Three in the afternoon is an unpredictable time in the New York City subway. Your train may come quickly, and it may be empty. Or you might wait forever and get caught in a maelstrom of high-spirited high-energy newly liberated school kids. (Subway crime spikes in the later afternoon, by the way.) Or you may ride […]
Continue reading... October 21, 2002
Kapor Rides Again
Techophiles of a certain age will well remember Mitch Kapor. Founder of Lotus Development Corporation, and chief visionary and/or author of such groundbreaking software as Lotus 1-2-3, Improv, Manuscript and Agenda. Mitch — an interesting guy beyond the software business — was out of Lotus well before IBM bought it. He spent some time on […]
Continue reading... October 17, 2002
The First Swallow of Fall
Mallomars are back. This may not be much of a deal to you. But Nabisco keeps Mallomars off the market during the summer because it’s impossible to keep the dark chocolate cladding from melting. Rather than changing the formulation to the detrement of the cookie’s perfectly balanced taste and texture, Nabisco just takes the summer […]
Continue reading... October 8, 2002
The Switch is On
Bought a Mac. Dual G4 1.25GHz tower. First Mac in the house in more than 10 years. Hideously expensive, but a gorgeous piece of engineering. If I have an efficient day, I’ll put power to it today to make sure it’s not DOA. Then I’ve got a bunch of stuff to throw into it — memory, […]
Continue reading... October 6, 2002
Irrational Exuberance
New York is one of two finalists for the US bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics. (San Francisco is the other. As if…) The city fathers are apparently spending the weekend filming a video to send to the Proper Authorities to show how wonderful a host Fun City can be. To make the point, […]
Continue reading... October 6, 2002
I’m Back
Yes, I’ve missed you, too. (Where has the time gone?) Stuff’s been a tad hectic hereabouts with the onset of Fall. Anyway, more to come.
Continue reading... September 25, 2002
The Price of Silence
Back in 1952, composer John Cage wrote a piece of music called 4’33”, which consisted of 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence. Infrequently performed, it is nonetheless famous. Far more recently, British songwriter (notice the semantic difference between “composer” and “songwriter”) Simon Batt recorded an original song entitled A One Minute Silence on an […]
Continue reading... September 24, 2002
This Makes Pauly Shore Movies A Bigger Mystery Than Ever
From the AP, via CNN: WASHINGTON (AP) — There are more differences between a chimpanzee and a human being than once believed, according to a new genetic study.
Continue reading... September 18, 2002
Sex Museum Coming Soon
The Museum of Sex opens next week at Fifth Avenue and 27th Street. The Catholic League is already upset.
Continue reading... September 18, 2002
Bass Headed Back to Space
Ad Age magazine is reporting that pop singer Lance Bass, booted from the Russian crew of an upcoming space station mission when his sponsors didn’t come up with the cash in time, is going after all. Corporate sponsors Radio Shack and, possibly, Pepsi have come into the deal. I don’t know about you, but I think […]
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