August 13, 2004

bye, julia

When I was in kindergarten in the 80s one of my favorite things to watch was Julia Child's cooking show. I've never felt the need to do the cooking myself, but from her I learned to appreciate cooking and to love all sorts of food, from fancy pants French cuisine to simple diner hamburgers.

Julia Childs died in her sleep yesterday at the ripe old age of 91. Who says butter is bad for you? I had four thick slices of bacon and some brie for lunch today in her honor. Bye, Julia, and bon appetit.

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August 12, 2004

"in 1966 the future was funky"

I have to confess I love The Next Generation twice as much as The Original Series^*, but this funked up commercial for the fancy upcming TOS DVD boxed sets totally makes me want to get my Spock on.

[ via Ghost in the Machine ]

^*Captain Picard, rrrowrrr! He can come have breakfast with me every morning, if you know what I mean.

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battle of the titans

Linguist Amy Perfors, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, posted photos of men and women on the U.S. Web site "Hot or Not," which lets viewers rate pictures according to how attractive they find them.

When she posted the same pictures with different names, she found that the attractiveness scores went up and down depending on the vowels, the London-based magazine New Scientist reported.

Men with "front vowels" in their names -- sounds formed at the front of the mouth like the "a" in Matt -- were considered sexier than men with "back vowel" sounds like the "au" in Paul, she concluded.

I know we all love science, so let's try a little experiment, shall we?

Do we really think Matt

is hottter than Paul?

My friends, the decision is in your hands. Vote once, and vote wisely!

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i'm (not) the firestarter, twisted firestarter

BURBANK, Calif. - A fire broke out early Wednesday in a studio where the Black Eyed Peas were recording a new album, destroying about $500,000 in gear and instruments, authorities and band members said.

I hate the Black Eyed Peas more than anyone but hey, as Bart Simpson said, "I didn't do it, nobody saw me do it, you can't prove anything."

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August 03, 2004

goodbye romania

Warning - by visiting this site you will destroy it. Each visit will remove one pixel from these photographs.

However, we will tell you a story. It's a story about Romania, which is to say, it's a story about change.

My only complaint about Ian Curry and Maria Mayer's goodbye romania is that it's too damn short. Now go visit before there's nothing left to see.

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james l. hart, moron

Meet James L. Hart, author of Favored Races and Republican congressional candidate:

He is an unapologetic supporter of eugenics, the phony science that resulted in thousands of sterilizations in an attempt to purify the white race. He believes the country will look "like one big Detroit" if it doesn't eliminate welfare and immigration. He believes that if blacks were integrated centuries ago, the automobile never would have been invented.

(...) Hart, a 60-year-old real estate agent, knows his views on eugenics are far from the mainstream and viewed as racist by most people.

He insists his beliefs have nothing to do with racism and everything to do with "favored races" from Europe and Asia and "less-favored races" from Africa. To achieve his goal of a country populated by "favored races," Hart proposes eliminating both welfare and immigration.

Hart conducts his door-to-door campaign wearing a bulletproof vest and carrying a gun, and no wonder:

"Every person who opens the door -- as long as they're white -- I'll say, 'I'm James Hart. I'm running for Congress. My name will be on the ballot in the Aug. 5 Republican primary. I think white children deserve the same rights as everyone else.'"

Hart's the only Republican on the primary ballot because Rep. John Tanner, the incumbent Democrat, has represented the district for 15 years and the Republicans didn't think they could beat him and so didn't even bother to field anyone. The Shelby County Republican Party, appalled by Hart's candidacy (and the PR nightmare that will surely ensue if his name gets on the November ballot) passed a resolution urging voters to cast write-in ballots for Army veteran Dennis Bertrand instead.

That's nice, I guess, but I couldn't help but snicker when I read that SCRP Chairman Kemp Conrad said that "The Republican Platform states that 'We denounce all who practice or promote racism, anti-Semitism, ethnic prejudice, and religious intolerance' and we will not sit idly by and allow one man to tarnish our Party name." After all, Trent Lott is "entering his fourth decade" as a Republican congressman from Mississippi...

[ via the always superb Sisyphus Shrugged ]

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no correlation

A new study by the University of Wisconsin finds Minneapolis to be the most literate of the 79 largest US cities; New York and Los Angeles come in at 49 and 68 respectively.

I'm sure this has absolutely nothing to do with New York and LA being the epicenters of acting and modelling.

[ via Walk the Plank! ]

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August 02, 2004

i'm sorry

Dear Chels,

If I'd known they were gonna do this to you, I'd never have let them bring you to San Francisco!

Love,
Lia

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August 01, 2004

charlie jackam

I have been customizing figures off and on since 1988.  Most of the figures you see here were constructed over the last 8 years.  You may have seen some of my figures in Tomart's Action Figure Digest, Overstreet's Comic Book Marketplace, and Wizard magazine.  I have been one of the winners of the Tomart's Action Figure Design Contest three times. (1996, '97, & '99)

Even if you aren't really into action figures -- I buy one every once in a while myself but I'd much rather save my money for comic books -- Charlie Jackam's Gallery of Custom Action Figures is still worth a visit just to see the care with which he recycles old unwanted figures into ones the toy companies will probably never release.

Some of the pieces I really liked: Alfred Pennyworth, Batgirl V.2 (very sexy!), Batmite (even though I hate this character, I've got to admit it's cute), and Commissioner Gordon.

Yes, I'm a Batman nerd, so sue me.

My absolute favorite though has got to be this L'il Sergio doll he created in honor of Sergio Aragonés:

So gosh darn cute! Just like the original!

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July 29, 2004

gywo 38

"You know what the White House motto is? Waging a Never-Ending Global War on Terrorism means never having to say you're sorry. Because there's no time. Because we need to make up more crazy shit."

Get Your War On is now on page 38. (Thanks a lot, GWB, Dick and Rummy!)

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July 27, 2004

nostalgia

Maybe I'm showing my web age here, but I remember when Justin Hall wouldn't just tell you he had scabby bloody nipples but he'd also take photos and then proudly post them on their very own scabby bloody nipple page.

Ah, for the halcyon days of cat dick...

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July 26, 2004

regrets, i have a few

Friday night before last, I went and saw Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgandy^* in Union Square, had a mediocre sushi dinner on 2nd Avenue and then got dumped over milkshakes on St Mark's. I think he (the dumper) was disappointed that I didn't do anything lame like burst into tears or beg him to reconsider but really, while he was going through his lame (but true) "it's not you, it's me" speech, all I could think was, I gave up a ride on a helicopter for this? I bet that bastard Kottke got a shitload of great shots.

And sure enough, a few days later Jason went and posted this:

Life lesson #65839: When you're invited on something like a helicopter ride, just frigging go.

Arrrghh.

^*I pronounce it excellent and now want to see everything Will Ferrell has ever been in.

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nice hair, dumb idea

Okay, so we all agree that musicians that get it rock extra hard, but what about the ones that don't? Like, say, Chris Isaak:

I listen to iPods and stuff; it's a wonderful invention, but what I'm trying to reconcile in my head is that the money doesn't trickle down to the musicians, really.

"When I see some guy who's a computer whiz on TV a billionaire and, of course, he's wearing Levi's and tennis shoes saying he loves music, I'm going, Riiiight. You made a machine that's worthless unless you can steal somebody's music.' "

Isaak does not complain without offering a solution, however. And suffice to say those aforementioned high-tech executives might find his suggestion a bit alarming.

"I think if you're gonna go out and steal the music, you should really steal the machine, too," he says. "If you don't think it's wrong to steal people's ideas, what the hell go for it, baby. If you stole the machine, feel free to steal the music. Let's see how they feel about that at the computer factory."

Oh Chris, Chris, Chris, stop picking on Steve Jobs. If poor old drug-addled Courtney Love could do the math four years ago and figure out that record companies as a matter of business steal far more from musicians than their audiences ever will, what's your excuse for being so damn ignorant?

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July 25, 2004

shake shack at madison square park

I've been really excited about Madison Square Park's new concession, the Shake Shack, since reading the eGullet reviews last month (thanks to NYC Eats for the pointer) and finally got to sample some of their food a few weeks ago. Seeing as their two specialties are the Chicago Hot Dog and St Louis-style Frozen Custards and I've never even been to either city^*, I made sure to bring someone who'd lived in both places along to tell me how Danny Meyer's food measured up to the originals.

The line reportedly can get about 40 people long, but we visited on a Sunday afternoon and there were only about 10 or 15 people in line at any given time. You can't really see that there are two registers until you get near the front of the line, so you move up faster than you expect to. The menu is printed on a board to the right of the window, which makes it difficult to contemplate your choice while standing in line unless you're already sure what you want.

You get a number on your receipt so you can pick your food up around the corner; not always first come first served, but it runs smoothly enough. The manager worked the pickup window the entire time we were there, everyone else at the Shake Shack was a teenager.

I loved that the food came in these boxes! Much better than bags or flat trays, especially if you have to carry it one-handed to where you plan on eating. The cheese fries were okay, for $2.75 they should've been crispier and the portion a bit bigger but even if they had they still wouldn't have been anything to rave about.

Eric: "i was surprised to find a 'chicago hot dog' joint that actually lived up to the tradition. in the two years since i moved to new york from chicago, i've frequently found myself fiending for a chicago dog. not only are there none to be found in carts, stands, or restaraunts, the crucial ingredients aren't even available in grocery stores. shake shack has all the hard-to-find items: the all-beef hot dog (Vienna brand, imported from chicago!), the poppy seed bun, and the sport peppers. sport peppers are like mini-pepperoncinis, and make or break the chicago-ness of the chicago dog.

"along with those items comes a whole sampler from the garden - a cucumber wedge, pickle, onions, relish, mustard, celery salt, and tomato wedges. shake shack hit the target on every item. at $2.75 each, shake shack's chicago dog is a whole meal that you'd be hard-pressed to find anywhere else in this city."

I'm not a big fan of mustard, pickles or peppers (let alone pickled ones) myself and could've happily done without them, but I really liked the Chicago Hot Dog although I don't know that I could finish one all by myself.

Eric: "their frozen custard, or 'concreation', is supposedly modeled after the Ted Drewes 'Concretes' famous throughout St. Louis. having lived in st. louis for a while as well, i'm afraid to say that shake shack's version does not live up to the original. ted drewes has a guarantee on their concretes - turn it upside down, and if the custard comes out, they'll refill your cup. if we had tried this with our vanilla strawberry concreation, innocent bystanders would have been slinging custard out of their flip-flops. nonetheless, it was a tasty treat, even if not as well-made as its predecessor."

Not ever having had frozen custard before, I thought the concrete was pretty good, definitely eggier and smoother than your average milkshake. It was clearly too melty though, but it was a hot day and the shack had just recently opened for business so I give them the benefit of the doubt. Next time I think I'm going to try their Black/White concrete, or just a plain custard for dessert.

The burgers are beef patties placed on buttered and toasted potato rolls; strangely enough tomato and lettuce don't come standard, they cost a bit extra. As Eric said, "the cheeseburger was, well, a cheeseburger. nothing to complain about, but nothing to rave about either." A cheeseburger is $3.45 -- for 50 cents more you can get the Shack Burger which is basically the cheeseburger plus tomato and lettuce plus the special shack sauce, which is supposed to be some sort of mayo and spices blend. Not that the cashier told us that while we were ordering, but hey, I was too damn hungry at the time to read the menu properly.

Dogs are more than welcome in the Shake Shack's seating area -- they even have a special snack on their menu for your best friend called the Pooch-ini: frozen custard, peanut butter and a biscuit for $2.00. You won't be able to sunbathe on the Park's lawn with your dog afterwards though as it's only for those of the two-legged persuasion, but there is a dog run right beside the lawn.

To get to the Madison Square Park Shake Shack, take a subway line to 23rd St and then walk or take a bus to Madison Avenue if you're coming from the East side or Fifth Avenue from the West. The N/R drops you off right across the street from the Shake Shack, if you prefer to do most of your travelling underground.

^*Feel sorry for me? Send me roundtrip tickets, I'd be more than happy to come visit.

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July 22, 2004

musicians that get it rock extra hard

As pointed out by largehearted boy, John Darnielle of The Mountain Goats has given the Internet Live Music Archive permission to host recordings of live Mountain Goats shows for people to freely download. Here's why:

I am totally in favor of tape trading, and file sharing never did anything wrong by me. People got into The Mountain Goats after downloading my stuff. The only people who are afraid of file sharing are the people whose albums are so dull presentation-wise that nobody cares about owning the actual finished product, and the people who have so little connection to their listeners that said listeners have no reason to care whether the artists they like are getting reimbursed for their efforts.

Doesn't that just rock the socks right off of your mp3 download loving self? I've never even heard a Mountain Goats song (clearly my favorite fan girl neighbor Kathryn has been slacking off) but you can bet I'll be buying a ticket to their next NYC show and likely purchasing a cd or two from their merch table.

I also have to point out that John Darnielle has a pretty neat site of his own writing, Last Plane to Jakarta. It's not a blog, but it does have its very own handy dandy RSS feed! Clearly he is far cooler than your average rock star.

[ via Hydragenic ]

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the shark, it has been jumped

The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz, while talking about the show's second season, said "we're going to slow down the storytelling some this year. There won't necessarily have to be a brawl at every black-tie affair."

What? No! Is he fucking kidding me? Next thing we know he'll be making Seth Cohen disavow his super cute nerd ways, kicking the indie pop rock and comic books aside and taking up hip hop and Maxim.

Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'm going to go lie down and have a good cry.

[ via Amy's Robot ]

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