The Vowels: A Ken Burns Parody

What the secret quasi-history of vowels has to do with the Founding Fathers’ prankstership.

Ken Burns. Prolific documentarian. Potent distiller of history and culture. As fascinating as his films may be, however, they tend to take themselves a bit too seriously. At least that’s what Sam Cherington, Andrew Flanagan, Daniel Inkeles, William Morey and Benjamin Smith wink at with the excellent The Vowels: A Film by Ken Burns — a short film that isn’t, of course, by Ken Burns but is instead a wildly entertaining parody.

And to add to the comedic value of this find, spotted on Meta Filter, here’s a gem from the discussion thread on the post, a real why-we-love-MeFi treat:

I once rode in an elevator with Ken Burns. He got off after four floors. Good thing, too, otherwise we would have all turned sepia.” ~ jonmc

And the fitting response:

And your elevator panel choices were Up, Down, Pan Left, Pan Right…” ~ hal9k

Ah, MeFi.

For some of the real Ken Burns stuff, you won’t go wrong with The Civil War or, my personal favorite, Jazz. And for some real stuff for language-lovers, look no further than these 5 essential books.

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A Brief History of the Pun

It’s no secret we’re obsessed with language — from the secret histories of words to how language works in the brain the uses and abuses of words to how history’s greatest literary icons do snark.

So we’re ecstatic for the release of John Pollack’s The Pun Also Rises: How the Humble Pun Revolutionized Language, Changed History, and Made Wordplay More Than Some Antics — an entertaining and illuminating exploration of how wordplay evolved to be much more than a cheap linguistic thrill or the product of bottom-feeder copywriters.

[W]hat, exactly, is the link between punning and civilization? What cultural, emotional or functional needs does it fulfill across so many centuries and continent=s? What makes wordplay in general, and punning specifically, such an enduring part of language? Could it be biological and, if so, what evolutionary purpose might it serve? And why should laughter itself even matter in the survival of the fittest?” ~ John Pollack

Pollack, a former presidential speechwriter for Bill Clinton tackles the subject with equal parts cultural irreverence and linguistic rigor. See for yourself: The Morning News has an excerpt of The Pun Also Rises for your sampling pleasure.

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The Word Project: Obscure Words in Bricolage

What avian resemblance has to do with the study of soil and the irresistible urge to dance.

We love words and language, especially artful intersections of lingolove and design. Earlier this week, we spotlighted illustrator Veronika Heckova’s lovely Words Without Words project and, thanks to reader Cassandra Marketos, we discovered the utterly wonderful work of artist Polly M. Law. The Word Project is a compendium of 100 odd and obscure words, illustrated in Law’s signature bricolage paper-dolls style.

Strigiform: (adj) resembling an owl; Struthiform (adj) resembling an ostrich

Image courtesy of Polly M. Law

Dinomania: (n) irresistible urge to dance

Image courtesy of Polly M. Law

Godwottery: (n) an overly ornate garden

Image courtesy of Polly M. Law

Pedology: (n) the study of soils

Image courtesy of Polly M. Law

Lucubrate: (v) to work by artificial light

Image courtesy of Polly M. Law

Bibliotaph: (n) a person who hides books

Image courtesy of Polly M. Law

Empyreal: (adj) celestial, elevated

Image courtesy of Polly M. Law

At once whimsical and illuminating, The Word Project is a playful and inspired gateway into grown-up vocabulary, approaching the intellectual with the kind of childlike curiosity we so encourage.

Thanks, Cass

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Brain Pickings has a free weekly newsletter. It comes out on Sundays and offers the week’s best articles. Here’s what to expect. Like? Sign up.