Newsletter Journal CXCIII 〜 OatMilk Newsletter
The 193rd edition of The Newsletter Leaf Journal features links to two new New Leaf Journal articles on video game controllers and [oat] milk chocolate, 21 links from around the web, and other news from the week that was and the weeks that will be.
Welcome to the 193rd edition of The Newsletter Leaf Journal, the official newsletter of the perennially virid online writing magazine, The New Leaf Journal. This newsletter comes to you as always from the administrator and editor of The New Leaf Journal, Nicholas A. Ferrell. Below, I cover news and updates from the week that was at The New Leaf Journal along with our typical collection of links from around the web.
Leaves from the week that was
I only published two articles since mailing Newsletter 192 after being saddled with real-world work. They certainly made for an odd duo. First, Playing Pokémon Red With NSO SNES Controller does come as advertised, but the article includes a look at a little bit of Pokémon game history to go along with a PSA for people running Linux. Secondly, I revived and revised a long-unpublished article idea about Lindt OatMilk chocolate. I had come across this peculiar chocolate at a CVS last year but, despite my temptation to try for an article, passed because the bar of chocolate was more than $5. However, after coming across some Lindt OatMilk chocolate for $2 at Lot Less, I decided that it was time to bring this dessert to The New Leaf Journal.
Leaves from around the web
I probably did not generate a big enough word count to occupy your entire weekend. But fear not. There is plenty of other recommendable writing on the world wide web.
Liberty or death
Venezuela’s Fate Is in the Hands of Its Army
Carlos Lizarralde for Persuasion. August 2, 2024.
Unfortunately the socialist dictatorship in Venezuela was smart enough to buy off the people with the guns.
Turkmen authorities scrambling to control scheme that gives citizens open access to the Internet
Eli Chakarian for Eurasianet. August 2, 2024.
You know things are bleak on the freedom of information front when you can improve your situation by buying anything -- literally anything at all -- from the shining beacon on the hill that is Uzbekistan.
Non-Roman Romans (or soon-to-be Romans)
Votive altar dedicated to Basque deity found in medieval well
The History Blog. June 18, 2024.
A rare bit of Roman-Basque history.
Aristocratic Tomb Discovered in Italy Offers Clues to a Mysterious Pre-Roman Civilization
Eli Wizevich for Smithsonian Magazine. July 31, 2024.
We have covered the Etruscans in this category, but never until now the Piceni.
Bureaucracy at work
IRS keeps dozens of intentional tax cheats on payroll
Stephen Dinan for The Washington Times. July 29, 2024.
Not surprised that the IRS is a good place to work if you're a tax cheat.
Substantially Uncertain
Michael A. Helfand for City Journal. July 22, 2024.
New York City cracks down on Orthodox Jewish schools while remaining unconcerned about the stunning truancy and functional illiteracy rates in the public schools it actually runs.
The Taliban disavow some Afghan diplomatic missions abroad and rejects their consular services
Associated Press (via The Washington Times). July 30, 2024.
If you ever feel like your job is pointless, just remember there are Afghan consular officials out there representing an Afghan government that hasn't existed for two years.
Tangentially related to our new articles
What's the 21st Century's Worst Hit Song? The Dumbing Down of Pop Melodies 1950-2022
Steve Sailer. July 6, 2024.
I'm not a music historian but I get the feeling whenever I walk into Lot Less that there is plenty of competition.
GWU study finds that 43% of cocoa products exceed California legal limits for lead, 35% for cadmium
The Washington Times. July 31, 2024.
This isn't wimpy OatMilk chocolate. This is character-building chocolate.
Conjuring memories
Soapbox: Why I Love A Good Map, And That Time I Mapped Yoshi's Melons For Nintendo Power
Nathan Lockard for Nintendo Life. July 28, 2024.
Yoshi's Story may be still the only game where you (A) clear a level by eating 30 fruit and (B) can challenge yourself by trying to eat 30 melons.
TCG Card Shop Simulator lets you spray stinky customers with deodorant
Carlos Zotomayor for Automation West. July 31, 2024.
This brings back memories. No, not of card shops (never been), but of when my classmates in high school not only coated themselves in Axe body spray after gym, but also used it as an air freshener.
Ask iFixit: Does Blowing Into Gaming Cartridges Actually Fix Them?
Michael Haeussermann for IFIXIT. July 23, 2024.
Yes. Don't listen to the so-called science.
Close calls and calls
Brushes with death
Ed West. July 18, 2024.
A timely look at failed assassination attempts throughout history.
Beirut Marines reflect on death of Hezbollah leader who planned 1983 attack
Jeff Schogol for Task & Purpose. August 2, 2024.
Justice delayed but not denied. (Also note the reference to the brief U.S. war in Grenada, which immediately followed Hezbollah's terrorist bombing of the Beirut Marine Barracks.)
The wide world of sports
Why running the ball alone can't win games (and Jamaal Charles is unique)
Seth Keysor at The Chief in the North Newsletter. June 28, 2024.
The statistical case against run-first (second, and third) NFL offenses. To be fair though, my understanding is that all the NFL teams chuck the ball everywhere these days.
‘I’m good, I promise’: the loneliness of the low-ranking tennis player
Conor Niland for The Guardian. June 27, 2024.
Not everyone can be at the top.
Makes you think...
Ancient Egyptian Scribes Were Worked to the Bone
Sonja Anderson for Smithsonian Magazine. June 28, 2024.
Amazing that the Egyptians built the great pyramids but couldn't come up with an ergonomic chair or stool.
130-Foot Snake Carving Slithers Through 2,000-Year-Old Rock Art Found in South America
Christian Thorsberg for Smithsonian Magazine. June 5, 2024.
You'd think they had enough real giant snakes without carving more.
The Last of the First: The Magnavox Odyssey 500
Nicole Branagan at Nicole Express. February 4, 2024.
They don't make game consoles like they used to.
OnlyFans’ porn juggernaut fueled by a deception
Andrew R.C Marshall, Jason Szep, and Linda So for Reuters. July 30, 2024.
If we can't trust the pornographers on OnlyFans, just who exactly can we trust?
Feeling blue
Blue cup
Chris Lovie-Tyler. June 21, 2024.
As advertised -- a [drawing of] a very blue cup.
Why blue animals are so rare in nature
Laura Baisas for Popular Science. June 25, 2024.
Obviously because they have more than enough to do in nature so they don't spend their time on social media.
The blue beauty with an impressive coat of fuzz
Bec Crew for Australian Geographic. April 30, 2018.
That is one majestic bee.
Leaves from the week that was
I use a privacy-friendly and entirely local tool called Koko Analytics to track page hits. In each issue of the newsletter, I list our five most-visited articles, according to Koko Analytics, for the one-week period beginning with Saturday and ending with Friday.
Below, I present the top five articles (along with historical ranking information going back to the beginning of 2021) of Newsletter Week 31 (July 27 through August 2).
(1) Planning and Angel Next Door Season 2 (Nicholas A. Ferrell. November 5, 2023)
13 top five appearances and 8 first-place finishes (all in 2024).
(2) Installing Ubuntu Touch on a Google Nexus 7 (2013) (Nicholas A. Ferrell. July 5, 2021.)
14 top five appearances and 2 first-place finishes in 2024. 91 and 9 all time.
(3) Pokémon: Pathways to Adventure (1999) Review (Nicholas A. Ferrell. April 21, 2022.)
2 top-five appearances (both in 2024).
(4) Installing LineageOS on a 2013 Nexus 7 (Wi-Fi) (Nicholas A. Ferrell. July 28, 2021.)
12 top-five appearances in 2024 and 13 all-time.
(5) The Mystery of Sōseki and Tsuki ga Kirei (Nicholas A. Ferrell. March 14, 2021.)
10 top-five appearances and 4 first-place finishes in 2021. 142 top-five appearances and 73 first-place finishes overall.
Analysis
We had a strange newsletter week 31 with a couple of our better days in recent weeks and one of our weakest single days since 2021 mixed in. In the end though -- we had no significant surprises. My specious article on having the foresight last year to review The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten easily secured its sixth consecutive first-place finish and eighth in nine weeks, along with its 13th consecutive top-five appearance. Last week's surprise, my review of a little-known 1999 Pokémon strategy guide, confirmed its relative recent strength with a second consecutive top-five appearance (notable after having made none in more than two years on the internet). We nearly had a mild surprise with my least-read of three articles on The Angel Next Door Spoils Me Rotten, a piece about its ending song, nearly taking the fifth spot for what would have been its first appearance since 2023 Newsletter Week 13, but it was shaded by my 2021 article on the meaning of tsuki ga kirei, which made its 142nd historical top-five appearance.
News leaf journal
Although I only published two articles last week, I made good progress on several long projects. One problem I run into, however, are blockers. There are a couple articles that I am working on where, in the course of writing, I decide it would make sense to write a different article first. But writing a different article takes time -- and sometimes research. But fear not, we have some longer pieces coming in the near future. I dare say we can certainly use them. I think The New Leaf Journal has started to see the effects of some recent Google algorithm changes which have proven to be less-than-favorable for some small, independent websites (I noted when I wrote about them that we were doing well with Google at the time). While I am not in it for mass popularity, it would be nice for more people to discover The New Leaf Journal like what we were seeing from November 2023 through February 2024. While I am amused to see the silly article I wrote about it being fortunate that an anime I reviewed in 2023 received a second season announcement not long after my review dominating our recent ranking charts, I dare say that this being our most consistent article of late is probably not the ideal state of affairs.
Notable leaf journal
Back in February, I announced that I would be turning a Pokémon Red play-through into a serialized novel and strategy guide. I started and abandoned two runs not because they would be unsuccessful (although I had a humorous mishap in one), but because they felt a little bit directionless. I need a narrative, a story. I think I am getting that in the one I started recently. But what if some stories are too long and too dramatic for the final project? What if they remind me uncomfortably of a certain visual novel I struggled to review last year? Those stories may need to be examined separately (article forthcoming). Now what if I recently learned via email that said visual novel I reviewed last year is now easier to download than when I reviewed it? We will need some article updates. Now what if being reminded of Midsummer Haze reminded me of a possible article idea connected to the Olympics? Let us do that too.
It is all a matter of getting these published...
Taking leaf
Thank you as always for reading and following The Newsletter Leaf Journal. If you are not already a regular reader -- you can sign up for our weekly email, add or newsletter's RSS feed, or check in on our newsletter archive page whenever you are in the mood to read our latest issues (see your options here). You also have many options for following The New Leaf Journal without waiting for newsletter updates.
I hope to publish more in August -- perhaps starting this upcoming week.
Until August 10,
Cura ut valeas -- Nicholas A. Ferrell.