Reverbiage: Stories from NPR tagged 'catalog'

Cataloging The Ever-Changing English Language

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 20:22:00 EST

Language consultant Jeremy Butterfield, author of A Damp Squid: The English Language Laid Bare, talks about the odd words he's come across and the Oxford English Corpus, an electronic database of more than 2 billion words.

A Year Of Photographs, Taken At The 'Sametime'

Wed, 31 Dec 2008 10:54:00 EST

Six photographers spent a year cataloging their lives with daily photos taken at 7:15 p.m. The online yearlong gallery project, sametime715.com, concludes Dec. 31. The photos document the mundanity of life: yoga, playing pool, traveling and sunsets.

Trial By Fire — Literally — In 'The Full Burn'

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 11:22:00 EST

You'd have to be dedicated to your work to set yourself aflame for "research purposes" — but author Kevin Conley did just that. His new book catalogs his four years spent following Hollywood stuntmen.

Nordstrom Unveils High-End Shopping List

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 16:00:00 EST

Despite the economic downturn and a drop in consumer spending, the Seattle-based department store Nordstrom is debuting its "Ultimate Gift Collection" — six unique gifts starting at $15,000. In offering these high-end items, Nordstrom is taking a page from Neiman Marcus, which features its own lavish gifts in its annual Christmas catalog.

Inside 'The Evangelical Ivy League'

Wed, 22 Oct 2008 15:54:00 EDT

Photographer Jona Frank's portraits of the Patrick Henry College student body reveal a group of kids for whom the Abercrombie & Fitch catalog is the work of sinners and a game of sloppy beer pong immoral.

They Might Be Giants On Mountain Stage

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:33:00 EDT

With a catalog that includes children's songs, television themes, audiobook compositions and chart-topping hit singles, perhaps no band in pop music has worked in as many media as They Might Be Giants, whose members recently stopped by Mountain Stage to perform.

Stephin Merritt: Musical Polymath

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 10:25:00 EDT

Calling Stephin Merritt a reluctant performer is putting it lightly. Nevertheless, the Magnetic Fields leader bellied up to a microphone by himself in a KEXP session. Here, he surveys his expansive catalog and answers questions in the deadpan style that makes his songs so great.

Robots On Mars Search And Catalog Red Planet

Fri, 19 Sep 2008 10:08:00 EDT

Science Friday travels to the home base of NASA's Phoenix Mars Lander in Tuscon, Ariz., to discuss the continuing exploration of Mars. Scientists explain how various robots, both on the surface and in orbit, are mapping and cataloging the Red Planet.

Body Parts In Song: From Hands To Eyes

Sat, 30 Aug 2008 06:40:00 EDT

Visual artists Fernanda Viegas and Martin Wattenberg see, and hear, the beauty in the human body. They've analyzed roughly 10,000 songs in many genres of music, and they've created a catalog titled Listen, which illustrates how the human form inspires, amuses or repulses musicians.

Herbie Hancock At The Newport Jazz Festival

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 11:11:00 EDT

One of the true public faces of jazz, the keyboard giant brought a stellar group of musicians to the JVC Jazz Festival Newport to help perform classics from his catalog, as well as recent reconfigurations of pop music.

Conor Oberst: When Love Turns Sour

Fri, 08 Aug 2008 09:17:00 EDT

The Bright Eyes singer made Conor Oberst on an impulse while visiting the mystical mountain town of Tepoztlan in Mexico earlier this year. The approach is straight folk-rock, but it's less simple than it seems at first. But it also sounds like the next installment in the Bright Eyes catalog.

Gillian Welch At The Newport Folk Festival

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 17:25:00 EDT

Gillian Welch and her musical partner David Rawlings filled the Newport air with their gorgeous harmonies on this sunny Sunday afternoon set. They finger-picked from the whole catalog, but fans were also treated to three brand new songs, including a Johnny and June Carter Cash cover of "Jackson."

Brandi Carlile At The Newport Folk Festival

Sun, 03 Aug 2008 16:42:00 EDT

In her typical fashion, Brandi Carlile lit the stage on fire with her voice — a voice that can rip right through the soul as quickly as it can soothe it. Carlile and her band tore through her small catalog, and surprised the audience with a tribute to Newport Folk Festival alum, Johnny Cash.

Jakob Dyan At Newport Folk Festival

Sat, 02 Aug 2008 15:18:00 EDT

With a small backing band, Jakob Dylan came to the Newport Folk Festival not only with songs from his debut album, Seeing Things, but with music from the entire Wallflowers catalog.

Sub Pop Records Celebrates 20 Years

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 11:34:00 EDT

Jonathan Poneman, co-founder of Sub Pop, presents five of his favorite songs from the label's vast catalog and gives a little history behind Seattle's early music scene.

Derby: 'Posters Fade'

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:21:00 EDT

Listen to the new album from the rock group, Derby and you'd swear they hail from Britain. The Portland, Ore.-based band draws heavily on BritPop and classic sounds of past British invasions on their latest CD — their second — Posters Fade. The influence of bands like The Beatles is impossible to miss, but the group leans more towards homage than imitation. The album stands as a catalog of Brit Rock stylings from the last forty years, all filtered through an American band looking back in awe.

Census Aims to Catalog World's Oceans

Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:02:00 EDT

Taking a census of the world's oceans is a tall order, with scientists estimating that there may be three times as many species yet to be discovered as are already known. Ocean explorer Sylvia Earle checks in on the progress of the project.

The Raveonettes: Lusty Reverb-Rockers

Wed, 07 May 2008 10:03:00 EDT

The Danish duo mixes '50s and '60s rock with harmonies inspired by The Everly Brothers and The Ronettes. But the band is no mere throwback, with an increasingly appealing and timeless rock catalog. The Raveonettes give an interview and performance on WXPN.

Lou Reed in Concert

Tue, 06 May 2008 13:59:00 EDT

Hear the legendary rock artist recorded live, in a full concert from Asbury Park's Paramount Theatre in New Jersey. Lou Reed performed for more than a hour and a half, featuring work from throughout his catalog, including "Sweet Jane" from The Velvet Underground, more recent work like "Guardian Angel" from The Raven and a new song called "Power of the Heart."

Seeking a Not-So-Extinct Gotham Salamander

Tue, 22 Apr 2008 07:00:00 EDT

BPP Web editor Laura Conaway undertook an urban expedition with the editor of a new Web site cataloging nature discoveries. In a Manhattan park, Conaway turned over a log and found a scientific miracle.

Internet Service Shuts Off Site for Rating Cops

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 09:08:00 EDT

RateMyCop.com cataloged police officers from around the United States and invited users to evaluate them. Citing overly heavy use, the host shut it down last week. Now site co-founder Gino Sesto tells his side of the story.

Remembering Joel Dorn, Grammy-Winning Producer

Fri, 21 Dec 2007 12:31:00 EST

Record producer Joel Dorn worked with Roberta Flack, Bette Midler, Max Roach, Herbie Mann, the Allman Brothers and many more. He worked as an in-house producer at Atlantic Records before going out on his own, and in the late 1980s he repackaged back catalogs for the major record labels. He founded or co-founded several independent labels. He died Monday at age 65, of a heart attack. Fresh Air remembers him with this archival interview from April of 1991.

Lott Looks Back on a Complex Legacy

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 13:29:49 EST

One year ago, Trent Lott asked the voters of Mississippi for six more years in the Senate and the voters said yes. Now he wants to leave after serving just one of those years. Some of his constituents are sure to feel abused by the turnabout. But is Lott really quitting early? That's got to depend on what you mean by early. Lott may be only 66, but his 40 years in Washington already span a great gulf in the history of the Congress, not to mention the history of his state, region and country. Lott's lifetime has seen the decline of many traditions, not a few of which he defended personally. These include the race-based customs of the Deep South and also the time-honored courtesies of a Senate where even mortal political enemies knew they eventually had to get down to dealing with one another. How you feel about Lott's departure depends on how you feel about those traditions, and for more than a few people in Washington that stirs a strong brew of emotions. The shadow of the Old South seemed to hover just behind this Mississippian at every juncture of his career. He first arrived on Capitol Hill in 1968 as an Ole Miss law school grad on staff for William Colmer, the last Dixiecrat to chair the House Rules Committee. When Colmer retired in 1972, he helped Lott shift the seat to the GOP (breaking a tradition that dated back nearly a century). Lott went to work encouraging his region's partisan shift, campaigning for underdog Republicans in Southern districts. One whom he championed in the 1970s was a Georgia college professor named Newt Gingrich. Lott rose during the presidency of Ronald Reagan, becoming the No. 2 Republican in the House. At the time it was the highest any member from the Deep South had risen in the ranks of the House GOP. In 1988 he made the move to the Senate, replacing the legendary John Stennis, the last Democrat from the state to serve in the chamber. Lott's roots also led to the transgression that cost him his job as Senate Majority Leader in 2002. It began with a remark at Strom Thurmond's 100th birthday party and farewell. Lott said his own state of Mississippi had voted for Thurmond in 1948 when Thurmond was the presidential candidate of the segregationist States Rights Party. Lott added that if more states had done the same, the country might have avoided a lot of problems that came after. Lott always maintained he was just being nice to his retiring colleague and meant nothing racial with his remark. But lots of ears heard it differently, including some at the White House. The president bailed out on Lott and within days Lott was out as Senate leader. Many expected him to retire when his term ended. Then Hurricane Katrina ravaged his beloved Gulf Coast (leveling his own home), and Lott got his groove back. He took on insurance companies and the Bush administration and easily won re-election in 2006. Then he went after the Number Two job in the Senate GOP and won it by a single vote. It was a double shot of redemption. It also happened at a moment when Democrats had clawed back on top by a narrow margin in the chamber, making cantankerous Harry Reid the new Senate Majority Leader. The new Republican boss was to be the equally battle-ready Mitch McConnell. Lott looked like the guy who could dilute that otherwise combustible mix and make it possible for both sides to do business. After all, that had been part of his history as party leader in the 1990s, when he still saw himself as preserving the courtly ways of the Senate of yore. The mid-1990s saw nearly constant combat between President Bill Clinton and the newly-elected Republican majorities in Congress, symbolized by Gingrich, the new House Speaker. Lott had celebrated his party's new majority status in the Senate by getting elected whip, and when Majority Leader Bob Dole stepped down to concentrate on his presidential bid in 1996, Lott became his party's Number One. What followed in the middle months of that year was a remarkable catalog of bipartisan achievement. Bridging the partisan divide within the Senate, and also the chasm between Gingrich and Clinton, Lott was the vital center for one deal after another. The Congress and White House enacted a minimum wage increase and a historic overhaul of the welfare system few had thought possible. They also struck a bargain permitting health insurance portability and a new law protecting drinking water. By so doing, Lott made it easier for Republicans to retain majority control of both chambers in the 1996 elections. He also made it easier for Clinton to win re-election over Dole that same November. It was a tradeoff that made sense to Lott, an institutional pragmatist who preferred moving the merchandise to closing the store. So why did Lott pull the plug so abruptly now, leaving the Senate he clearly loved? Perhaps he was hoping to become the next chancellor at Ole Miss, his alma mater. Or perhaps, as most assume, he will surface soon as a million-dollar lobbyist. But he may also have concluded it's no longer possible to practice the politics he knew best: talking tough but coming to the table. Before dismissing Lott as one more former leader on the make, or as one more reminder of the Southern past, we should also ask who will fill his role as a deal maker in this Congress, and the next. It may not be a skill that inspires admiration or presidential nominations, but it is sorely missed in the current leadership in both parties in both chambers of this wartime, war-torn Congress. Related NPR Stories Political Junkie: Lott's Move Leaves Miss. with Two Seats to Fill

Harlequin Puts Erotic Pulp Online

Mon, 01 Oct 2007 08:27:00 EDT

Harlequin Books, which releases more than 120 titles a month, puts its catalog online as e-books. The romance genre controls more than half of the paperback fiction market, according to the Romance Writers of America. It's the fastest-growing area of women's fiction.

The Harp Guitar's Floating Strings

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 10:32:00 EDT

The strange, yet beautiful harp guitar is typically a six-stringed instrument with any number of bass strings "floating" on its side. Exotic instrument collector Gregg Miner catalogs the history of the harp guitar on his Web site and it is gaining curious interest.