Miss Missy-Bait

From Boing Boing this afternoon:

I picked this tip up from Stan Fischler's books. So the original City Hall station has been closed since the 1940s. There are some good pictures online that will give you an idea of what an amazing piece of architecture this station was. We're talking chandeliers, beautiful arched ceilings, intricate tile work...the whole nine yards.
Most of the time, this is closed to the public. But there is supposedly a way you can sneak a peek. Following Fischler's instructions, you take the Lexington Ave. #6 local southbound to the end of the line and (if the conductor will let you) stay on the train as it does a loop past the old City Hall station to turn itself around. During the loop, you can see the City Hall station out the train windows.
I should note that I never managed to successfully pull this off. I was in New York in the summer of 2002, and (unsurprisingly) convincing subway workers to let you have a little leeway wasn't so easy at the time. But there seem to be people who've done it recently, so you should try it. And, if it works, let me know. I would love to be jealous of you.

"Salad go Nice with Riunite on Ice"

For some reason, last night, the '80s product, Riunite, popped into my head without warning. Apparently, its 'America's all-time favorite wine':

Those Were The Days

I think this picture may be the best argument ever for the revival of drive-ins.

Colbert and Gay Marriage

So of all the parodies of the NOM "Gathering Storm" ads, I think Colbert takes the top prize (though the original ad itself came in a close second):

The Colbert Report	Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Colbert Coalition's Anti-Gay Marriage Ad
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes Political Humor NASA Name Contest

White Civil Rights

This reminds me of how a co-worker and I used to joke about the 'white civil rights' movement. Its still a funny concept, though I am curious about the people who believe in the these sorts of things. Maybe everybody just likes to play the victim sometimes.

Anyway, now that its all over, I'm going to have to create a collection of the best signs/posters, etc. from yesterday's Tea Parties.

Bacon for MacGyver

I'm still trying to sort the implications of this out in my head. So you can apparently take bacon (proscuitto, actually, though I am sure tests are being done as we speak on assorted pork products) and a tube hooked up to an oxygen tank and create what is called a 'thermal lance'. A thermal lance is what is used to cut scrap metal (and traditionally uses iron and magnesuim instead of pork). It also works with a cucumber and slim jims, apparently. This guy is my hero (via Boing Boing):

Chairman MaoBama

Since he's already been compared to the last century's other great mass murderers [Stalin, Hitler], why not just go all the way and throw some clever graphic design in while you're at it (on that last part, I'll have to say that the Tea Party movement, up to this point, has been pretty aesthetically unpleasing).

Also, Newt Gingrich himself will be spouting nonsense at this evening's New York City Tea Party. Should be fun to wtch his head expand in person (insert teabagging joke here.)

This is What Government Does because of You.

So, you either paid your taxes today, or filed for an extension (like me). But where is all of that cold hard cash gonna go? The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities has a nice chart for the rest of us who prefer circles and pie pieces to reading numbers:

There is Teabagging and Then there is eTeabagging

The GOP just made my life so much easier; they appear to be poised to ride internet technology to landslide electoral victories for the forseeable future. I'm just glad that I can finally teabag someone without having to leave my desk:

McCoys 10, Hatfields 1

And note the possible explanation as to the origins of the Halfield-McCoy feud (from AP via Microkhan):

Bo McCoy, right, one of the organizers of the Hatfield-McCoy Reunion, accepts a trophy on behalf of the McCoy team after defeating the Hatfields 10-1 in a softball game on June 10, 2000, in Pikeville, Ky. Man on left is unidentified. The most infamous feud in American folklore, the long-running battle between the Hatfields and McCoys, may be partly explained by a rare, disease inherited by the McCoy clan that can lead to hair-trigger rage and violent outbursts.

[McCoys]

[Hatfields]

Not Today, Motherfucker!

Isn't there a short film category for the Academy Awards? I hope somebody lost their job for not nominating this masterwork. A genre-bending mix of action, sci-fi, comedy, thriller, and drama:

Damn, and I thought my Business Card was Kinda Nifty

'Looks Like Crap? It is Crap'.
Who is this guy? He's golden:

And Now for Something Really Special

Just watch it:

Susan Boyle sings 'I Dreamed a Dream' from
Les Miserables on Britain's Got Talent.

Because I Should Have Done This Days Ago (and Made Your Day)

This guy kind of puts John Tesh (though you'll always have a special place in our hearts, John) and that other guy to shame. Really he puts all humans to shame. I know this thing is old news, but you really ought ot be checking his site's News section so that you can be up-to-date on all of the New news:

SHINE ON ME director Robert Short, CDO and the film production team begin preproduction planning for the next installment in the Third Kingdom music video trilogy. Lots of adventure ahead!! Please check back on this site for some advance test-shots from the new production.

Rare Pete Incaviglia Rookie Card!

These are hilarious. By Pat Riot. (via Boing Boing) Pete Incaviglia here:

Minutes Before Six - A Death Row Blog

Thomas Bartlett Whitaker is currently on Death Row in Livingston, TX. In 2003, he orchestrated a plot in which his former roommate shot and killed Whitaker's mother and younger brother, while wounding both Whitaker's father and Whitaker himself. Intended to look like a botched burglary, the perpetrators were eventually caught, tried and convicted for their crimes. Whitaker's father, Kent, while lying in the hospital -- unaware of his own son's involvement in the crime -- trying to decide on what path was right for him- vengeance or forgiveness- vowed to forgive the killer, one of whom turned out to be his own son, and prayed that one day his family and the killer would sing praises together in heaven. The father is a rare human, indeed, able to see deep into himself and his son and find forgiveness for such a horrible crime. Whitaker has a blog that he writes in his cell, and which his father types up for him:

I think it is fair to say that a certain sizable portion of the people who come to this site start with the view that I am to be believed about as far as I can be thrown. I acknowledge this, and accept it. I recognize that the reasons for this are entirely my own fault. That said, just because someone was once dishonest doesn't mean that they will always be so; such a conclusion is neither logical nor healthy. I spoke a little about this subject in a past entry, and I called the process "uncrying wolf", an obvious reference to the story we tell our children about what happens to liars. I lamented that there was very little succor for the boy (or man) once he gets painted with the "liar's brush". Turns out, the best way for the boy to once again earn his way back into the realms of the believable is to have someone of irrefutable character standing with him in the fields, guarding the sheep. Call it "honesty by association", if you will. Most inmates never find individuals of such high moral quality, as they are pretty rare these days. I guess DNA is about the truest friend (or greatest enemy) an inmate can have. I am fortunate in that I have something even better: my father.

It is all chilling and sad and disturbing and I can't get this story out of my head. Its rare that you see such darkness and light intertwined in real life. Read the blog and see how it makes you feel.

Four weeks til pickled Green Almonds!

[Photo by Aglaia Kremezi]

A few days ago, I came across this recipe for Pickled Green Almonds as I was searching for a passover-cookie recipe (these were great and easy to make, too; plus, its fun for the whole family, since someone gets to put a single almond on top of each cookie. Though Miss Missy helped on this front, I was thinking that it would be fun for my nephew). I have always wanted to pickle something, because I love pickles and olives, and I'm always fascinated by the realm of non-cooking cooking (I know this is different, but its related, I think). Also, I am always interested in foods that exist in forms other than the ones we're accustomed to. So I read it over and was interested, but didn't really expect to come across any Green Almonds any time soon. However, when I went the next day to Sahadi's to pick up Almonds and Orange Blossom Water (another strange, fun, and amazing-smelling ingredient (and cheap, too!)) what did I find but Green Almonds, sitting in a basket with all of the other nuts and berries (strangely, they were self-serve, and everything else, the workers there will get for you (if you live in New York and haven't been to Sahadi's, its worth the trip- especially if you live six blocks away like I do; if you don't live in New York, I'm Sorry). A woman next to me asked what they were, and then said that where she is from (Greece) they are everywhere, but taste horrible. I wonder if this is one of those cases of someone not making the connection between foods in one form and another, like not realizing that prunes and plums are the same thing. Well, I wouldn't say they are disgusting necessarily, though I would not go out of my way to eat them raw (they taste like a raw green bean, but with a little bit of almost-lemony tanginess) and so therefore I pickled the whole lot. Or at least, I am in the process of pickling them. In four weeks, we'll see how they really taste.