Snippets from Strangers

criminalwisdom:

Stasi operative taking a picture of a CIA operative taking a picture of him, circa 1960.

Images From The Secret STASI Archive | Simon Menner

(Source: mappeal)

theatlantic:

In Focus: 50 Years Ago, The World in 1962

A half-century ago, the space race was heating up and the Cold War was freezing over. Soviet missile bases discovered in Cuba triggered a crisis that brought the U.S. to the brink of war with the U.S.S.R. Civil rights activists won hard-earned victories against segregationists in the American South, and John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. Algeria gained independence from France and the U.S. slowly escalated its involvement in Vietnam. Meanwhile, Seattle held a World’s Fair called the the Century 21 Exposition, celebrating the themes of space, science, and the future. Let’s take a look 50 years into the past, for a look at the world as it was in 1962.

See more. [Images: AP, Getty]

caiiit:

noheat:

Jimi Hendrix hanging out with Mick Jagger.

to be a fly on that wall. or a person in that room. whichever.

bbook:

Frank O’Hara and Edward Gorey

Poet Frank O’Hara and macabre writer and illustrator Edward Gorey were roommates at Harvard in the late ’40s, where they furnished their apartment with garden furniture and a coffee table made from a repurposed tombstone. According to The New Yorker, the pair “established their rooms as (in the words of a home-town friend) the spot to ‘lie down on a chaise lounge, get mellow with a few drinks, and listen to Marlene Dietrich records.’” Pompous and eccentric? Perhaps. But we bet their room was the coolest place on campus.

Two-Typewriter Homes: Famous Literary Roommates

wired:

Charles Darwin liked to freak out his friends—for science. Guests visiting the famed naturalist in 1868 were shown a set of “ghoulish” photos of a guy being prodded in the face with an electrical current. Darwin then asked his guests-cum-guinea pigs to describe the emotion displayed in each photo. Was the subject happy? Sorrowful? Cheeky?

More creepy pictures @ Wired Science.

(Source: Wired)

obitoftheday:

Obit of the Day: Writing Dirty Books for Fun and Profit

Mike McGrady was an award-winning journalist for New York Newsday. He earned an Overseas Press Club Award in 1967 for a collection of columns, “A Dove in Vietnam,” that he wrote while on the front lines. A graduate of Yale who also spent time as a fellow at Harvard, McGrady was respected, well-liked, and talented.

He also knew bad writing when he read it. In the late 1960’s popular erotic fantasy literature had reached the bestseller lists. With novels like Peyton Place and Valley of the Dolls being read by millions across the United States, Mr. McGrady felt he too could replicate, and mock, the success with the help of some friends.

He invited two dozen journalists, male and female, to each write a chapter of the sexual exploits of a suburban housewife. McGrady would edit each chapter, eliminating those that were too well-written. Finally, Naked Came the Stranger was finished and published by Lyle Stuart Books (then later Dell Books). The author of the new steamy fantasy was listed as Penelope Ashe and the book was released in the summer of 1969. The reviews were entertaining:

…it will suck your soul right out of your brainpan and through your mouth, and you will happily let it go… - The Village Voice

In the category of erotic fantasy, this one rates about a C. - New York Times

The book sold 20,000 copies before the hoax was revealed and afterwards it spent thirteen weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. McGrady’s experiment was a success.

Mike McGrady, who died at the age of 78, would later co-author two memoirs with pornography star Linda Lovelace and write Stranger Than Naked: Or, How to Write Dirty Books for Fun and Profit, which was published in 1970.

Random note: For interviews about the novel, Mr. McGrady recruited his sister-in-law, Billie Young, to portray Penelope Ashe.

(Image of the original cover for Naked Came the Stranger is copyright Dell Books and courtesy of novelspaces.blogspot.com)

beingblog:

“Organ playing is the manifestation of a will filled with the vision of eternity.”

—Charles Marie Widor from an interview with Albert Schweitzer.

Photo by Ben Cooper. (Taken with instagram)

nationalpostsports:

Paralympic swimmer Xavi Torres, 37, of Spain carries his orthopaedic legs after a training session on the Balearic island of Palma de Mallorca May 15, 2012. This summer, Torres, who has previously won 16 paralympic medals, will participate in his sixth paralympic games. He currently owns four world swimming records in different categories. REUTERS/Enrique Calvo

thedailyfeed:

Not many college runners can train with their grandkids, but Diana Furey can! At 52, Furey may be the first grandmother to compete at the NCAA level. 

“I thought it all went by age,” said Furey, who had never been a member of a competitive sports team before last August. “I was a cheerleader in high school and back then it would have never occurred to me to go for a run.”

It first occurred to Furey to run on the Fourth of July, 2006. On that day she watched her niece partake in a holiday five-miler in Canton. It all looked so fun.

“I went home and ran four miles, then I ran another four the next day, then I never stopped,” said Furey, who has made her home in Malvern, 30 minutes from campus, her entire life.

Photo by Lew Stamp for The Daily

life:

Rebellious youth in Japan, 1964.

Not published in LIFE. “Sometimes [Yoko] goes down to the port in Yokohama to watch the ships sail off to the places she only wishes she cold go. At sunset, her ‘day’ begins again.”

flavorpill:

Tina Fey

The 30 Rock star spoke to People magazine recently about her clever yearbook quote: “We had to fill in the blank: ‘Five years from now I will be…’ and mine was ‘very, very fat.’ I figured if I’m not, then it’s like, ‘You’re not!’ And if I am, I’m like, ‘I know – I called it!’” Self-deprecation at its finest, ladies and gentlemen!

A selection of the yearbook quotes of famous people