Table-talk of Parkus Grammaticus for March 27, 2008

I.

Scott’s device had a barrel-shaped horn attached to a stylus, which etched sound waves onto sheets of paper blackened by smoke from an oil lamp. The recordings were not intended for listening; the idea of audio playback had not been conceived. Rather, Scott sought to create a paper record of human speech that could later be deciphered. —Jody Rosen, "Researchers Play Tune Recorded Before Edison," NYT

II.
Is the "Join or Die" snake an Ouroboros gone awry?


The link also has this interesting fact: "The undulations of the snake’s body broadly suggest the curves of the North American east coast."

(Thanks to Dzyd* Jen)
(*=new abbrev for 'Dizzyhead')

III.
I try not to use the blog as a place to complain about stuff, thinking that nobody wants to read that. But I kind of like reading Mollie's complaints!

IV.
Back to matters lit’ry: Spotting Philip Roth puts Selfdivider in mind of Stendhal (and Sebald, and...). (His mention of the Korean film Untold Scandal gives me an excuse to link to my brief review for it in the PTSNBN.)