Surprising Facts from ‘Uncommon Knowledge’ by The Economist

Uncommon Knowledge published by The Economist, edited by Tom Standage

I wrote earlier that I love rare facts. Uncommon Knowledge is published by The Economist, edited by Tom Standage, editor by The Economist.

The book consists of short essays of no more than two pages, each zooming in on an unexpected fact. The essays are well written and mostly indeed surprising. For example:

Swaziland is actually called Eswatini; it was renamed in 2018 (the name is eSwatini according to the book, but it is generally spelled Eswatini today).

Carrots are white. Orange carrots originate from the Dutch town of Hoorn and may have been grown out of a gesture of support for William of Orange.

Why most refugees do not live in camps: because camps are miserable places. Even when aid is more accessible in camps, refugees prefer an uncertain life in cities because they have more opportunities to do things. Conclusion by The Economist: let refugees out of camps; let them work.

China loans pandas to other countries as a political tool.

Why do people eat more chicken nowadays? It is cheaper, and breading them is so efficient. Chickens are so big nowadays that they can’t get on top of each other anymore to mate. I also talked about this after reading Jonathan Foer’s book Eating Animals (Dieren eten). (Yes, I eat vegetarian.)

Expensive weddings yield higher chances of divorce.

Import tariffs do more harm to the economy than good. (The book was written during Trump’s first presidency).
In 2018, the WHO published a list of deadly viruses, including the placeholder’ Disease X’, an undetermined disease that could cause an international epidemic.

The US has, next to Brazil, one of the highest deaths caused by firearms per capita in the world. Two-thirds of these deaths in the US are suicides. So, I would say you could very well conclude that the NRA in the US is a lobby organization promoting suicides. You never hear a pro-life organization about these approximately 26000 deaths per year.

Islamic zina laws inhibit illicit sexual relationships. This often applies to the victim of rape as well. That is a horror even worsened by the primitive punishments of whipping and stoning. A complete nightmare for women.

Turkey puts most journalists in prison of all countries in the world. (And is still contemplating the introduction of zina laws).

An interesting book that gives a different view on many topics.

Grave of the Fireflies on Netflix

We can now watch Studio Ghibli’s arguably most sad and moving story, Grave of the Fireflies, on Netflix. So far, the film by Ghibli co-founder Isao Takahata is only available on Hulu, which is not available in Europe.

The film, released in 1988, is set in Japan, in the last months of World War II. The film is based on a short story by Akiyuki Nosaka, telling his own experiences during the war. Brother and sister Seia and Setsuko lost their mother during the US firebombing of Kobe in 1945. They are taken care of by their aunt, but she doesn’t treat the children well. The kids decide to go and live in a cave they have discovered.

Like other Ghibli animation movies, this film is not a children’s movie. It is a lovely story that was beautifully made, yet it is a moving film about human survival and the devastating effects of war.

Grave of the Fireflies

Behangpapier en Vinyl: Ian Dury’s ‘Do It Yourself’

Enkele weken geleden vond ik het vinylalbum ‘Do It Yourself’ van Ian Dury & the Blockheads op een kleine vinylmarkt in het ooit zo beroemde Buk Buk in Heiloo. Het album was grotendeels uit mijn geheugen verdwenen en wachtte erop om zijn verrassingen te onthullen.

Ian Dury wilde geen singles op zijn albums zetten. Deze keuze resulteert in een meer genuanceerde verzameling nummers. Deze albumtracks laten een andere kant van de artiest zien, meer ingetogen en soulful dan de rauwe energie van bekende hits als “Hit Me” en “Reasons to Be Cheerful”. De nummers voelen intiemer aan, waarbij uitbundigheid wordt ingeruild voor subtiele muzikale diepgang. Het laatste nummer van het album, “Lullaby for Franci/es”, onderstreept dit.

Mijn exemplaar is een latere uitgave, interessant genoeg gebundeld met een 7“ met daarop ”Hit Me“ en ”There Ain’t Half Been Some Clever Bastards.” Ik weet niet zeker of deze bonussingle deel uitmaakte van de oorspronkelijke uitgave of later is toegevoegd.

Fun fact: Stiff Records bracht het uit met een bijzondere twist. Het album kwam uit in 34 of meer alternatieve hoezen, elk met een uniek Crown Wallpaper-ontwerp. Op elke hoes staat linksonder het Crown-catalogusnummer voor het specifieke behangpatroon. In een leuke cross-promotie heeft Crown zelfs de sets voor de daaropvolgende promotietournee van de Blockheads behangen.

album DO It Yourself - Ian Dury and the Blockheads
album DO It Yourself - Ian Dury and the Blockheads

Reviving a Classic: Repairing the Sony WM-EX112 Walkman for Mixtapes

When I stumbled upon a broken Sony WM EX112 Walkman, I couldn’t resist bringing it back to life. In a world where everything is disposable, repairing vintage tech feels like a small act of rebellion. Here’s how I fixed my Walkman and why you might want to try it too.

Cassettes are back

Cassettes are back on the scene. Analog is in. I want to make mixtapes again, after Austin Kleon’s example.

My brother and I used to spend hours crafting mixtapes of our favorite radio pop shows. We would painstakingly hit record and pause to avoid the DJ’s chatter, creating our own uninterrupted music experience.

I found a Sony Walkman WM EX112 for a bargain. I couldn’t wait to use it again.

Sony WM-EX112 Walkman before repair

Repairing the walkman

The spindle didn’t run. That meant the drive belt was probably stretched or decayed. So I looked for a replacement belt on the Internet. To my surprise, you can find a belt for almost any old cassette player. I found mine on fixyouraudio.com. I believe they are based in the Czech Republic; anyway, the belt will arrive within 2 days.

Not sure if it was luck as well to very quickly find a real service manual for this Sony Walkman. This was a rare gem in a world where everything is designed to be replaced, not repaired. By the way, if you ever retrieved such an old manual, save it immediately in your archive, an archive folder, or a tool like Evernote. You never know if this website will still exist the next time you need the manual.

Replacement belt for Sony WM-EX112 from FixYourAudio

Opening the walkman for repair is a small challenge. There are no screws, unfortunately, but you have to open some clips. That could be more convenient. This video explains how to do it. In the service manual are more details. First, press the clips under the lid with a screwdriver so that the top of the plastic case comes loose. Then, carefully follow the numbering and open the other clips in circles. Carefully, although it requires a fair amount of force.

Opening the Sony WM-EX112 Walkman for belt replacement

Once you have it open, replacing the string is a straightforward process. You’ll notice the string wrapped around the spindle. Carefully remove the old string. Then, take the new string and wrap it around the spindle in the same way as the old one. If the string has popped off, cleaning the wheels from the rubber cake is a good idea. In my case, they were still clean, and the problem was just that the string had become very limp.

Fixyouraudio includes a nice checklist for cassette-repair enthusiasts.

Checklist for cassette player repair

Non-conformance: Sayaka Murata in Wired

Sayaka Murata
Sayaka Murata

I read this interesting article in Wired about Sayaka Murata, author of, among other things, ‘Convenience Store Woman’ (Buurtsupermens in Dutch) and ‘Earthlings.’ She is a fascinating writer.

Murata critically examines societal norms around work, conformity, and marginalization in Japanese society. ‘Convenience Store Woman‘ and ‘Earthlings‘ explore characters who struggle to fit into conventional social expectations, offering dark, satirical perspectives on identity and alienation.