Blogbook
Michelle Obama’s Becoming on Netflix — a documentary about her book tour of the book with the same name — is a joy to watch.
Google thanks teachers (times infinity) in their latest coronavirus-related themed ad, aimed at promoting their Teach from Home system.
Curious about Palestinian-style kunafa? Middle Eastern Eye has you covered — by going behind the scenes about the beloved cheesy sweet. If you’re looking for kunafa / knafeh / kunafeh done in this style in Melbourne, try Knafeh Nabulseyeh in Hughesdale!
Little Richard, the pioneer of rock n’ roll, singer of classics such as “Good Golly Miss Molly” and “Lucille”, has passed away. He was 87. Via Rolling Stone:
The musician’s son, Danny Jones Penniman, confirmed the pioneer’s death to Rolling Stone. The cause of death was bone cancer, according to his lawyer, Bill Sobel.
Starting with “Tutti Frutti” in 1956, Little Richard cut a series of unstoppable hits – “Long Tall Sally” and “Rip It Up” that same year, “Lucille” in 1957, and “Good Golly Miss Molly” in 1958 – driven by his simple, pumping piano, gospel-influenced vocal exclamations and sexually charged (often gibberish) lyrics. “I heard Little Richard and Jerry Lee Lewis, and that was it,” Elton John told Rolling Stone in 1973. “I didn’t ever want to be anything else. I’m more of a Little Richard stylist than a Jerry Lee Lewis, I think. Jerry Lee is a very intricate piano player and very skillful, but Little Richard is more of a pounder.”
Lovecraft Country is an upcoming horror drama series based on Matt Ruff’s novel of the same name, counting Jordan Peele among its various producers.
Todo Sobre El Asado is a Netflix documentary about asado… as well as an examination of Argentinean culture, customs, and cuisine.
Into the Fire is a National Geographic documentary about an all-women Yazidi mine-clearing team working in Iraq to remove IEDs.
The Wild Detectives, a beloved Dallas bookstore, pranked its customers by pretending to convert itself into a travel agency. Via DMagazine:
The Wild Detectives is one of Dallas’ favorite bookshops, and it’s easy to see why. The charming historic house-turned-business in the Bishop Arts District not only offers reading materials, but also coffee, beer, and–most importantly–a tight-knit literary community complete with poetry readings, writing workshops, and more.
So, when the five-year-old shop made an announcement on its Facebook page on Sunday that The Wild Detectives was “no longer” a bookstore and was pivoting to become a travel agency, comments from devastated customers came rolling in. The post elicited hundreds of cry-face reactions. However, that emotional turmoil could’ve all been avoided by a quick trip to the “travel agency’s” new website.
The Wild Detectives is, in fact, “booking” trips now, but its announcement was more than a little bit deceiving. The bookstore just relaunched gobookatrip.com, a website that allows you to travel the world in literary vehicles, which it first launched last fall. That site is linked to the Wild Detectives’ new e-shop on bookshop.org, the only way to purchase books through WD while the physical store is closed.
You can check out their new site here.
Canada’s famous No Name (yes really) brand launches its largest campaign yet: promoting its Simple Check health symbol system.
What Face Masks Do Against the Coronavirus – A Vox explainer looking at the use and efficacy of face masks in the pandemic. Via Vox:
In the first crucial weeks of the coronavirus spreading in the United States, Americans were instructed to wear a face mask only if they were sick. In the absence of widespread testing, that most likely meant you’d wear a face mask if you felt the symptoms of Covid-19.
But based on what we’ve learned since then about this novel coronavirus, being symptomatic shouldn’t be the sole indicator that a person is infected. Roughly 25 percent of people with coronavirus are thought to be asymptomatic, and people who catch Covid-19 usually don’t develop symptoms until four or five days after being infected. This is one of the ways Covid-19 has been able to spread within communities, often without us knowing.
That’s why face masks are important for both sick and presumably healthy people, say public health experts Shan Soe-Lin and Robert Hecht. In early April, the US Centers for Disease control reversed their recommendations on face mask use and now advise that Americans should wear homemade cloth masks regardless of whether they are sick or symptomatic.