Friday, May 20, 2005
Note to self: never, never allow ripe bananas, Pepperidge Farm™ mint Milano cookies, or a scented bar of soap near bread or sandwiches. Not only will the sandwich absorb their smell like a magnet - but after eating said banana, mint or soap-scented sandwich, you will be plagued for hours by banana, mint, or soap-scented belches. Believe me, this is not pretty at all, especially if the sandwich had any garlic-flavored ingredient. Buon appetito!- Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith spawns its first groaner catchphrase - 'Hold me, like you did by the lake on Naboo!' [Plus, a quick SW3:ROTS analysis on Begging to Differ, and a link to The Weekly Standard's "The Case for the Empire," Jonathan V. Last's waggish (and still relevant) 2002 commentary on the political undercurrents and allegories in Star Wars]
- While I tend to believe that schadenfreude breeds bad karma, I couldn't help but snicker at this story about the poor sucker who lost his umbrella in the "L" door. [CTA Tattler]
- In the spirit of baseball season, Chicagoist shows us how to put together a genuine Chicago-style hot dog:
Firstly, you start with a Vienna Beef hot dog, boiled; the dog goes on a steamed Rosen poppy seed bun. The condiments are: yellow mustard, bright green relish, fresh chopped onions, tomato wedges, pickle spear, sport peppers, shake of celery salt. And never, ever ketchup, don’t start. Ketchup does not go on a Chicago Style Hot Dog. Chicagoist does allow for some variations to the Chicago Style Hot Dog: the hot dog can be boiled, steamed or grilled, but if it is grilled, char ours black, the bright green relish can be replace with plain relish (or the next day there can be a surprise of bright green poop!), grilled onions are okay if you’re grilling the dogs, and there are days that we can live without sport peppers. Additionally it’s become relatively common to see the cucumber wedge opposite the tomato wedge. No ketchup. [keep reading]
- The F Blog's guide to exotic pussycats; if we had the room and legality wasn't an object, a Savannah Cat (looks like a small leopard, about twice the size of the average housecat) or a Toyger (yes, they really look like minature tigers) might be a nice choice, though I'm not sure our existing kitties Jezebel and Snöe would appreciate a giant carnivorous sibling. The Toyger Cat Society says,
The Toyger is a designer cat. It is designed and bred with the demands of modern apartment life as a human companion foremost in mind. Glittered, pelted, dramatic pattern appeals to both the high-tech glamour and nature-loving, wild dreams of city-caught people while the laid back, easily trained character of these cats make them a joy to live with.
A designer cat for geeks who love jungle kitch! Perfect! [via BoingBoing]
The Toyger is a breed in development. Recognized by TICA for Registration Only early in the 1990's and lovely even now, the goals for the breed are long term and the prospect even more exciting! Several of the features proposed have never before been recognized as possible in a domestic cat. Progress is slow but steady in all areas from companionability to appearance.
This breed is of and for the computer age. Computer imaging help breeders determine what they want , how far off a cat might be and how to improve the progeny. Email and lists make friendships blossem, communication of ideas and photos immediate, cross country mating matches arranged, etc. etc. Webpages like this allow breeders and groups to inform the public and further better understanding of breeds and pet choices. - Interesting article in Slate from the sidelines of the War on Terrorism: "How Come They Divert Airplanes? Why not check the No-Fly List before the plane takes off?"
- Big bro's thumbprint revolution begins...in Naperville? Via Slashdot:
FearUncertaintyDoubt writes "Three libraries in Naperville, IL, soon will start requiring patrons who use the library's PCs to provide a fingerprint scan. The article says, 'Library officials say the added security is necessary to ensure people who are using the computers are who they say they are. Officials promise to protect the confidentiality of the fingerprint records.'"
Because of course, all public libraries have computer security as robust as Fort Knox's safes - and noidentity thiefwell-meaning volunteer would ever dream of hacking into a biometric database. Even before this bit of news, the very word "Naperville" usually evokes a "Boo! Hiss!" response among our circle of friends.* I wasn't able to find any reference to this policy change in Chicago local news as of this afternoon; but then again, libraries rarely make headlines unless they're closing up shop for lack of funding or banning books by authors who espouse 'unacceptable lifestyles'. Feh.
farkleberries Links du Jour 92
