Month: April 2021

  • The week that was

    The week that was

    Dozens of people in Cuba have complained that croquetas made by a state company are exploding when cooked and causing burns. The company, Prodal, admitted its croquetas are prone to “violence” and warned customers to prepare them more carefully.

    A couple in South Korea mistook cans of paint and brushes strewn about in front of an untitled painting on display at a mall as an invitation to participate and ended up defacing a $500,000 work.

    Hyundai announced the arrival of their Genesis brand in China by breaking the world record using 3,281 drones to display its logo over the nighttime skies of Shanghai.

    The United States Postal Service, tired of getting its copyright ripped off without compensation, put its foot down and threw serious shade towards Nike.

    “We can’t see you” said the control tower to Ethiopian Airlines flight ET3891 that was scheduled to land at Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe Airport. The pilot landed at the Copperbelt International Airport, still under construction, 15 miles away.

    A South London man was stabbed to death at a vigil for a man who was stabbed to death.

    100 tourists were kicked out of their Florida hotel rooms when they got a call in their rooms saying that the hotel had been sold and they had to get out of their rooms by 4 p.m.

    About the photo: taken at the 2013 Outside Lands festival, Land’s End stage in San Francisco during the Young the Giant set

  • Vaccine side effects

    Business Insider pulled together data from the FDA and put together a visualization that’s the answer to the question on everyone’s mind. I’ve been forwarding the article to everyone and then telling them to scroll down to the graphic but it’s easier to just highlight it here.

    https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/83FZO/9/

  • Fairness

    NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt gave a talk upon accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication. In his televised speech, he spoke not only of his career in broadcast journalism but also gave his perspective on recent events and the importance of distinguishing between balanced and truthful coverage.

    The idea that we should always give two sides equal weight and merit does not reflect the world we find ourselves in. That the sun sets in the west is a fact. Any contrary view does not deserve our time or attention. I know recent events assure that you won’t have to look far to find more current and relevant examples, I think you get my point.

    Decisions to not give unsupported arguments equal time are not a dereliction of journalistic responsibility or some kind of an agenda. In fact, it’s just the opposite. Providing an open platform for misinformation, for anyone to come say whatever they want, especially when issues of public health and safety are at stake, can be quite dangerous.

    Lester Holt, March 30, 2021
  • Manhattan Life

    We are loving our city life. Izumi went off to meet with some friends at a beer garden (it’s nice out today, not too hot, not too cold) so Julia and I popped into the Guggenheim where a young man played cello in the enormous belly of the building.

    The lonely cello

    We wanted to make pizza at home but didn’t trust ourselves to make the dough so I googled “pizza dough” and was directed to an old Italian grocer on the lower east side that’s been there since 1905. On their recommendation I also picked up some of their fresh mozzarella.

    Russo’s Mozzarella & Pasta – 344 E 11th St

    Living here affords you the flexibility to be spontaneous. That is the true wealth of living in a great city.

  • The week that was

    The week that was

    The FBI is still hauling in those that were part of the January 6th invasion of the capitol. Suspects identified from social media posts are brought in for questioning to dispel any doubt. That was not necessary for the guy who answered the door wearing his, “I Was There, Washington D.C., January 6, 2021” t-shirt.

    Leave your computer open while you go off to do something and sometimes your kid gets in there and fiddles with things. All fun and games and a teachable moment, unless you’re working for U.S. Strategic Command.

    A 53-year old fugitive ex-mafioso, who has been on the run from the Italian police for 7 years, was finally tracked down to his home in the Dominican Republic because of his YouTube cooking videos.

    The Nerf company will pay someone $10,000 a month to be their Chief TikTok Officer.

    In a brilliant, jiu jitsu move, Zoe Scaman has created a service that turns unsolicited dick pics into one of a kind NFTs available for sale on the blockchain where they need to be purchased to be taken down.

    Someone hooked up an old Game Boy and hacked it so it can mine Bitcoin. He figures it would take “several quadrillion years to mine one bitcoin (worth $52k in USD).

    An unopened copy of Super Mario Brothers for the original Nintendo sold for $660,000.

    An April Fool’s joke went horribly wrong when mayhem ensued after thousands showed up for a fake Daft Punk concert.

    A family of Scottish rabbits unwittingly made an important archeological discovery when they uncovered relics from the Bronze age while burrowing a hole for their new shelter.