Competition for the Kindle?

Barnes & Noble has launched an e-bookstore: www.barnesandnoble.com/ebooks/index.asp.
You can read the books on a Blackberry, iPhone, iTouch, and many personal computers.

B&N will be selling their own device, the Plastic Logic e-reader, on which to read the e-books, but not until next year. It will be larger than the Kindle, and therefore easier to read newspapers and magazines on it; the device will be marketed toward the business professional, rather than the leisure book reader, says B&N.

"Yo Quiero Taco Bell!"

The chihuahua who won millions over with her antics and "yo quiero" line for the Taco Bell chain has sadly passed away, at the age of 15 (quite old in dog years). Gidget was her name; while viewing the commercials I had no idea she was a "she" since her speech was dubbed (of course) in a male voice. Her commercials were ended prematurely, after a 3-year run, in 2000.

Space Food

Ever wondered about culinary options open to astronauts? This article looks at the modern menu compared to four decades ago, the processes behind stabilizing food for consumption up there, and the role of smell when it comes to taste.

Twelfth Night

A few Mondays ago, I saw Twelfth Night (Shakespeare in the Park), and it was a captioned performance.
TDF has a new article on their site about this special performance. The writer asked me to contribute and I am quoted in the thorough piece, here: www.tdf.org/TDF_Article.aspx?id=278.

Michael Jackson's Pet

Bubbles the chimp, who is my age, beat me to retirement! Now he's in a nursing home for chimps, (appropriately?) in FL.
And apparently he used to moondance, something I would love to see.

Bubbles, what's not to like?

Kids, and adults who want to be kids again, head to Times Square for a bubble battle on Friday (June 12) at 6:15 PM. You must bring your own bubble generators and solution. In case the flurry of bubbles in the air don't tip you off, the location is W. 47th St. and Broadway.

CaptionFish!

If you are looking for captioned films, you can visit Fomdi.com and type in your Zip code, and the site lists theaters and their offerings near you. Or you can visit individual theater chain sites (like Regal, AMC, etc.) and try to find the sole captioned film playing (if any are playing).

Now there is an even more coherent and visually pleasing site that rounds up all your nearby options, called CAPTIONFISH.COM.

Airplanes and Knees

Plane seats these days... how to (maybe) get comfier seats.

Green Genes

Green Monkeys! Controversy over transgenic monkeys...

Taste of Times Square

Tonight I went to an annual summer tradition in New York, a foodie's paradise called Taste of
Times Square. I stumbled upon it (what luck, considering it's a one-night a year deal!) the first summer I spent in NYC, and eagerly have been going back since.

Basically dozens of Times Square restaurants set up little tents on 46th St. between Broadway and 9th Ave. ("Restaurant Row") and sell around 1-3 of their signature menu items. You pay $5 for 5 tickets or $10 for 10 tickets, and then use the tickets to pay for the food. Each item sold at the tents is between 1 and 4 tickets typically, and it's a good deal for the customer generally. The portion sizes are sometimes small but often regular-sized, and equivalent to only $2 or $3 in cost (so the customer saves money). Planet Hollywood offers Bananas Foster cheesecake, John's offers pizza, Bubba Gump's offers corn, mahi-mahi, and shrimp fritters, Virgil's offers chicken wings, and numerous other vendors sell pasta dishes, meatballs, and ribs, to name a few selections.

My particular favorite from last night was Joe Allen's pulled pork sliders -- the BBQ pulled pork was some of the best I've ever eaten, and I even went back to get a second portion at the end.

My only caveats: go early (it started at 5), bring your own water bottle, and if you're claustrophobic, you may want to have a friend bring you back something instead of literally facing the hundreds of people in the crowd.

Octomom Holding Onto Her 15 Minutes

Not that I approve of the subject matter or would watch this show personally, but the question is, why wasn't this deal settled sooner?

AOL

AOL and Time Warner will go their separate ways ...

Don't Say Cheese

Virginia DMV bans smiles...now driving licenses can resemble mug shots!

Betty vs. Veronica

Archie chooses!

Credit

Article on the credit card company restrictions: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/05/19/AR2009051901867.html?hpid=topnews

And another one: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/20/your-money/20money.html?_r=1&hp

Cereal

Cheerios is now targeted by the FDA about their health claim. But it's been a few years now that the claim has been on the boxes...

New Appointment

Read here for the news about the new director of the CDC (hint, he's from NY).

Swine Flu

Hype over the swine flu, explained by members of the media.

Bugs

Vaccines for the swine flu... http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/apr2009/tc20090427_386206.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily

Obama's administration handling the 'pandemic':
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/04/27/AR2009042703060.html?wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter&wpisrc=newsletter

Presidential News

Evening newscast coverage for Obama greater than for Clinton and Bush.

Disappearing Brands

I won't be sorry to see Crocs or Old Navy go, to be honest!

Da Vinci Code Sequel

Robert Langdon still lives, this time in The Lost Symbol. Will this become a mega-hit and film, too?

Guidelines Announced

Here's an update on the new embryonic stem cell research policy drafted by the NIH.

Pharmaceuticals

Prices for generic drugs have fallen although prices for popular brand name drugs have increased.

Of interest, a few of the drugs with the largest price increases in 2008 were Prevacid (for acid reflux), Wellbutrin (for depression), and Lunesta (for sleeping) -- they went up at least 20 percent. Part of the reason for hiking the prices has to do with the brand drugs' patent expirations coming up, meaning that generic versions will become available; so it's a last attempt to make money on the brand drugs before copies hit the market.

But there's another reason, it seems, one that is related to the type of condition the drug treats. Right now in this economic meltdown it follows that more people are depressed and anxiety-ridden -- hence their new or heightened problems with sleeping, depression, and acid reflux. So once again, the brand drug companies are trying to make money off the fact that more people at this moment in time need Wellbutrin, Lunesta, and Prevacid.

Easter Parade

Happy Easter!!!

For info. on the NY parade: http://www.ny.com/holiday/easter/

No touching!

Michelle Obama and the Queen of England

Odd Laws

When in Canada, count your pennies well. In Denmark, don't wear a mask in public. More foreign laws that you should heed while in the country...

NY Subway

MTA developments...

FDA

Some advocate splitting the FDA in two...

Undo E-mail

Now you can 'undo' any Gmail account e-mail you send. A very handy feature!

And while you're in the "Google Labs" to enable the 'undo' button, check out the other helpful features like "accessing Gmail while offline" and the "forgotten attachment detector."

Maestro's Return

The Phantom of the Opera has been running on Broadway (and provoking tears) since 1988. And now there's going to be a sequel! Who would have thought? Love Never Dies opens in October this year. Unfortunately, Paris has been replaced by Coney Island...

Glitz and Grub

Here are a few sites I've just discovered that I will be going back to quite often.

The first, I stumbled upon when Googling details for the NY film location of Salt (starring Angelina Jolie). I've never found such a comprehensive site that offers location specifics, so this was an unexpected treat. (Despite living in NY for a few years and sighting various celebrities, I've only once, to my knowledge, walked by a movie set (it was a car chase scene from the 3rd Bourne film), and I never found any Web sites that disclosed such insider information.) Here's the site: http://www.onlocationvacations.com/category/daily-filming-locations/.

The second, http://eater.com/, is a restaurant/bar blog. Updated regularly, it features reviews and news on local establishments.

Mine Magazine

Hurry and get your Mine. Time is offering a customized magazine (digital or print, your choice) for readers, the material culled from a handful of its existing magazines like InStyle and Sports Illustrated. Oh, and it's free.

Hesperonychus elizabethae

No, no relation to me. This was supposedly a dinosaur, the smallest known one in North America. Based on the picture, it sort of resembles a ferret.

Article: Nicholas R. Longrich and Philip J. Currie, "A microraptorine (Dinosauria–Dromaeosauridae) from the Late Cretaceous of North America," PNAS, March 16 advanced online edition

Climate Changes

Thanks to global warming, the Atlantic Ocean circulation will be altered "in a way that will move more water to New York by 2100," according to a study by Florida State University. The Bloomberg article is here. Other places including Florida and California, not to mention island nations, will be similarly affected.

Just Not Into You

I recently (and finally!) saw He's Just Not That Into You at the movie theater. The film certainly won't win any Best Picture or Best Acting nominations, but it was a cute chick-flick and better than a great deal of the fluffy romantic movies churned out nowadays. I don't think it deserved the heavy criticism it provoked from some critics.

The most notable point about my viewing of the film, however, is that I saw it at Regal Battery Park where they were offering it with OC (Open Captions). This was my first time there. Similar to when you go to a foreign film and the English subtitles appear on the screen, this film had green (?) subtitles for everything being said. The problem was that the subtitles were very hard to read: almost transparent, and green. This is opposed to the typically strong, white captions like in foreign films or on DVDs when you click on the subtitle option. I really had to strain my eyes to read the captions. I am assuming that this poor mode of captioning is due to the manufacturer's desire not to "bother" or distract people who don't need the captions. If that's the case, then don't go to that particular showing of the film! (The film was being shown in non-OC theaters at the same Battery Park place at different times, so it's not a big deal to find an alternate showing.) And also, many people who don't have any hearing loss still enjoy captions, so I really don't understand the theater's reasoning for such terrible captioning.

In the absence of better OC film captioning in the city, I will continue to frequent the few theaters (Chelsea Clearview and AMC on 42nd St.) that offer Closed Captioned (CC) films. This is also known as Rear View Window (RVW) captioning because the viewer uses a small screen to reflect the captions coming out near the projector in the back of the room. Because it's only visible to the viewer with the RVW device, it's not as "intrusive" and known as CC rather than OC. I have enjoyed this form of captioning and haven't had much of a problem with it.
In summary, I'm just not that into Battery Park's use of OC.

Obama and Stem Cells

The ban on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research has been lifted.

The Green Ogre on Broadway

I'm glad I'm not an ogre, even after watching the happy ending of Shrek on Broadway. Ogres are sent away from their parents to assert their independence a full 10+ years earlier than humans (at age 7). Shrek forged a solitary lifestyle until the entire kingdom's worth of fairy tale characters were dumped on his land (AKA, swamp) because of the prince's decree against them. Shrek travels to appeal to the prince, and on the way meets a talking donkey who befriends him. Once at the palace he's promptly dispatched to go rescue the Princess Fiona, whom the prince had chosen as a bride. Fiona is locked away in a tower guarded by a dragon. Fast-forward a bit and Shrek falls in love with her after the rescue; Fiona also falls for Shrek. Then there's the fight and misunderstanding and almost-wedding to the prince, and then ultimately a happily ever after for the two (yes, two!) ogres.

I haven't seen the first of the three Shrek films for years, so I had slightly forgotten the plot before seeing the musical a week ago. I am fuzzy on the details of the movie, but I believe that the play followed the events of the film dutifully (although, of course, the film doesn't include multiple songs, like the musical does). The songs were average in terms of the lyrics and catchiness of the tunes; nothing stood out, and I wasn't humming any song from the evening after I exited the theater. However, the actual voices (singing) of the cast were superb. The costumes and scenery were vibrant and colorful, and if all of the costumes were not overly creative, it nevertheless was a treat to feast my eyes on the diverse fairy tale characters crowded on the stage during their scenes. (My favorite of these characters, the gingerbread man/boy, looked exactly like his counterpart in the movie. He tosses a few good lines back and forth with the prince when he's being tortured, regarding the muffin man.)

Like the film, the musical is not just for kids. (It's not even G rated as a film.) Many of the jokes will go over kids' heads, or at least I hope so, because otherwise kids are getting more jaded and too worldly before their time. Much of the musical's punch comes through mocking the traditional fairy tales and conservative values as expressed in the classic Disney animated films for decades. However, the high point of classic fairy tales -- boy wins girl, a happy romantic ending, and peace for the community as good defeats evil -- isn't relegated to the back shelf in Shrek, but instead rightfully reigns supreme, just as in the past, in this 'modern fairy tale.'

I Scream, You Scream

This site lets you create your own ice cream or gelato and will ship directly to you or a gift recipient. It's like visiting a Coldstone Creamery or Maggie Moo's, where you walk in and watch the servers add fun 'mix-ins' like Snickers bar bits or candy sprinkles to the flavor(s) you choose, but without the instant gratification of eating the dessert after making your selections. Ecreamery.com also features a great deal more flavor choices (Butter Brickle? Egg Nog, Chocolate Malt, Pumpkin Pie, Root Beer, and Black Walnut are just a handful of the many available) than typically seen in stores. The downside is the cost -- a 1/2 gallon will run you a minimum of $50, and that's not counting the mix-ins (examples include Pop Rocks candy, Oreo cookies, Fruity Pebbles, and even several types of cheese).

Ridiculous

This woman was so upset about not getting her McNuggets and a prompt refund that she actually called 911 to tattle on McDonald's.

4th Dimension

A good one from The Onion. Working in another dimension!

Knighthood

Senator Kennedy will be knighted.

Etymology

Wondering about the origin of the phrase 'plumb forgot'?

The word 'plumb' (pronounced 'plum') derives from the Latin 'plumbun (lead), the same word that 'plumber' derives from, because a plumber works (or used to) with lead pipes.

Since a plumb line is completely or absolutely perpendicular, the word 'plumb' became an adverb meaning 'completely or absolutely' in phrases like 'plumb forgot' or 'plumb crazy.'

March 1

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ANNA!

Therapy, Comedy Rolled Into One

Seinfeld's back on TV! This time, however, he'll be in a reality series.

Higgins

Higgins likes Little House on the Prairie and grapes and ice cream. He's also a baboon.

Broadway Boulevard

Mayor Bloomberg plans to close part of Broadway to vehicle traffic in an experiment to start around May and last through the year; it may become permanent if it reduces traffic congestion and improves general traffic flow. As a result, parts of Times Square and Herald Square will become "pedestrian malls" replete with tables, chairs, and flora.

Tropicana

The unappealing design on the Tropicana orange juice boxes (that was around for seemingly only 30 seconds) was trashed by the company after so many people complained. The beloved 'orange with a straw stuck into it' image is back and gracing cartons all over the world.

Music, Dolls, Clowns, Art

I've neglected to post about entertainment sources I've enjoyed over the past month. Here are some highlights.


In January I went to the Big Apple Circus. It's a small circus, but has acrobats, jugglers (twin jugglers!), clowns (of course), horses, trained dogs, trapeze artists, and a man who pretends to be a music box figurine. It's a shame there weren't any elephants or fire-breathers or clowns being shot from cannons. However, it was an entertaining show anyways, and since it travels around the U.S., you can potentially see it yourself even if you're not in NYC.


Music in the Air, a musical from the 1930s that was revived at the City Center in NYC, ran for a very short time in early February, but a friend and I managed to see it. Here is the official site. It's a shame the musical is not staged more often today, as the plot was cute with witty dialogue, the costumes and scenery were bright and vivid, and the music was jovial and well-sung. Kristin Chenoweth, Douglas Sills, and Marni Nixon (who dubbed the singing voices of the actresses starring in My Fair Lady, The King and I, and West Side Story) were among the major stars.


A friend and I went to see these guys do standup/improv comedy at the PIT: "Dave and Ethan." Their comedy is built around their double dating episodes (which they film and post on YouTube). They both played up their disparate personalities -- as one's an aggressive dater and one's more of a gentleman -- and sang to the audience, and it was a fun show.


At the Morgan Library, one of the current exhibitions (through May 24) is called "On the Money: Cartoons from the New Yorker." There are dozens of cartoons displayed (all relating to money) from the earliest years of the magazine through the present day. It's a pleasure to see how each cartoon (and caption) reflects the attitudes and concerns of the particular time period in which it was drawn. Overall, our cultural attitude hasn't shifted that much -- money always was and continues to be important to our society. But the particular scenes chosen by the artist and the particular jokes evoked from the scenes are interesting because when matched to their date of execution, they shed light upon our nation's collective conscious and its nuanced variations over the decades.


Just recently I went to the Ziegfeld Theater on 54th St. to see Coraline 3D. (The Ziegfeld is a luxurious, single-screen movie house that fits 1,200 people. Although it was opened in 1969, its grandiosity and decor makes me think of movie houses even before that date. It's named for Florenz Ziegfeld, famous for his Ziegfeld Follies on Broadway.)
You can see the film without it being in 3D, but if your local theater offers it in 3D, you should take advantage of it because the extra dimension really enhances the film. I hadn't seen any films in 3D since I was around 10 or 12. There weren't a great deal of objects suddenly catapulting from the screen towards you, like in an action/adventure movie involving falling boulders and venomous snakes, but the 3D was a great choice for this particular film anyway because it was animated (the characters were all puppets) -- so the characters appeared more alive and 'real.'

Homeowner Stability

About.com's description of Obama's initiative to stop foreclosures.

When Tax Evasion Isn't Criminal

Swiss Bank UBS admitted to defrauding the IRS. It will be paying hundreds of millions and disclosing the names of certain Americans deemed suspects of tax evasion to settle a federal investigation. From the NY Times:
"UBS had fiercely resisted turning over the names, even after some executives were indicted and implicated in the offshore private banking business. Swiss law distinguishes broadly between tax avoidance, tax evasion and tax fraud. Unlike in the United States, tax evasion is not a criminal offense under Swiss law." (emphasis added)

Happy Valentine's Day!

NY Fashion Week

...to change location...
http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2009/02/fashion_week_finally_has_a_new.html

Stem Cells Reverse MS

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/4387326/Multiple-sclerosis-symptoms-can-be-reversed-by-stem-cell-treatment.html

Embryonic Stem Cell Study

Read Geron's press release about the first study of a human embryonic stem cell-based therapy in humans!

Chia

For the truly Obama-crazed:

Chia-Obama

2008 in Archeology

A round-up from National Geographic Online: the top archeological discoveries in 2008.

Inca skull surgeons

Royal accessories and weapons (likely) belonging to Alexander the Great

Unknown culture in Mexico

Stonehenge declared a cemetery

Mayan underworld

Ex-Presidents

How quickly we forget.

Approval ratings for ex-presidents have improved since the officials left office, according to this article. Both Carter and Bush, Sr., are viewed more favorably these days... This makes sense for several reasons. For one thing, many Americans aren't old enough to remember what it was like to live under those presidents.

For another, we're in the middle (or beginning) of a deep economic downturn and we're involved in wars overseas, to mention a few major issues troubling consciences today; even if these crises aren't really as bad as the crises facing Americans years ago, people today don't recall those past crises as vividly as they worry about what's occupying us in the present. George W. Bush's rating is so low currently, that many feel whoever preceded him must have done a better job. After all, humans are nostalgic -- our minds will enhance past memories, and oftentimes a particular memory we think about so longingly was really not as idyllic as we now think.

2009!

Happy New Year! It's the last year in the first decade of 2000.
More posts to follow this year...