There's a plethora of articles on the completed renovation of Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center (New Yorker, N.Y. Times: architecture, N.Y. Times: acoustics, Bloomberg: noting who paid for naming rights, etc, etc). The most interesting of the lot is the one from the Times back in January where they actually interviewed the musicians (who gushed about the acoustics) and went into music geeky details on the reverberation goals (1.4 to 1.5 seconds), the adjustable stage (three settings), and the fact that subway noise was eliminated not by architecture but by the MTA who actually welded down the train tracks and installed rubber pads (wow).
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Bill Niman left Niman Ranch, the natural meat company, in August 2007 after a new management team brought changes he did not agree with. Since then, he's been raising goats, heritage turkeys, and entirely grass-fed beef. When he was at Niman Ranch his cattle went to "finishing" lots to eat grain before they were slaughtered, a practice that caused Alice Waters to eventually drop his meat in 2002 after 20 years on the menu at Chez Panisse. Now Niman, who doesn't own the rights to use his name on meat products, has started over with new animals, staying true to his ideals of how animals should be raised. The goats are the risky new addition and he's hoping they will anchor his comeback. Kim Severson looked into his goat operation in the N.Y. Times last year, noting the taste was like "lamb with a big personality." An article in Sunday's S.F. Chronicle goes into more detail on Niman's battles with the new Niman Ranch owners.
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Monday, February 23, 2009

Unlike previous years, no million dollar diamond-encrusted shoes came down the runway at the Academy Awards on Sunday. Designer Stuart Weitzman, who began the publicity stunt in 2002, decided restraint was in order for this economy. But there was still plenty of expensive jewelry on the red carpet.
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When Leonard Bernstein wrote the tune to "Somewhere" for West Side Story, the dummy lyric "There goes whatshisname" stood in place until Stephen Sondheim came up with "There's a place for us." So says, or actually sings, daughter Jamie Bernstein in a N.Y. Times piece about the No. 2 train of the New York subway which emits the 3 notes that start off the lyric. More specifically, the inverters that convert the third rail's direct current into alternating current on the train cause the steel to sing out the ascending minor seventh and the descending half-step that make up that bit of the tune. From the Times article that originally investigated the phenomenon back in 2002: "The direct current from the third rail is converted aboard the train to alternating current, and in the process, a catchy tune is unwittingly sung."
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Friday, February 20, 2009

UNESCO is tracking endangered languages in an atlas, available online. The print version will be available in May. 2,500 languages out of the world's 6,000 languages are in danger of becoming extinct. 199 languages have only a handful of speakers remaining. The linguists who worked on this edition are encouraging immigrants to preserve their native languages.
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A photo gallery of some notable playthings from the 2009 American International Toy Fair. The $99.95 Bernard Madoff doll seems extravagant considering the subject matter, plus you're supposed to smash it with the included hammer. I suppose it's cheaper than therapy. But I could go for a marshmallow gun decorated with peace symbols.
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Thursday, February 19, 2009

Design your own cereal at [me] & goji. I think you can accomplish this easily in the bulk foods aisle of certain grocery stores, but this does come in a custom "cereal capsule." Unfortunately it's all healthy and organic, so no mixing fruity loops with purple horseshoes and green clovers. (via Luxist)
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The news that Pepsi will be offering sugar versions of its drinks in April reminded me that I had read somewhere last year that Snapple would be reformulating its drinks to use sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup. And indeed, the ingredients lists on their website show that the drinks now in redesigned slimmer bottles use sugar, except for the diet versions. But there are still fruit drinks in the original bottles that have HFCS. Will those be reformulated soon as well?
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Tuesday, February 17, 2009

I missed this when it came out (that's what I get for not reading BoingBoing), Dave's Adjustable Hot Sauce lets you select how much spicy heat you want, then spray it on. By the way, there's now Dave's Ultimate Insanity Sauce which is hotter than the original Insanity Sauce. Insane.
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Found on Etsy: Rock Band Drum Kit Cosies. They are not for covering your drums when you are done playing, they are for deadening the tapping so you don't disturb your neighbors. Guitar Hero World Tour players, there's a set for you too.
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Monday, February 16, 2009

Eternally devoted Major League Baseball fans can now be laid to rest in team logo caskets or urns. The caskets feature team logo and colors for the inside pillow and fabric. Headstone markers are also available. (This is from the same company that offers the Star Trek urn and a casket based on the photon torpedo burial of Spock.) (via Luxist)
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For the required Valentine's Day candy topic, the San Francisco Chronicle visited TCHO Chocolate, a start-up headed by Timothy Childs, a former NASA scientist, and Louis Rossetto, founder of Wired Magazine. It's the only true chocolate maker in San Francisco, crafting bars from cacao beans. With the bootstrapping practicality of a garage start-up, Childs cobbled together equipment intended for other uses, dal grinders from India, dryer duct, tape used on the space shuttle, to mix chocolate (see the result in a 2 min. video). TCHO has 30 employees and is now selling its products on the web, at its factory store, and select retailers. (A longer tour of the machines from BoingBoing TV in July 2008.)
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Friday, February 13, 2009

Cooper, the cat with the camera on his collar, now has his very own photo exhibit at the Urban Light Studios in Seattle. 16 of his photographs are framed and also available for purchase. Part of the proceeds benefit the PAWS shelter.
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Frank Gehry isn't about to let a downturn in the economy compromise his uniquely curvy building designs. His Digital Project software models Gehry's oddball architecture on the computer screen, allowing him to revise and tweak building elements, resulting in cost savings. The software and services offered by Gehry Technologies also gives Gehry an income source helping others build projects while demand for his own ambitious visions may have to wait out the frugal climate. Architects can use Digital Project to easily try different materials, shapes and change other parameters to stay within budget.
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Thursday, February 12, 2009

I don't know much about sports cars, high performance vehicles, and even less about how to drive them. But after driving (if you can call it that) a Tesla Roadster in Project Gotham Racing 4 I was intrigued by this electric sports car. It's the result of a Silicon Valley startup, high-tech VCs and all (including the Google founders). Like many high-tech startups there was some FUD along the way, was an electric high performance engine just vaporware? But with actual cars now shipping, Tesla has sold out almost all of its 2009 production, and their CEO expresses optimism in a recent letter that they will weather out the bad economy despite some order cancellations. The letter also pointed out that the purchase of a Tesla ($109,000 list) is an investment in a company that wants to also develop mass market electric cars. They can actually enable well-off buyers to not feel guilty about spending $100K on a fast car. Tesla hopes to become profitable by mid-2009. By the way, my experience in PGR4 was suitably insane: the Tesla accelerated so quickly with so little noise that I was crashing it all over the place not realizing how fast I was going. Once I got the hang of not using gear clanking and engine noise as my speed indicators, it was a dream. Plus, it's gorgeous, thanks to Lotus' hand in the chassis design.
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When Boeing delivered a Boeing 737-800 to Kenya Airlines on Wednesday it came with a special cargo. Three teenage girls from Issaquah and Sumner, WA coordinated donations of almost half a ton of clothing for orphanages in Kenya. The Wema Centre selected the recipient organizations. Previous Boeing planes have arrived in Kenya with computers and school books through similar programs.
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Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Vehement comments from readers of Eric Asimov's N.Y. Times article on single malts caused the Times editors to change their stylebook regarding the word "whiskey". Scotch whisky has no 'e' as several readers strongly pointed out in comments and emails to Asimov. He summed up the feedback in a December post and has now announced the results after careful consideration by the editors: "As of now, the spelling whisky will be used not only for Scotch but for Canadian liquor as well. The spelling whiskey will be used for all appropriate liquors from other sources."
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If you look inside most luxury brand leather products these days, you'll find a "Made in China" label. Those high prices don't necessarily mean you've purchased traditional Italian craftsmanship. Worse though is that a "Made in Italy" label may not mean what it used to. Products that are manufactured primarily in China may be finished in Italy, let's say a buckle is put on, and then tagged with the "Made in Italy" label. Also, factories in Tuscany are being staffed with Chinese immigrants, often working long hours and in questionable conditions. That situation at least is truly "Made in Italy", but perhaps not at the level of craftsmanship that may be assumed from the price. The craftsmen who are keeping the old-style practices alive have to compete with this cheaper labor.
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Tuesday, February 10, 2009

What do you do when you design a Christmas tree sculpture for Times Square but don't get it done in time for the holidays? You cut and flip your blueprint around and turn it into a heart for Valentine's Day. With pink Corian donated by DuPont and labor donated by a hot rod shop, the heart is now stationed at Times Square, glowing with LEDs. (N.Y. Times slide show)
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At age 88, White House reporter Helen Thomas is covering her 10th President. Her relationship with the most recent President Bush was rocky, especially after she called him "the worst president in American history". He slammed the door on decades of Thomas tradition by not calling on her at a 2003 press conference and denying Thomas her usual closing of "Thank You, Mr. President". Bush did not call on her at his final press conference either. Now a columnist with an opinionated agenda, Thomas, strictly speaking, no longer holds an objective news reporting position that earns her that front row seat, but her longevity and career are respected by many. President Obama called on Thomas, back in the front row, last night with a cheerful mention of his "inaugural moment" with the notoriously hard-nosed reporter. After taking care of her question, not to her satisfaction (he ignored her follow up), he called on Sam Stein of the Huffington Post, thereby "bookending", as the N.Y. Times put it, representatives of old and new media.
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Monday, February 09, 2009

The publicity machine for Dollhouse is rolling merrily along with Joss Whedon on the interview treadmill: N.Y. Times and NPR (mild spoilers about storylines). It's difficult to feel hopeful for a series stuck on Friday night especially after what happened to Firefly, but new Joss Whedon is better than none at all, and 13 episodes are schedule to air. More links to coverage and early reviews on Whedonesque and of course fan sites are up and running.
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The bell is a vital part of a Navy ship, symbolically and, in past times, practically for the marking of time and as an alarm. The British Royal Navy began a tradition hundreds of years ago of baptizing babies in the ship's bell. While this ceremony started as a necessity for families at sea or foreign ports, it has remained a custom with significant meaning for many who serve on board military vessels. This past Saturday in Seattle, the bell of the Coast Guard cutter Polar Sea was turned over and filled with water for the religious consecration of baby Genevieve Carr, whose father serves aboard the ship. It was the first such ceremony on the Polar Sea and, as tradition dictates, Genevieve's name will be engraved inside the bell. The Canadian Forces Base Esquimalt Naval and Military Museum has a Christening Bells project with a database of names engraved inside ship bells it has catalogued. Those christened on a now decommissioned Canadian ship may search online and perhaps locate the bell with their name.
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Friday, February 06, 2009

It was closed for refurbishing during our last two visits to Disneyland, but It's a Small World is now open for business again. Purists are grousing over the addition of Disney and Pixar characters to the ride, but Disney maintains they are incorporated seamlessly into the scenes. Costume designers created new outfits for each of the 300 dolls plus new characters. There's a new "Spirit of America" scene featuring cowboys, Native Americans, and farmers (and Toy Story characters). If you can stomach the repetitive tune, here's a fresh video of the brand new ride. Or you can go retro and see the old version.
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Bloom County fans, if you ever wanted a collection of every single strip, and you know you do, well, it's finally coming. IDW (and fans) politely pestered Berkeley Breathed enough to make it possible. Starting in October, five volumes containing two years each of Bloom County strips will be published. To mitigate Breathed's concern about republishing dated topical subject matter, the books will include "context pages" to help readers with the political humor. But most of us just have to recall the two words: Ronald Reagan.
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Thursday, February 05, 2009

I knew the term degauss from using CRT computer monitors, but didn't know the origin of the term for eliminating magnetic fields. In World War II, Germany used magnetic mines that were triggered by ships' hulls. I'll quote Wikipedia so I don't rephrase this incorrectly: "A large ferrous object passing through the Earth's magnetic field will concentrate the field through it; the mine's detector was designed to trigger at the mid-point of a steel-hulled ship passing overhead." The term "gauss", for Carl Friedrich Gauss, was used as the unit of measurement for the strength of the magnetic fields in the mines' triggers, and thus "degauss" was used by the British for their countermeasure. Ships were degaussed by two methods, electromagnetic coils that could reverse the bias field being detected and a less expensive solution where an electrical cable was dragged alongside.
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Seattle Times food writer Nancy Leson has posted a discussion topic that can surely be repeated anywhere there are New York City area transplants: Where can you find a great Reuben sandwich in Seattle? Most interesting are the opinionated comments ranging from "there's NO good East Coast deli anywhere in Seattle" to suggestions to mail-order from Zingerman's (pricey!). And there are some actual decent suggestions which may help me break my terrible habit of harassing anyone I meet who mentions they are Jewish and has lived in the Northeast for Reuben and bagel recommendations.
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Wednesday, February 04, 2009

Tom Furrier is a typewriter repairman in the Boston area. In addition to repairs and sales at his shop, Cambridge Typewriter Co., Furrier makes service calls at companies that still use typewriters. Certain official forms are keeping some typewriters in service. Says Furrier, "every maternity ward has a typewriter, as well as funeral homes, which might seem strange in this day and age, but is good for me, of course." The Globe also published an article about Furrier's unique occupation in 2006.
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Out in Ocean Shores, on the coast of Washington, the library is home to two cats, Waldo and Olivia. When the library's first cat, Trixie, passed away, the grief felt by the town and staff was so painful, the librarian decided not to replace her. But two years later, she reconsidered. Waldo likes candy wrappers and following Olivia, the more mellow of the two, around. (For your reference, here again is the Library Cats Map).
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