes out with the other candles, and is relit each night.

menorah (thing)

2003-12-27T23:48:09Z

Some additional notes on menorot -- both the original and the special Hanukah version:

The "original" menora -- that used daily in the Temple -- had seven branches, as demanded by Exodus 25:31-40. The seventh was the shamash, or servant, light, as noted above. After the destruction of the Temples, it became tradition to build the menorot with any number of branches other than seven, so as to remember the tragedy and avoid blasphemy. In our modern times, many see this injunction fulfilled by use of electricity rather than oil, and thus seven-branched menorot can be seen gracing many a synagogue.

The Hanukah menora, or hanukiya, has nine branches -- the seven of the original, plus one for the miracle of the holiday, plus another for the shamash. In addition to the continuation of the Temple tradition, this last light is employed because the Hanukah lights are prohibited from common use; using a ninth light to light the other eight is supposed to discourage use of those eight…