City Skies, the Ken Burns Effect, Coffee

Welcome to the end of another work week.  Time flies, it really does.  As I walk through Georgetown's campus and find it all prepared for a graduation that is not mine, and look at my calendar to find I've been working here for exactly 10 months, that's the only conclusion I can reach.  (Another example of time flying... Started this report this morning, didn't finish til 12:45. All work and no play.)

Lots of excitement around Wednesday's report.  Two readers reflected on how much their younger selves would have loved to stumble on a real-life mystery like that in their own home.  Another was reminded of childhood adventures, though his were less hypothetical, as he reflected on trips to the Winchester Mystery House, which he describes as "the incredible product of a deranged woman who, from the time her husband died until the time she herself croaked, kept adding rooms and staircases-to-nowhere and trapdoors and reverse fireplaces and all kinds of weird stuff to the house."  I've never been, but I remember seeing it on some sort of scary homes special on the Travel Channel or something.  Looking at it now, I am reminded of the thrilling and wildly original novel House of Leaves, which centers on a house larger on the inside than it is on the outside.

One reader is actually a wealth of resources for today's report, having also provided some excellent links to city skylines.  First, he sent over an Atlantic photo series on night sky views focused around London, though including some other UK cities, as well.  I am struck first by how many Ferris wheels there are in the series, beyond just the now iconic London Eye.  Is the UK particularly rich with Ferris wheels, or do they just make neat things to photograph, I wonder.  I was also disappointed to see that a photo featuring the BT Tower in London did not make the cut.  Though not as iconic as some of London's other towers, it was right near where I lived when I studied there, and thus served as a guiding star home on many a night when the exact route to where I lived was a bit foggy...  The second link provided by this reader also features a skyline with a missing tower.  I have heard it noted of the Eiffel Tower that, while it provides the best view of Paris, photos taken from the top always miss one element of the City of Light, namely the Eiffel Tower.  Still, even without an appearance from the Tower itself, this interactive Paris panorama is a great way to look around the city.

To close things out for the week, two shorter items, both found via Andrew Sullivan's "The Dish."  First, Ken Burns reflects on storytelling.  Burns is, of course, a master of turning massive events, histories, or pastimes into interesting stories, even when footage is limited to slow pans and zooms across still photographs.  So his two cents is probably worth something.  And second, good-ish news for the coffee addicts among the readership.  The Washington Post reports on a study that argues that heavy coffee drinkers show potentially prolonged lifespans.  But even on Causal Friday, correlation is not causation, as the commenters have been quick to note.  The best comment, by far, though, is the reader who notes that, regardless of her own prolonged lifespan, those around her have a better chance of living longer when she has her coffee.  Touche, sassy reader, touche.

Hope the rest of your Friday (30) Rocks.  (It's Tina Fey's birthday!)

New Houses, New Mysteries

It seems animals should be a regular part of our Tuesday morning rotation... Lots of positive and thankful responses for the fuzzy faces to get us through that terrible day.  In fact, one response had me ready to send out a follow-up report, it was so perfect.  While it was great to see the animal moms in the Daily Beast slideshow, Victoria's Washington Post submission pays tribute to some of the adoptive mothers of the animal world.  The Rottweiler and wolf pup are so cute, and-- SQUIRREL!  Andrew, meanwhile, submitted a plug for his company's upcoming show, Animal Practice, which will definitely be one to keep an eye out for when new TV seasons begin.

While yesterday's morning was full of reporting, yesterday's evening was full of a new house.  That's right, the desk of the Morning Reporter is moving back down to T Street.  And with a new house comes new housemates.  Here's hoping they aren't as lazy as Nate's roommate Drew.  [They aren't.]  But if they are, I hope they are lazy as creatively as Drew is.  A meme-d excuse to not work out is a good excuse to not work out in my book.

And speaking of books, I'm still exploring the new house for the book that reveals clues to the house's secret codes and mysteries, like the one that the Klinsky family found in their 5th Avenue Apartment when they moved in in 2008.  Described as family-friendly DaVinci Code meets Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, the story of this apartment is one of the pieces from the New York Times that has lingered in my memory the longest, right down to the little salamanders.  What a fun (and beautiful) apartment with so many great details.  I particularly love the simple little plane drawing that hides the scale kitchen.  Any architects and artists among the readership, be prepared for a phone call when my family buys its first house, we'll be calling you up to help design a fun mystery adventure for our children to solve.

That's all we've got for the Report today!  I'm off to be trained on the Adobe suite... So maybe future editions will include some of you guys photoshopped in with puppies or Pixar characters!  We shall see!  [Indeed future banners would indicate Adobe prowess...]

Dress up as a British nanny and sneak some cayenne pepper into your ex-wife's new boyfriend's jambalaya... It's Pierce Brosnan's 59th birthday!  (A Bond reference was too straightforward, and all of his other roles decidedly forgettable.)

Animals with Moms, Windows, and Apples

Ah, the terrible Tuesday.  That longest day of the week, when the weekend seems like it was ages ago, and next weekend is a distant speck on the horizon.  And lord knows we all look forward to the weekends, even if it means two Report-less days.  And Report-less weekends mean there was no Report this past Sunday; the only person who received communication from me that morning was Mom.  While that is great for Mom (and I hope you wished all of your mothers a Happy Mother's Day, dear readers!), it meant that as a collective readership, we could not enjoy a selection from the glut of adorable mom-stuff that found its way online this weekend.

Well then, let's consider today "Mother's Day (Observed)" and take a look at something cute.  While Time Magazine is getting all the buzz about moms lately for their controversial cover photo (BOOBS!), Newsweek's Daily Beast put out some shots of parent-child bonding that are infinitely more shareable.  How about that polar bear cub gazing up at mom?  And little zebu getting in trouble?  But my favorite is the tamarin, if only because it involves the statement, "admires its mother's mustache," a seldom-used combination of words.

Sometimes, though, little babies, be they animal or human, need some time away from mom.  (Hear that, Time magazine cover lady?)  They long to get out and explore the world on their own.  Experience it for themselves.  But sometimes, something gets in the way.  And sometimes that thing is a window.  And sometimes the results are cute photographs of planned escapes, adventures, and lives.  The main question that arises here is not what they are planning, but which one is cuter:  The kitten with its arm around the other in photo four, or the two-head-kitten-totem-pole of photo seven?  Or do dog and raccoon on the outside looking in trump them all?

And finally for today, we can't discuss animals looking out windows without me thinking of an animal looking at Macs.  This is actually the funniest thing I have ever sent in a Morning Report.  Without fail, it makes me laugh out loud every time I read it.  I would make puns and witty remarks about it, but really, the writer of the piece has already got everything covered.  The entire process of analysis.  Everything you would experience when you see a horse in an Apple Store.  It's all there.  Ready to be laughed at.

Eat something terrible for you today; it's the 72nd anniversary of the opening of the first McDonalds (in San Bernadino, California).

Til tomor- THERE IS A LITTLE PONY IN THE APPLE STORE.

Once Again, to Zelda

 I was thrilled to learn on Friday how many squirrel fans there are among our readership, and ice cream fans, as well.  (Also thrilled that no readers proposed a cross-over of squirrel ice cream.)  One reader provided a fantastic comic on Friday in response to Thursday's report on Maurice Sendak.  Seriously, thank you to all those who submit links and such.  I promise I'm trying to find ways to work them all in, but we have a sizable backlog that we're working with, too.

But today we're not digging into the backlog at all.  I spent this weekend traveling to New York and back to see the play "Gatz," an 8 hour marathon theater experience in which the entirety of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby is read/performed on stage.  The experience is so much more than that, but it is hard to describe in any other way.  The concept is this:  A man enters his office, finds that his computer is not working, and also finds a copy of the novel at his desk.  He begins to read aloud, and over the next 8 hours, his office is transformed, coworkers become characters, and previously unrealized layers of the novel become apparent.  For example, Nick Carraway is an absolutely hilarious and snarky narrator.  Bet you didn't realize that in 10th grade American Lit!

The Public Theater also put together some great promotional material for the piece, including a variety of (some recognizable) actors, writers, and more reading both the opening and famous closing of the novel.  (Note: None of those talents appear in the production.)  Though maybe they should have focused more on merchandising for marketing... I would wear a Gatz shirt, much like this t-shirt.  (It makes me sad because I've never seen such - such beautiful shirts before.)  What a classic cover.  Though the re-design presented for Penguin Essentials is pretty cool, too.

Not sure if this show should be called an adaptation of the work or not, since it's presented in its original entirety.  Not like the Robert Redford film.  Or the upcoming Baz Luhrmann film.  And this (tragically auto-tuned, but) fantastic rap adaptation.  But as far as adaptations go, there really is none as unique as The Great Gatsby video game originally released for NES.  An incredible piece of work, right down to the (fake) backstory.  And be sure to check out the merchandise section of their page... Hilarious.

That's all for today... More cute animals and such to come later in the week to make up for this literature (and video game!!) heavy post.  Funny, though, that a Report about great writing should fall on George Lucas's birthday... Given his failure to grasp fundamentals of storytelling and good dialogue writing and all...

Til to-morrow, we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther.... And one fine morning---