by Kevin Burton I was on the road playing beep baseball when the e-mail notifications about the first blind Barbie doll came pouring in. And I mean they poured in, from every quarter. I thought, that’s a story. But then I realized, I had no idea what to think or say about it. …
Category Archives: England
USA And UK Divided By Common Language
by Dictionary Scoop While many things bring Americans closer to the UK, some aspects of our language set us apart. English is spoken by more than 1.4 billion people worldwide; with so many people using this language, it is understandable that some differences have developed. Today we walk through 10 drastic vocabulary differences between American …
Lennon’s 1972 Peace Overture To McCartney
by Kevin Burton How would music history be different, had an invitation sent in 1972 been received favorably? The acrimony surrounding the Beatles’ breakup was not as fevered as Beatlemania itself – nothing else in music has ever been – but it was white hot. But some two years after the split, John …
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Why The Metric System Doesn’t Measure Up
by Erin Blakemore National Geographic What do Liberia, Myanmar, and the United States have in common? They use imperial measurements—feet, pounds, and miles—instead of meters, grams, and kilometers. Critics call this shameful. The truth however, is more complicated: Though imperial units are commonly used in the U.S., the metric system is actually the …
Blind Architect Designs Accessible Spaces
by Lauren Beavis South West News Service Emily Annakin has lost most of her sight through Stargardt disease – a form of juvenile macular degeneration which means she has no central vision. She is now a UWE Bristol Architecture and Planning student and as part of her final degree course redesigned part of …
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Happy Birthday To Sir Paul McCartney, 82
by Kevin Burton When Paul McCartney was 14 he wrote a whimsical song called “When I’m Sixty-Four.” As of today he’s 82. Can you believe that? On that pivotal night, Feb. 9, 1964, when the Fab Four Beatles first appeared on the Ed Sullivan show, their collective age was 86. A …
A Female Version Of The Beatles? Who Knew?
by Kevin Burton I have read maybe two dozen books about the Beatles on talking book. But I didn’t know this. In books by and about other contemporary artists, the Beatles emerge, as a yardstick, a cultural happening, a turning point. But not so much as a syllable about this. Until very …
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Far From Being Obsolete, Braille Is Essential
by Tracy Conly (Tracy Conly is a longtime friend from our days at the Ohio State School for the Blind, a great Braille reader and advocate for the blind. This is her reaction to our March 15 story “A New Tool In The Fight For Braille Literacy.”) “Braille changes lives. It gives thousands …
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Little-Known Facts About McDonald’s
by Kevin Burton I used to think I liked McDonalds chicken nuggets – until the time I forgot to ask for barbecue sauce. Oops! McNuggets are my choice at McDonalds because I hate everything else. McDonalds in not our restaurant rotation. When we travel to beep baseball tournaments this summer we …
Gerry Rafferty Was Born 77 Years Ago Today
by Kevin Burton The headline to an article in The Independent called Gerry Rafferty a “bipolar alcoholic industry misfit.” His biographers including his daughter Martha dispute none of that. The article was printed on the occasion of the 2021 release of “Rest In Blue” an album of Rafferty demos polished and completed by …
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