The scary-ass Russian grocery on my street, known for having like fifty million kinds of pickles and other things that come in jars but very little in the way of things that are appetizing or indeed edible, has started stocking Weetabix. I mean, what the fuck? I haven’t seen Weetabix anywhere around the US, really - I grew fond of it over the course of several visits to the UK - so why is it showing up in a tiny, alarming Russian grocery? I’d assume it was imported with the rest of their Slavic foodstuffs except it’s the regular British package that I’m used to, while most of their imported stuff is actually in Russian. Either way, I bought a box and am happily crunching away at this very moment.
In other news, Screech is all grown up and doing stand-up comedy, complete with poop jokes and unfortunate facial hair. Sadly, but not shockingly, word is he’s not that great: “I think his fame will carry him through stand-up,” [an audience member] said. “But if he was unknown, he’s mediocre, at best. I think he makes more money signing autographs than doing stand-up.”
In high school, I had a swing-loving friend who was often in search of victims upon whom to practice her atrocious finger waving skills. I escaped at the time thanks to my waist-length hair (I know, I know), and things like this make me happy about that to this day.
New Stripes album out tomorrow. I’d never risk Jack’s wrath by downloading it months ahead of time - no, surely not I - but whatever happened to those extra tracks that were rumored to be added to the release version after it got leaked so early? I see two additional songs on the Japanese import, but the same fourteen tracks on the American version (that’s CD, but the vinyl is likewise). Not that, uh, I’ve already heard those tracks or anything.
I’m still not here at all (I’m elsewhere, reading Berkeley), but I thought I’d point out that Hunter S Thompson has announced his engagement to Anita, the former assistant who features in HST’s latest book, Kingdom of Fear. Congrats.
I’m up to my ears in studying this weekend (John Locke needs an editor in the worst way imaginable), so while I’m off doing that you should be catching up on Homestar Runner.
Student-teacher relations must remain Platonic: nothing interesting in this SDSU senior’s argument, but she does admit to “small infatuations with nearly every male professor I’ve ever had during my college years,” and there’s even a mullet involved.
18 Cool NYC Websites: I’m not sure I’d dub all of these to be cool, but it’s of minor local interest, anyhow.
Coaster Reveals Date-Rape Drugs: Look for date rape coasters coming soon to university health centers near you.
BS Detector: ‘Internet Addiction’ Meme Gets Media High: “It’s all bullshit…. There’s no such thing as Internet addiction,” says Dr. Ivan Goldberg, the psychologist who inadvertently started the Internet addiction meme that has spread far beyond its intention.
Please Stop Masturbating: Requires no further comment
Science: a piece of cake: Cake or death?
This story about US Navy-trained dolphins being used by Australian divers off Umm Qasr reminded me of Jones, the dolphin from William Gibson’s short story Johnny Mnemonic. (Which is still a great story, if you can pretend it was never mangled into a movie.) These Navy dolphins aren’t quite as cool as Jones, but they are pretty slick - fin-mounted sensors collect information, while the dolphins are also trained to find and identify mines, mine-laying vehicles, and enemy divers.
Nice column today in Princeton’s paper. Celebrating circulation records: Among the provisions of one of the various “Patriot Acts” designed by Mr. Ashcroft and his friends to allow us all to sleep sounder in our beds each night is one allowing the Feds to snoop on our library records. The theory behind the legislation is pretty simple. Say there’s this brownish guy with facial hair and a weird name with Zs or U-less Qs or something, and he comes into the local branch library and wants to check out “Ten Tips from Top Terrorists” or renew “Home-Made Bombs for Fun and Profit.” Well, he’ll have lots of time to read at Camp X-Ray. Any college professor knows the legislation is based on two highly questionable assumptions: viz (1) people actually read the books they check out and (2) they actually understand what they read.
Although that NYC smoking ban everyone’s been dreading takes effect this Sunday at midnight, Newsday is reporting that violators won’t actually be fined until May first - only warnings will be distributed this coming month. However, keep in mind that it’s the clubs and bars that will be given warnings (and eventually fines), not smokers - so while you may be perfectly willing to trade a handful of warnings for another few weeks of smoking freedom, owners and bartenders might not be so easygoing about it. The New York City Nightlife Association is well aware that it’s venues that will be punished for violations, and they’re already planning to challenge it: “Opponents of the smoking ban promise to sue the Health Department if inspectors fine only bar owners, as planned, and not individual smokers, too. ‘That’s partial enforcement of the law,’ said Robert Bookman, attorney for the New York Nightlife Association. ‘We’re waiting for inspectors to fine bar owners and not the smokers. When that happens, we’ll see them in court.’”
I could love spring in New York if it weren’t for the inescapable dread of summer that invariably accompanies any rise in temperature. That said, the past couple of weeks have been positively heavenly: 50s to 60s, breezy, the occasional rainstorm. If only this were August, and the weather had nowhere to go but autumn. Spencer and I hit up our usual Mexican restaurant for the first time this year today - for some reason, I never crave Mexican food except in warm weather (maybe it’s the margaritas). There are few things better than book hunting outside the Strand when it’s nearly April and you’re full of amazing homemade salsa and strawberry margaritas. I picked up an armful - literally - of Granta back issues (yes, more Granta back issues) and used philosophy texts for under fifteen bucks. The icing on the cake (or whatever) was a copy of Computer Dictionary from 1982, extensively illustrated, for one dollar.
Gawker, although having some trouble with the possessive forms of words ending in s, points out a gem on the New York Press site: their hidden text, visible if selected or in source, designed to draw traffic from search queries like “osama bin laden” and “battlefield 1942,” among others.
And speaking of gems, I know Spencer wishes he had a Nuggets box to use as a case. Who needs window kits and flourescent lighting when you can have corrugated cardboard? [via Boing Boing]
Also, it’s stuff like this that makes me both glad that my stickers don’t feature my phone number (I’ve begun spotting them around Manhattan - they seem to be popular in bathroom stalls), and really fond of the phrase “report for punishment.” [via Supa]
Dunkin’ Donuts is paying people to wear temporary tattoos of the Dunkin’ logo on their foreheads at sporting events. As if that weren’t weird enough, they’ve also set up a Hot-or-Not clone called Dunkin Madness, at which you can vote on photos of various tattooed individuals: the rating system goes from “Mad Cool” to “Mad Fool.” Some people didn’t even have to be paid to wear the logo; tattoos were passed out at the game and applied just for giggles: “I kind of like temporary tattoos and I definitely like donuts,” said Brittany Ojala, an 18-year-old freshman from Boston University who was sporting the orange and pink logo on her head. “We’re going to try to get on the Jumbotron.”
