Friday, November 22, 2024
Hello there. We've got a rip-roaring new issue for you today, starting with some healthy pro-public transportation propaganda. Make yourself a cup of coffee and check it out.
Item 1: a link
The New York Times's Amelia Nierenberg reports (that's a gift link) on this year's European Tramdriver Championship:
The annual public transit jamboree might best be described as tram dressage. The drivers coaxed their commuter chariots through an obstacle course meant to test their whimsy, mettle and precision.
“We try to mirror the entire range of skills a driver should have,” said Wieland Stumpf, the president of the championship.
Some events focused on safety: Drivers had to emergency brake at a precise spot, just as if a cyclist had swerved in front of them. Another tested their ability to multitask: Could they remember a series of symbols that appeared on mock traffic signs?
A few challenges evaluated the smoothness of their touch: Drivers had to come to a stop so gently that water did not slosh out of a bowl that was filled to the brim. (A front-mounted camera showed every lost droplet: the less spilled, the more points.)
One test was downright counterintuitive: Tram billiards, in which a driver steers the vehicle to gently knock a pool cue attached to a stand into a billiard ball on a table. (The highest possible score for the billiards portion was 500 points, awarded if the ball rolled to a stop right in the middle of the table.)
“It’s not often you’re trying to hit something with your tram,” joked Victoria Young, 39, of Edinburgh. “You’ve just got this feeling inside you that says, ‘I should be stopping now.’”
It's not just a fun time but a pointed demonstration of the skill needed to operate this equipment, and a recruiting effort to bring more drivers into the fold.
Item 2: a list
Songs from Wicked, the Musical, ranked:
- March of the Witch Hunters
- No Good Deed
- A Sentimental Man
- Something Bad
- Defying Gravity
- One Short Day
- No One Mourns the Wicked
- I’m Not That Girl
- Finale
- The Wizard and I
- Thank Goodness
- Popular
- For Good
- I’m Not That Girl (Reprise)
- What Is This Feeling?
- Wonderful
- As Long as You’re Mine
- Dancing Through Life
- Dear Old Shiz
Item 3: a media recommendation
Le Tigre - Deceptacon
I enjoyed this week's Song Exploder podcast all about the making of Le Tigre's "Deceptacon". I've been listening to it for decades and had no idea that it came with its own dance.
Item 4: word of the week
Votary
When I was young I loved kid stuff like Calvin & Hobbes. Now that I'm all grown up and can appreciate more sophisticated fare, I'm a fervid votary of Dinosaur Comics.
Item 5: a photograph
See ya!
Thanks for reading - see you next week. RIP Owings Mills Town Center. You were too beautiful for this world.
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