It's baseball, bud, but not as we know it
"It's often said that Americans find it impossible to understand cricket," writes Rod. "This story from the Guardian would appear to show that not even their highly educated diplomats can get their heads around the rules of the game: 'The US Embassy in Kabul tried - and failed - to get in on the fervour surrounding the Cricket World Cup by congratulating [Afghanistan] for their victory over Bangladesh when the match was scarcely under way. Just 10 overs into the first innings of the Pool A match in Canberra on Wednesday, the embassy's official Twitter account hailed a famous triumph, writing: "Congratulations to #Afghanistan for their win over #Bangladesh in the Cricket World Cup #CWC15 #AFGvsBAN." A flurry of retweets, favourites and corrective replies duly followed, with the embassy forced into an embarrassing climbdown 40 minutes later when it conceded: "Premature posting but we are still cheering for team Afghanistan at the #CWC15!" Almost inevitably, some followers took the gun-jumping post as a sign that foul play was at hand, with a number claiming a fix was under way in the match. Those theories looked less convincing when Afghanistan stumbled to 3-3 in reply to Bangladesh's 267 all out from their 50 overs'." Afghanistan eventually lost by 105 runs.
What a car represents
"The human animal has two profound and conflicting impulses; he wants to be safe and warm, snug, enclosed, 'at home'. And he wants to roam the wide world, to see what is out there beyond the horizon. The automobile is a kind of house on wheels, but it will take you anywhere you want to go. You can conduct your sex life in it, you can eat and drink in it, go to the movies, listen to Vivaldi or the Stones, and you can dominate others, if you have more power and are adept with the gearshift lever. It is a whole existence. Or it is till the gas runs out." - McDonald Harris, New York Times, May 16, 1979.
