no updates for a few days. I'll be dodging the uprooted trees, broken glass, roof shingles, vandals, riots, and flooding rivers of Paris. it'll
be like Make Your Own Adventure! except with champagne and baguettes! I'm practicing my French...Me dèteste l'art impressionniste et le Jerry Lewis, aussi.
I hope your New Year's celebration is safe, warm, and happy, and spent with the people you care about.
what a wonderful travel resource: journeywoman.com.
...apologies for the random outburst yesterday about Ethel Merman and singing. it's the cold medicine, really. really. I don't torture my friends like that. much.
more on the etymology of "86" (as in a restaurant item being out of stock or no longer served, e.g. "86 the cheese fries!"):
from Eric Miller: from Andria Fiegel Wolfe: From page 203 of that book: "Lee Chumley had been a soldier of fortune, a writer, a laborer, ayeah, I know it's answered already, but I heard years ago (in my restaurant daze) that the term originated in a New York deli that had all it's menu items numbered for convenient ordering. #86 was supposedly always sold out...hence "86'd".
According to the book _Greenwich Village and How it Got That Way_ by Terry
Miller, the phrase "to 86" something originated during Prohibition at Chumley's Tavern.
"For over sixty years, people have slipped through an unmarked door at 86 Bedford Street into what seems to be a small carriage house. Most reappear an hour or so later, though some never emerge -- not from this door, anyway. It might seem sinister to the uninitiated, but neighbors know this to be an entrance to Chumley's, one of the most celebrated secrets of the Village.
covered-wagon driver before Sam Schwartz hired him to manage the Black Knight, Schwartz's speakeasy facing the Provincetown Playhouse across MacDougal Street. In 1926, Chumley took space on the second floor of 86 Bedford Street, initially to edit and publish a radical workers' journal
and to hold secret meetings of the IWW. By 1928, he had taken over the onetime blacksmith's shop at street level and turned it into a speakeasy of his own. The Bedford Street entrance became a concealed back door, while another secret entrance appeared in Pamela Court, a secluded residence entered around the corner at 58 Barrow Street. According to legend, the door at 86 Bedford Street was used only when cops enforcing Prohibition appeared in Pamela Court. They'd be held there just long enough for Chumley to tell his customers to "eighty-six it," meaning "clear out!" The phrase is still popular slang."
wow. big thanks to Andria and Eric - it keeps getting more and more interesting.
*blurrrrrrghhhhh*...got a head cold...medicine...gives me...attention span...of a gnat...*blurrrrrrghhh mmmffffphhpppt*...
FIFA Yellow-Cards Virtual Ads. "Virtual advertising allows broadcasters to superimpose logos or messages on the signal they send to viewers' homes which give the impression that the images are physically present at the stadium." ... "But soccer authorities are worried that the technique could be abused. A recently televised match in Greece appeared to show players running around giant cans of deodorant."
when I was in high school I amused my friends by singing "Pour Some Sugar on Me" in an opera voice. now I amuse them by singing U2 songs (especially "All I Want Is You") in an Ethel
Merman voice. actually I have a very weak idea of what Ethel Merman would sound like singing pop songs, so I have to embellish. I think you needed to know that. I'm not sure why.
the wonderful bullseyeart.com finally has new content.
for the longest time, I've wondered why the heck they don't genetically engineer a grass with a stunted growth cycle. I thought there must be some lawnmower company conspiracy behind the lack of research. but it looks like they might be on to something.
my car has a very flat tire. I'm not done with my Christmas shopping. my key chain broke. fuckfuckfuck. wah wah wah. I want a cup of hot cocoa with whipped cream and sprinkles and I want it now.
Australian
man convicted of feeding hash cookies to Mormons.
via motherjones.com: Cyber-Squatting
on Hate.
Reason.com offers a good essay (speech, actually) on Dynamism, Stasis, and Popular Culture. she argues that our culture and subcultures are being defined by dynamic vs. static systems, and by those who support each side.
I love the ritual of peeling an orange. the smell, the stickiness, the taste. and I just discovered that the inner skin of orange pieces is really nice to touch. it feels a lot like people skin. like the inside of your arm, near your elbow.
last weekend I went to a viewing of the 1999 British Television Advertising Awards. the Levi's series was honored, as well as some Miller Lite spots. there were commercials for noodles, beer, cable channels, and blended whiskey. I can't seem to find an online list of all the winners, but there was one public service spot that I will never ever ever forget. and if you ever ride in a car with me, and you're in the rear seat, please buckle up.
The Terrorism Research Center.
he's got a nice body. he's wearing velvet pants.
beginning early next year, Otis Elevator Company, the largest elevator company in the world, will begin broadcasting internet content in their elevators.
Marmots of the World. say it with me: Marmot. marmotmarmotmarmot.
whew.
I have a place to sleep in Paris over the New Year's Eve festivities. not that
I'll be sleeping.
yes, there's a committee for everything. The International Earth Rotation Service.
From the Well, Duh Dept.: I believe I've identified a trend in URL naming. (if I were an analyst, I would be smacking my lips at this. maybe. or this theory could totally suck. but that's the beauty of being an e-analyst: the target is *always* moving, so if you always state pithy things that ride the cusp of vague wisdom, you can count on billable hours.) if you are seeking a hip, "cyber"-savvy audience for a "with-it" site, and you're wondering what kind of URL will draw them in by their purse strings, here are a few words to consider incorporating into your URL. remember, these words should be personalized within your URL to suit your business objectives.
I was in a frumpy mood the other day, and I went book shopping. I don't believe it was a cause-and-effect occurrence, but the two things happened together. anyway. I'm not sure that book shopping has ever helped me in my frumpy moods, because I walked out of there with a Jean Cocteau and a Simone DeBeauvoir. not exactly the Erma Bombecks of French literature, I suppose. but there you are.
I'm sure I had something far more interesting to tell you. but it eludes me at the moment.
pictures from the riots in
Seattle.
do you know anyone in Paris who could put up 3
Americans for 3 nights over New Year's Eve? our accommodations with a
friend are on hold and I would deeply appreciate any leads. let me know.
