Oddities and Valuables: 3/27/2024

• David Byrne’s dance moves during “Life During Wartime” at the Talking Heads’ Stop Making Sense show. Last year, I became obsessed the moment I saw his hypnotic hips and arms. I couldn’t/can't look away. Bonus: the kids often request David Byrne dance parties now.

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• The facial hair of a General Ambrose Burnside. He was a Civil War general in the Union Army. He had a strong reputation as a man, but many considered him a failure militarily. However, his most vital (and most linguistic) contribution, and the reason he's on my list here, is that his unique facial follicles serve as the etymology for the word sideburns; somewhere along the line the word burnsides was transposed. Look at these things:

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• These lyrics to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs song “Spitting off the Edge of the World,” because they make me think of my favorite humans: “She's melting houses of gold.”

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• Gigantoraptor. Specifically, the odd juxtaposition of this dinosaur’s name versus it actually looking like what that kid says at the beginning of Jurassic Park (1993):

Well, the Internet is now telling me the gigant-o-raptor could grow up to 26 feet tall. So never mind, ignore my posturing. I'd go fetal if I saw this thing (pictured above). I'm no better than that little kid, all hubris.

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My kids say a lot of odd things, so I’m going to end this post with a quote:

M. (age 3 at the time), singing voice: “DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE HUMAN ZOO.”