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Jack Lynch @jacklynch000.bsky.social · 6h

Tubular (awesome, from a surfers' term for great waves). Time 13 September 90/1 1984 Surfing is the next best thing to a tubular reef break. Time 11 June 18/3

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Jack Lynch @jacklynch000.bsky.social · 6h

OED: 1982– slang. a. Of a cresting wave: hollow and curved, so that it is well-formed for riding on (U.S. Surfing); b. more generally: wonderful, amazing, ‘fantastic’ (originally and chiefly U.S.). 1982 The Zappa's Valley girl becomes, like, a totally tubular national craze—for sure.

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Reposted by Jack Lynch

Alan Owlport 🦉 🎃 @alanallport.bsky.social · 7h

Trump’s open contempt for his supporters is perhaps his only redeeming quality.

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Jack Lynch @jacklynch000.bsky.social · 7h

Known from the first as Sir, or known and then knighted? If the latter, Sir Patrick Stewart? Sir Ian McKellen? Sir Elton John? Sir Paul McCartney?

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Jack Lynch @jacklynch000.bsky.social · 7h

Erm, autocorrect, could we please not turn “Grolier Club” into “Groomer Club”? I’ve got enough to explain as it is.

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Jack Lynch @jacklynch000.bsky.social · 12h

So be good for goodness’ sake!

Jack Lynch @jacklynch000.bsky.social · 12h

ALWAYS HERE FOR THE MOOSE CONTENT (Stunning photos — will follow.)

Jack Lynch @jacklynch000.bsky.social · 12h

READER OF THE DAY, 10 OCTOBER 2026 Rebecca Campbell, Do Not Disturb (2010)

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Jack Lynch @jacklynch000.bsky.social · 16h

Agreed. An insane amount of erudition goes into it.

Jack Lynch @jacklynch000.bsky.social · 16h

All happy departments are alike; each unhappy department is unhappy in its own way. (Who am I kidding? There are no happy departments.)

Jack Lynch @jacklynch000.bsky.social · 16h

READER OF THE DAY, 9 OCTOBER 2026 Vittore Carpaccio, The Virgin Reading, c. 1505

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Jack Lynch @jacklynch000.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

The United States of America, represented by me as your president, should have received People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive Award, but didn't. And this is an indelible stain on People Magazine, and those people that made such a disgraceful and embarrassing decision. We will not forget.

Jack Lynch @jacklynch000.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

I didn’t realize those two even knew each other!

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Loid Loughborough! Who knew he was from the Bronx, circa 1935?

On Monday, May 8, we went together and visited the mansions of Bedlam. I had been informed that he had once been there before with Mr. Wedderburne,
(now Loid Loughborough,) Mr. Murphy, and Mr.
Foote; and I had heard Foote give a very entertaining account of Johnson's happening to have his attention

I’ll not teach all of your courses, and you can not teach all of mine.

The course title: “Language and Linguistics for Decolonization and Liberation and for Peace and Community Building — From the River to the Sea in Palestine and Israel to the Mountaintops of Haiti and Beyond.” The Rutgers scheduling computer would turn it into “LANGLIT DECOL LIB/PEACE COM BLD.”

Just letting Rutgers know I’m prepared to be paid for not teaching a vast array of classes.

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READER OF THE DAY, 9 OCTOBER 2026 Vittore Carpaccio, The Virgin Reading, c. 1505

Painting of a woman in red reading a small book

The bigger problem is that they don’t specify how much abuse of Claude is needful.

Guardian US

A spokesperson behind the tech company's Al chatbot has not yet specified what counts as abusive or cruel content
Anthropic bans users from 'needless abusive or cruel behavior' towards Claude

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Someone probably had to talk him down from drone strikes.

Ooh, this is awkward. Sir, I have some sad news for you….

For You Daily
Inside Trump's push to bring Christopher
Columbus to the White
House

I use the “support is still sky-high among self-identified MAGA voters” shtick to explain “tautology” to my students.

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I assume top MAGA donors will get the chance to pull the trigger?

We middle-aged straight cis able-bodied upper-middle-class professional Anglo white guys are the most persecuted group in the history of the world!

Oh, deep in my heart I do believe That we shall overcome some day!

READER OF THE DAY, 8 OCTOBER 2026 John R. Hamilton, Paul Newman, Feet Up, Reading, Smoking Cigar, 1958, during filming of The Left Handed Gun

Photo of Paul Newman in a doorway reading

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As an insurance co programmer in the 1980s–90s I was advised to edit the instructions on some software I developed: change “type” to “key.” The older men who’d use it, I was told, considered “typing” the responsibility of “the girl,” whereas “keying” was suitably macho.

Ben Gross @bhgross144.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Reposted by Jack Lynch

"We often think of #alchemy as something distinct from science, but as historians of science, we’re really interested in the continuities..." Today's #histSTM (& #histsci, #histchem, etc.) lunchtime read: @whyy.org's preview of @sciencehistory.org new art & alchemy exhibit ("Fire & Gold"). 🗃️📜🎨

whyy.org

New Philadelphia exhibit explores connection between alchemy and modern science

A new permanent exhibit at Philadelphia’s Science History Institute looks at the contributions of alchemists from the 15th to 19th centuries.

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rax ‘levon honkers’ king @raxkingisdead.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

gregor samsa awoke one morning to discover he had been transformed into a sickass beetle. fuck yeah he said scuttling all over the walls and ceiling like no dumbfuck traveling salesman could ever do. this is the best day of my life he said

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READER OF THE DAY, 7 OCTOBER 2026 Fragonard, Young Girl Reading, c. 1770

18th-c painting of a young woman (girl?) in a yellow dress reading a 12mo

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I suppose this is marginally better than “Trump wants to turn Camp David into a golf club.”

God that’s a great recording of a great song.

Don’t know why she didn’t choose to translate it into Middle English, but I suppose it’ll have to do. (Thanks again. Penguin edition ordered and Stephanie McCarter followed.)

Thanks for the rec. I picked it up and put it down a bunch of times when it came out, but never bought or read it. But I'll be teaching some classical lit in translation next semester, so thought it a good time to review my options.

I wanted to profile a NYer fact-checker for my book You Could Look It Up, but they said they’d rather not be the story, more’s the pity.

“And they all lived happily ever after.”

So you're one of those radicals who think "the Party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to Indictment, Trial, Judgment and Punishment, according to Law" means the party convicted shall nevertheless be liable and subject to indictment, trial, judgment and punishment, according to law?

Alan Owlport 🦉 🎃 @alanallport.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Reposted by Jack Lynch

Yeah yeah yeah the IceCube neutrino detector has won a Nobel but what has it gotten from FIFA?

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Rebecca Colesworthy @rcolesworthy.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

I’ve been sitting on an unmoving NJT train for the last 15 minutes. They just announced a train broke down in front of us, so we have to back up and switch to another track. All told, that’ll be at least an extra hour on trains today — at no additional charge to me!

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Reposted by Jack Lynch

ffs I just read a European job ad that explicitly requires TWO PUBLISHED MONOGRAPHS for an asst prof position. yes, yes, I knew it was like this but it's truly startling to see TWO required. it's official: unis have zero respect for books & the ppl who write & publish them. Nothing affirms it more.

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da - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Ooh! Never knew that. Wiktionary (dunno how reliable it is for Romanian) suggests a borrowing from Bulgarian is likely, though a Latin origin has supporters. Romanian went without a word for yes for a long time. Learn something new every day, if you’re not careful. en.wiktionary.org/wiki/da

en.wiktionary.org

W caught hell for saying “Bring it on”; DJT doesn’t even raise eyebrows for inviting Iran to annihilate millions of Americans.

Jack Lynch @jacklynch000.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

THERE'S A PLANT CALLED DUCKY O'DENDRON

Duckeodendron is a genus of flowering plant in the family Solanaceae represented by a single species, Duckeodendron cestroides. A tree reaching 15 to 30 m (49 to 98 ft), it is found in the Amazon rainforest of Brazil. Its common names include pincel-de-macaco and pupunharana. João Geraldo Kuhlmann described it in 1925 and named it for the collector, Adolpho Ducke.

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Jack Lynch @jacklynch000.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Ancillary efforts like teaching have to take the hit to ensure the university's core missions are carried out.