"Local History Museum Really Digging Deep To Fill 2 15-By-20-Foot Rooms"

"'And there's a whole exhibit that, as far as I can tell, is just about the board members of the local historical society.'"

From The Onion.

"The Most Unusual Exhibition That We've Done Here at the Museum"

"Her interest was sparked by a family friend, Dr. George Burgess Magrath, one of the first medical examiners in the country, who believed many cases went unsolved because untrained investigators contaminated or misread crime scenes.
"Marks said, 'They would talk for hours and hours in the evenings about crimes and the state of crime detection. And she decided, "I can do something about that."'
"At age 65, Lee--then living in New Hampshire--began meticulously constructing the 3-D models, spending three to six months of each one."

Erin Moriarty on CBS's Sunday Morning views a Smithsonian exhibit called "Murder Is Her Hobby: Frances Glessner Lee and The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death," dioramas of unsolved crimes.

Two Tall Mountains

"Converse enrolled her brother and Jean, his new wife, as members of her own private Song-of-the-Month Club. Beginning with a 1950 composition called 'Down This Road,' her first entirely original song, and ending with 1955's 'Empty Pocket Waltz,' she mailed them roughly three dozen 'guitar songs,' all self-recorded in her tiny Greenwich Village studio at 23 Grove Street.

"The recordings reveal the result of her meticulous study and assimilation of virtually all American vernacular music to that point; either that or—like some sort of literary, New England parallel to Robert Johnson—she had made a deal with the devil. Somehow, Converse had become a master of the acoustic guitar, created a complicated and unique fingerpicking style, developed a keen understanding of harmony and complex chord voicings, and become conversant (bordering on virtuosic) in the stylistic hallmarks of rural blues, country, gospel, folk, pop, jazz, hillbilly, parlor songs, and early jazz."

At The New Yorker, Howard Fishman tells the story of Connie Converse.

Their Pal Foot Foot

"Krakow's band had gone so far as to acquire reissues of the cheap guitars that the Wiggins are shown holding on the cover of 'Philosophy.' Though it was clear that Krakow and his cohorts deeply respect and love this music, what did it mean to celebrate a mistake? If accidental art is re-created on purpose, what is it?"

Howard Fishman at The New Yorker reports from a reunion of the Shaggs.

"Tuesday's Results Should Sting"

"Yet she now has a very real reason to worry. Her team tried its hardest to tamp down expectations in the lead-up to Tuesday's primary and will continue to do everything it can to spin the loss into something resembling an inconsequential footnote, a challenge that becomes more difficult the further she finishes from Sanders in the final New Hampshire count. But while Tuesday's results won't decide the nomination, the results can be discounted only so much. Sanders had the wind at his back in New Hampshire over the past few months, but the state can't be mistaken as hostile territory for Clinton. Bill Clinton used a surprise second-place finish in the 1992 primary as a springboard to the nomination that year and went on to win the state in the general election both that fall and four years later. In 2008, Hillary beat then–Sen. Barack Obama by nearly 3 points in New Hampshire, surprising pollsters in the process. This year, she had the backing of the state's Democratic governor, Maggie Hassan, and the state's sole Democratic senator, Jeanne Shaheen. She led Bernie by roughly 40 points this past summer and had regained a polling lead as recently as December."

Josh Voorhees in Slate reacts to Bernie Sanders's victory in the New Hampshire primary.

And David Brooks in The New York Times writes that he already misses President Obama.

"Clinton Campaign Underestimated Sanders Strengths, Allies Say"

"'Her voter base does not seem as gung-ho energetic as Sanders's base,' Mr. McDonald said. 'It may be that they feel like they are waiting for the real race to begin. But an enthusiastic base can make a big difference in the early stages of a presidential nomination campaign, and if Hillary can't pull away from Sanders fairly early in the season, I suspect he will gain strength rapidly.'"

Patrick Healy in The New York Times reports on turmoil in the Hillary Clinton campaign.

But in New York, Jonathan Chait makes "The Case Against Bernie Sanders" and Ed Kilgore doubts Democrats will nominate the senator from Vermont.

"Guidebook Writer Stumbles Upon New England Town Too Quaint For Human Eyes"

"At press time, Wellington was terrified to realize that the only way out of town was through a most exquisite covered bridge dating back to 1831."


From The Onion.

Obama-Rama III

In light of today's New Hampshire primary, and after a weekend of overdosing on political websites, here is another roundup of Barack Obama-related articles:

In The Washington Post, E. J. Dionne, Jr. compares Obama to John Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Demosthenes.

Jake Tapper on ABC News' Political Punch reports Bill Clinton comparing Hilary to Nelson Mandela.

Ben Smith at Politico prints Hillary Clinton's comparison of herself to Margaret Thatcher and to Lyndon Johnson.

Tina Daunt in the Los Angeles Times watches Hollywood fundraisers jump from Hillary Clinton to Obama.

Richard Wolffe in Newsweek visits Obama's speechwriter Jon Favreau (not the actor/director).

Isabelle Duriez in Liberation gives a French take on this week's phenomenon.

And Reuters reports that Dixville Notch goes for Obama.