Link Round-Up: History

Stories about and from the days of yore. Whenever yore was.

• Have you ever heard of the Andrea Doria? Me neither. This
  page wants to teach you about it.
• I recently saw The
  Magadalene Sisters. While I was familiar with these odd women-only work
  camps while I lived in Ireland, the cruelty of the nuns and priests that ran
  them is appalling, and rivals Canada’s residential schools. This
  article from the Irish Times describes the closure of the final
  laundry in 1996. Not 1896, or 1966, but 1996! Becky, incidentally, has
  held forth on this topic.
• I was in a bookstore the other day and discovered this
  super-cool graphic novel biography of Louis Riel. I’ll also link to the
  publisher’s site, but they’ve clearly spent a small fortune on an absurdly
  unusable site. There’s no apparent way for me to easily reference an individual
  book or author on their site. If you’re not Canadian, here’s a summary of Monsieur Riel. If you are Canadian and still need this summary, shame on you.
• Of
  Flesh and Stone, an examination of female nudity in statuary and graveyards.
  Safe for work unless your boss is a marble-fetishist (the rock kind, not the
  child’s toy). Via BoingBoing.
• The Turin Shroud has
  a face. I did a bunch of reading on the Shroud several years ago, while
  doing research for a play. It’s no surprise that the Shroud has more detail
  to show us. More importantly, this discovery has nothing to teach us about
  the authenticity of this relic.
• Really
  impressive videos from Battlefield: Vietnam, the sequel to the
  very popular Battlefield: 1942. I’ve been intentionally avoiding these
  games because I fear that if I buy one of them, they will consume my life.

Today’s bonus link is the recent history that was The
Cheeky Girls. Having exhausted my interest in reality TV music shows in
Ireland (the best, by far, was the BBC’s Fame
Academy), I haven’t paid much attention to recent events on American
Idol. However, I have observed that the unnamed forces behind William Hung,
the anti-pop-star, are just copying the meteoric rise and fall of the Cheeky
Girls. These women were two young Transylvanian women who were awful, awful
singers. When they auditioned for Pop Idol, the British precursor to
American Idol, they sang their self-penned song, "Cheeky Girls".
They were summarily rejected, but got some attention for their twinned scantily-cladness.
8.4 seconds of fame ensued. Clearly, there’s a bit of fame to be had for being
the very worst as well as the very best. Enjoy it while it lasts, Will
Hung.

I imagine this market-the-worst approach has been applied in every single country
in the Idol franchise. Now there’s a topic for a Masters thesis: Pop
Idol and the Global Cult of the Loser.