HALFWAY THROUGH DAYBREAK DIVERSIONS, UPPER VALLEY!
As a thank-you for sticking with Diversions so far, here's the origin of the Tuesday poetry habit: Galway Kinnell, standing on his porch in Sheffield, VT, reciting his poem "Daybreak." Maybe someday we could do Longfellow reciting his poem "Daybreak"?18 builders, four days, 100,000 little wooden planks, 82 feet of structure... and a few seconds to make it collapse. Though it does take longer in slo-mo. And while the effort to build—and topple—the world-record-setting tower takes up just four minutes in domino artist Lily Hevesh's video, as she points out, there's a ton that can go wrong: like, the higher you go, the planks inevitably become uneven, and the tower can buckle. Or, as it does, shift 10 centimeters the night before it's due to fall. But man, that collapse is a work of art!SPONSORED: Summer Camp Spots Still Available! New England School of the Arts, a private middle and high school in the heart of downtown Lebanon, still has summer camp spots available for Session 6: Let’s Dance (July 28-August 1), Life is a Cabaret (August 4-8) and Life is a Stage (August 11-15). Camp runs 8am-4pm and is open to students in kindergarten through eighth grade. Learn more at the burgundy link or here. Sponsored by the New England School of the Arts.My dear Mr. Stalin... A few years back, Australian historian Evan Smith reached out to fellow historians with a question: "What is the thing that most made you go ‘wait, wut?’ in the archives or in your research?" The answers have poured in: love letters between women from 1760, partially written in blood; John Wayne's prediction at a charity dinner that Watergate "will be a footnote" in history; 17 tubes of processed opium in the Dutch archives from 1946 Indonesia. And a 1931 letter from an NYU debate team prepping to discuss capitalism and looking for Josef Stalin's insights.Today's Wordbreak. With a word from the regional news.
What MB14 can't do with his voice probably isn't worth doing. Mohamed Belkhir was born in Amiens, France, got into rap when he was about 12, took up beatboxing a few years after that, suddenly drew national attention in 2016 with an appearance on
The Voice France
, then began focusing on opera and film (he's in the new film
Tenor
, playing a sushi delivery boy who gets noticed by a Paris Opera singing teacher.)
, all of it just him and his voice (and a loop station).
Voilà
for sure.
Have a fine weekend! See you for Diversions Monday.
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