musicians kicking the bucket

The media makes such a fuss speculating about the causes of death for musicians like Michael Jackson and now Mozart. You'd think specifying the precise way they went was more sensational than what they left to us.

Did someone seriously just go by shouting in a fake Irish accent, "I am the f*cking beer master!" to the hooting accompaniment of his friends?

hypochondriac society

These are the new values of our enlightened post-embodiment hypochondriac society as set by the dean of the Harvard School of Public Health:

Masks carry both physical and psychological benefits, said Dr. Julio Frenk, former health minister of Mexico and current dean of the Harvard School of Public Health.

Masks are a "reminder to people that they should avoid close contact with other persons," he said. "They also have this effect of isolating people and reminding them that they should not be kissing people, shaking hands, things like that."

Who wouldn't want this nuclear reactor lamp? I'd put it up over the photo of me devouring a sandwich in front of the Doel nuclear plant.

"Happiness is an organized closet." That's the headline of my receipt from the Container Store. I do like Santana Row in the end.

Rockabye Baby

Tinkly instrumental renditions of Radiohead songs meant to serve as lullabies for babies? It's a wonderful idea for adults but sure seems like a terrible thing to unleash on our young. I do suppose the removal of the lyrics makes the listening experience the ultimate double-entendre. Peter Szendy would be fascinated by these arrangements. We can listen to makers of children's music listening to Radiohead and then babies listening to the innocent instrumental versions while the adults fill in the ominous words as they listen.

Our media really reports significant news these days. The residents of Obama, Japan believe it, glasses and all.

There went 27,000 marijuana plants down the drain in Sonoma. Woops.

cake lyrics come true

Did someone take Cake's lyrics about fuzzy dice too far?

windoze

Internal IBM documents show that some Macs are now being used internally. "One advantage cited: less reliance on Windows."

MRE, one of the funniest Wikipedia articles I've ever read.

Living at home

Not just a Belgian phenomenon?

Anyone think of asking Twombly whether the lipstick on his painting in France is an improvement or really worth a 2 million euro lawsuit?

I guess the problem of "big babies" is widespread...

In other news, biofuel from cows. My favorite line is "To date no viable method has been devised to capture this gas as it erupts from either end of the cow."

So my issues with fashion-deprived men could have been solved if Ashton Kutcher had just appeared a bit earlier on the scene. Now I know to pick my date like my handbag. But what if I have incurably bad taste in handbags?

Think practicing is repetitive? Be glad you're not the woman in a Chinese toy inspection facility whose job is to stick a plastic spoon in a baby doll's mouth 10,000 times to test for unsafe wear and tear.

Anyone for wine tasting in Oklahoma or South Dakota? The number of wineries in the US has more than doubled since 2000.

Looks, I'm in the news!

Speaking of mics, here's one for the real creeps.

Germans Hack At Forest of Signs Distracting Drivers

Germany's vast excess of traffic signs: The funniest news I've read in ages.

Great stuff in the news today. Like a series of Ocean's Eleven-type burglaries of the wealthiest homes in LA and old Swedish ladies surfing the web at 40 gigabits per second.