Word: magic
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Based on Levine's account, the answer, in part, seems to be that American cultural behavior was genuinely different in the early to mid-19th century. Urban workers did spend their free time listening to theater performances which included magic tricks, physical comedy and Shakespearean soliloquys. Bands larger than current ensembles but smaller than full-fledged orchestras would perform both classical music and popular ditties. In the case of Shakespeare, Levine cleverly demonstrates how well people knew the Bard's works by providing examples of the careful, complex parodies of Shakespeare's plays that were performed in the mid-19th...
Once regarded as a magic mineral for its fireproofing and insulating properties, asbestos was severely restricted by the EPA in 1973 after high doses of its fibers were found to scar the lungs, causing cancer and other diseases. But by that time, 30 million tons had been wrapped around heating pipes and furnaces, sprayed onto girders and mixed into tiles at a cost of 25 cents per sq. ft. Now property owners are often spending 100 times that amount to remove it, cover it with a sealant, or enclose it with materials like Sheetrock...
...Boston Winter." The words conjured up magic for me during last year's long, hot Washington summer. Twenty below zero, 50 below with windchill. Foot upon foot of snow blanketing the ground weekly. Frozen lips, frozen hair, frozen contact lenses. Snow shovels. Icicles. Frozen water pipes...
Later there would be endless musing over "Reagan luck" and "Reagan magic." He was in fact often fortunate. Not only did John Hinckley's bullet stop an inch from Reagan's heart, for instance, but the shooting occurred at a time when the public was still forming its concept of the new President. Reagan's image was enhanced when he responded with both wit and grit. But the incantations about "magic" imply mystical powers beyond the ken of other politicians. There is nothing mysterious about a veteran public performer with a knack for timing, a keen sense for what will...
...goal for the juniors and seniors at Watertown High in Watertown, Mass., is to mount a thimble-size metal earth on a coat hanger in the middle of a melon-size clear-plastic sphere that is supposed to be the universe. The students then use Magic Markers to trace onto the universe a computer-drawn map of a few hundred of the brightest stars in the night sky. They draw a line around the sphere to represent the ecliptic, or path of the sun through the constellations, and then they are ready for some gnarly astronomy...