Haute Cuisine

The Village Voice has a great review of fried chicken joints in NYC. Apparently, the latest trendy food thing is Fried Chicken. It's something you would eat before eating Magnolia Cupcakes, I guess.

These new 'gourmet' joints have regular sides (except gourmet), and then use free-range chickens and other frou frou changes.

The results of their taste test? Popeye's still rocks. Really, was there really a contest?

Victoria's Secret: Getting Cash from Dudes

It doesn't take a genius to figure this one out: Apparently, men are more likely to part with their money after looking at scantily clad ladies.

However, from the article I learned one thing:
-testosterone can be measured by relating the lengths of the index and ring fingers : a relatively long ring finger is a sign of a high-testosterone man.

I'm gonna wear a baseball glove all the time from this moment forth.

Note to self: when trying to get money from people, have a Victoria's Secret catalogue laying around.

In Dusty We Trusty. (Warning: May Contain Talk of Sports)

Baseball's still getting going and all of the teams are busy jockeying for positions. Fortunately, there's still a lot of ball still to be played, dogs to be eaten, and cold beers to downed.

Some teams are showing promise The Sox are finding their groove, The Jays are keeping up with the big boys, and the Cubs are right in there too. HUH?! Don't worry, The Onion got an exclusive interview with Dusty Baker, and he lays it all out:

"The guys are in a bit of a groove right now, but they'll
snap out of it," Baker said. "It's early yet. There's still plenty of time to
get back off track and give the fans the kind of season they've come to know and
expect."
"I'd love to go out there and lose all 162 games for this city, but
both the players and the fans know that's not possible no matter how bad you
are," he added.

I'm glad Dusty's on it. I was starting to get a bit worried.

Know your Enemy!

There's been so much hubbub and sensationalization of the fact that Iran's ability to produce Nuclear energy is on its way. For some reason, which I don't understand, there are rumours of military strikes from the US side.

I feel that there needs to be some facts and understanding of exactly what Iran has done, and it's ability/desire to produce nuclear weapons. Nature has produced a very sobering article that should cool the hot heads.

I hope Iran continues it's Nuclear Power initiative and I wish that more countries had the knowledge and resources to be able to provide electricity in a cheap and efficient manner to its citizens.

Girls Will Be Girls

It never ceases to amaze me just how mean females can be to one another.

Not very nice.

Say hello to my little friend...

Don't mess with me folks...I'll make my new friends take care of you.

I Pledge Allegience to our New Leader

Hey, he promises to lower taxes and gas prices! I'm voting for Zod in 2008.

A Fish out of Water.

A story that's been getting a lot of press, and rightfully so, is that weird fish/land creature that was found up in Ellesmere Island in a quarry.

The article appears in Nature, and I think it will be one for the ages. It's the 'missing link' between water animals and land animals, which eventually gives rise to us.

Definitely worth a read, or peep the NYTimes article.

More Streets Stuff

At the risk of becoming The Streets fansite, there is an article off of the CBC site about how British artists are more and more performing with their accents. In my naivite, I thought people sang in this kind of 'universal accent'. Like Phil Collins. Your favourite artist. The words/phrases I've learned since listening to The Streets/Dizzee Rascal: chuffed, geezer, radge, Day-Vay-Day, nowt, to validate one's wages, fit, "th" sounds like "f".

Working Girls

I just read a very interesting essay by Alison Wolf about the repercussion of generations of women choosing careers over the 'traditional' role of housewife.

She raises many good points some of which I agree, some of which I don't. I don't want to paraphrase or quote any of it, as I feel the entire piece should be read and digested as a whole, as taken out of context some passages would definitely enrage people.

One thing that was pretty much not addressed in the article was the role of the father in the home as more women choose careers.

I grew up in a home with two working parents, and so did everyone else I know. I feel that there must be a balance between both parents in terms of child-rearing, meals, cleaning etc...
I think we all turned out OK, and society's a better place.

Extra! Extra! Crime Doesn't Pay!!

Having orchestrated the death of Biggie & Tupac (according to Nick Broomfield's riveting doc), Suge Knight has filed for bankruptcy.

He's huge and scary, and I doubt we'll see him in the poor house. This is clearly just some economic maneuvering.

Let's all cry together.

Go Ozzie Go! (Gratuitous Sports Rant).

There was a very nice piece in the Sun-Times about my favorite manager Ozzie Guillen.

He speaks his mind always and is filled with honour, humility and respect. My kinda guy:

''I know people say that God says when someone slaps your face, turn the other cheek. No, no, you slap my cheek, I will kick your ass.''

In other news, my South Side brethren won their first game by slapping Cleveland 10-4 at the Cell. I was there on opening day last year, and it was great. I wish I was there to see the World Series banner unveiled.

Most of the predictions are in, and a lot of pundits are choosing the Sox to repeat at least as AL Central Champs, if not the World Series. What a far cry from the dismissal of last year this same time.

My Predictions:
AL East-New York (Unfortunately)
AL Central-Chicago
AL West-Anaheim (or is it Los Angeles?)
Wildcard-Toronto (all of the off-season moves by Ricciardi should pay off)

NL East - New York (they just look awesome on paper)
NL Central - St. Louis
NL West - San Diego
Wildcard- Milwaukee

In summary: Go Jays Go! And.....SOUTHSIIIIIDE!

That was the martini shot....that's a wrap!

My crew finally wrapped our final shoot! Yay. I'm absolutely exhausted, and ready for a few days of R&R, and looking for a new place to live.

The way we do things at NYU during the first year is this: the faculty assembles a crew of 5-6 people (a balance of people with experience and none whatsoever) and we all rotate crew positions. The key positions are: Director, Director of Photography, Sound, Gaffer and the Assistant Director. If there is an extra person, they get those couple of days off to pre-produce their film if it hasn't been shot. It works out well, as everyone becomes educated in all aspects of the filmmaking process.

Our films are going to be 5 minutes long (for faculty evaluation, but can be longer if we submit them to festivals), and we gave everyone three days each to shoot.

I had tons of fun, spent way too much on my production, but also learned a lot (in theory, my main concern). It was also just really cool to collaborate with my classmates and help achieve their vision, and see their ideas unfold.

No more crack of dawn call-times...no more 12 hour days...no more stressing out...huzzah!

Now the realism of post-production starts.

Yes, but does it Cure Lobsterphobics?

So they've found a pill that can potentially cure you of your fears. I was thinking that maybe that's not such a good thing. Maybe it's what we fear that provides our motivations, in a general sense. I guess it's about learning how to use your fears to learn about yourself.

I, myself am deathly afraid of lobsters and crabs. You could imagine my dismay when I took a trip out to Shediac, New Brunswick a few years ago (the self dubbed "Lobster Capital of the World") and came face to face with this beast to the left.

Brooklyn STAND UP! I mean, Brooklyn WTF?!

On Monday morning, my regular commute out of Brooklyn was hampered by a water-main break just a few blocks from my home. What a pain in the ass, and my commute was twice as long.

Didn't bother thinking twice about it, as delays usually happen all the time. It wasn't until I started poking around the web did I see the real damage that was done. An SUV fell right through the road!

It totally reminds me of the huge storm that swept away part of a major artery in Toronto last summer when I was visiting.
Come to think of it, the disaster on Finch Ave back in August is about the same distance as my folks' home as I am from this new street collapse in Brooklyn. Hmmmmm.

It took them over 6 months to fix that road in Tdot, but I reckon this one in Brooklyn will be done in no time.

Don't Hate

For the third year in a row, the Princeton Review has said that NYU is the "dream school" for kids applying to schools out of highschool. This is kind of cool, and with it comes bragging rights.

NYU seems to be on the rise recently with Faculty/Alumni getting a few Oscars.

Also, they've just announced a $200 mil. donation to create a new research institute.

All this comes at a price though. It would be great if they could increase the amount of scholarship money that goes around. I mean, I knew it would be expensive, but I didn't realize just how tough it would be.

Worst Celebrity Endorsement EVER!

I usually think it's really funny/cool when washed up/B-List celebrities can make fun of themselves on TV. It shows that they don't really take themselves seriously, and just to what lengths they will go to get their face out there.

But Jeebus, what was Ben Johnson thinking when he decided to shill for D'Angelo's new sports/energy drink Cheetah (Cheetah...cheater...get it?). It's just uncomfortable to watch it. I mean, I could see how it could have worked, but it's awkward and I kind of feel sorry for Big Ben. The low production values (it looks like my basement with my bedsheet for a backdrop) don't help things.

Here's an excerpt:
President of D'Angelo/Talk Show Host:`Ben, when you run, do you Cheetah?'
Ben Johnson:`Absolutely! I Cheetah all the time!'

It's really kind of sad, and almost exploitive. I mean, I really can't think that Ben got rich off of the deal considering how much he's in demand these days. D'angelo's knows what they are doing though. I mean, I'm devoting an entry to them.

I still feel that Ben's illegal time at the 1988 Olympics was still an incredible human achievement.

See the commercials here.

Information Wars!

There is an interesting fight developing between Nature and encyclopedia Britannica. Late last year, Nature published an article claiming that Wikipedia provided information on topics with about the same level of 'correctness' (my word, not theirs) as Encyclopaedia Britannica.

Obviously, the Britannica people took issue (this is their bread and butter, with Wikipedia...Well no one is out of a job), and it looks like quite a few feathers were ruffled behind the scenes.

The gloves are off now. Britannica posted an open letter on their site (20 pages of argument) claiming Nature is misleading the public (blah blah blah), and Nature published their response today. In short, Nature isn't retracting their story and told them to screw off.

Ultimately, I side with Nature, as I believe that Wikipedia is going in the right direction. Granted, everything on there is not factual, I feel that over time Wikipedia will sort itself out and it will become the new standard of information. Britannica has a lot of money involved and is just trying to save face and sell a few more copies of worthless volumes to school libraries. Why pay for the milk (via Britannica's books and website) when you've got the Cow (Wikipedia's dynamicism, and free) at home?

The days of going to some massive tome in search of the truth, or the fact that there can exist a volume with the truth is over. Sorry Grandpa, you've earned your sleep, now go and take it.

Where do Numbers come from?

I've always been interested in numbers. Not necessarily 1's and 2's, but rather our concept of numbers and the world around us. Like how do we "know" that 1 + 1 =2? OK, it sounds like I'm being trite, but I don't mean it that way. Is our ability to count and compare quantities something that's learned? Just as I suspected (and hoped), recent research suggests that our ability to count is something innate within us (and other animals). Personally, I've always believed that numbers (or the concept of quantity) is more of an abstract idea.

Transit Geeks of the World: Unite and Takeover!

I ain't gonna front: I like trains. More specifically, subway trains. It just appears to be a jumbled mess of connections (and missed connections), tracks extending forever. The chariot of the people. Whether it was my first system: The TTC or the other systems in which I've grown to love: Hamburg's sprawling HVV, Chicago's beautiful CTA, or the ZOO of Berlin. I always feel that I'm with my people when I'm on the train or bus. My latest love affair is with the great Queen herself: NYC's MTA. Oh, is there somewhere you don't go?

So I'm a transit geek. There, I said it.

I'm not alone. Here's the page for the TTC's geek page, and better yet, my latest call to arms: the straphanger (check the Rider's Diaries for a topic that is causing much debate: Should the N Train skip 49th St at all times? I say yes. Yes it should).