News
07.27.2003/11:06
Big bucks
"You could buy a house with a $100 bill. With a $5 bill, you could buy a truckload of tomatoes."

News
07.27.2003/11:01
Shrimp fraud
Shrimp skimming. And not as part of a recipe.

Sites
07.26.2003/13:43
Staten Island Rapid Transit
Nicely detailed and well-illustrated story of rapid transit trains on Staten Island. Like so much in Staten Island, it is of New York City but not quite connected to New York City.

Sites
07.26.2003/10:15
Bad art
MOBA: Museum of Bad Art.

News
07.26.2003/10:05
More bars to choose from
"Five new bars could be added to the downtown landscape, despite a ban on bars and lounges adopted by the Consolidated Council a month ago."

Sites
07.26.2003/09:59
Now syndicating
Poor clio is now syndicating with an RSS feed. Within upcoming days, I'll be working on gettting the feed listed in various directories and aggregators. Look for us in an aggregator near you!

News
07.25.2003/11:49
Slow down
Louisiana's Gov. Foster calls for stepped-up traffic enforcement after fiery crash last week.

News
07.24.2003/08:18
Maze
A maize maze.

Sites
07.24.2003/07:58
Mosh pit here
Sneak preview for those of you who didn't, like I so slavishly did, run out and buy a copy of the new Eleventh Edition of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary almost the minute it came out: a sampler of new words and senses from the new dictionary. The package, by the way, includes not only the book but a CD-ROM version that has all sorts of cool options, reverse look-ups, jumbles, etc., and even finds rhymes.

News
07.24.2003/07:30
Operatic drama
The estate of a major donor of the New York Metropolitan opera is suing to recover cash it says was meant to produce core works by main-rank composers "with each such new production to be staged and performed in a traditional manner that is generally faithful to the intentions of the composer and the librettist," but went to support non-traditional works instead. At particular issue: $5 million spent on a fresh new Tristan und Isolde which was televised in 2001. (I saw the production at the opera house and it was one of the best things I have ever heard or seen there.)

Drivel
07.23.2003/23:08
Weather and Baseball
The Astros having won in extra innings, the television is now off and I have completed my week of being a Nielsen television diarist; tomorrow I will mail the two booklets, one for the television in the den and one for the television in the bedroom, off to the tabulators who will calculate ratings for the week.

As it turns out, they won't have gotten much from us. The hour I got to watch of the Astros tonight is the longest stretch of television watching we have been able to proffer. There are some whole days where a given set was never turned on, and the little we watched was usually a quarter-hour stretch of a baseball game or waiting a cycle or two to see the local forecast on the Weather Channel.

The temptation, of course, is to use this brief moment of power for some mischievous manipulation that will skew the production of future television. But, as is so often the case, the truth is the most powerful tale I have to tell.

News
07.23.2003/23:08
Grisly pix
"The United States will release photographs of the dead sons of Saddam Hussein, to prove they were killed by American troops, says US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld."

Sites
07.23.2003/09:51
Hurricanes
Big gallery of hurricane sattelite pix.

Sites
07.23.2003/09:49
Mars site
Fantastic Flash site with the lowdown on Mars mission: Destination: Mars.

Sites
07.23.2003/09:47
Pigs and such
Swine.

Sites
07.22.2003/19:24
Earth facts
101 Amazing Earth Facts.

News
07.22.2003/08:39
Beached whale
Dead whale in the news.

Sites
07.21.2003/22:38
Insider music buzz
Songfacts is a wonderful site for getting the skinny on that song you'd love to more about, often with lyrics included.

Sites
07.21.2003/21:19
Chainsaw Chick
A quite lengthy but actually rather illuminating interview with Marylin Burns, The Lady of the Chainsaw.

News
07.21.2003/14:47
Birth Announcement!
Welcome to the world Tobias Trillin Ruttenberg, born July 21, 2003 to Sarah Trillin and Alex Ruttenberg. Seven pounds, nine ounces; all are doing well.

News
07.21.2003/13:21
Keep your health in hand
One possible interpretation of this data: telling the truth might help prevent prostate cancer.

News
07.21.2003/07:28
Movie updated
29 Days Later.

News
07.20.2003/22:09
Glorious goats
"Goat aficionados say eating weeds is just one of many benefits the animals offer."

News
07.20.2003/15:42
Ce n'est pas email
Bienvenu! Vous avez courriel!

News
07.20.2003/15:39
Body paintings
Really beautiful body paintings in traditional Chinese style.

Photos
07.20.2003/10:20
Click here for photo
Flowers for the Dead
Flowers have been placed on the barricade and remaining railing where a couple crashed through the fencing and drove into the Bayou Teche and drowned last week.

Sites
07.19.2003/15:21
Sites That Are What Their URLs Say They Are Dept.:
ufoartwork.com
(Be sure to look at the slide shows.)

News
07.19.2003/12:42
New Iberia as Hades
"New Iberia, La., wouldn't qualify as Hades. But on really bad days in the mid to late 1990s, Ratliff's portion of New Iberia -- the St. Edward's Projects -- could be nearly as bad."

Sites
07.19.2003/00:27
Google this!
One more bit of Poor Clio tinkering: some entries now have just below the body of the item the single word "Google." This feeds something related to the post into a Google link, for further exploration... or even a little fun. Try a couple and see how you like them.

Sites
07.18.2003/22:20
Go postal
Postal Experiments.

Sites
07.18.2003/18:27
Comments, anyone?
I have added a comments feature to Poor Clio and its allied pages. Like everything here, it doesn't use MT, blogger, etc., but is hand-coded by me from scratch in ColdFusion, so that perhaps I might learn something in the process (or at least get a good turn of programming exercise). On the other hand, maybe I didn't learn it well enough, so I would appreciate the kindness of your letting me know if anything untoward happens. One of the things I was interested in having happen, especially since I am sort of experimentally self-syndicating, was to share the comments from various presentations of the Poor Clio material, and show the source of the comments on the comments page. How boring all this is, you might be thinking. Sad to say, you may be right; but as Susan says, I ain't hurting anybody...

Sites
07.18.2003/08:40
It's not pornography; it's prawnography.

News
07.18.2003/08:21
Save the feral Chihuahuas.

News
07.17.2003/16:41
"It's really exciting news that the stag beetles are making a comeback after all these years."

News
07.17.2003/16:20
"The Lord vomited people like Ben out of his mouth to hell."

Sites
07.17.2003/16:20
A message from space. I love all the details and folksy explanations. There are more.

News
07.16.2003/21:00
Celia Cruz, R.I.P.

Sites
07.16.2003/19:31
Other Poor Clios
I'm still fooling around with this but it's at a point where you can take a look: Poor Clio Photo, which outputs the database of photos stored for Poor Clio into a photoblog. I think I might make some other Poor Clios, too, some time.

Drivel
07.16.2003/10:24
Designated hurter
The argument for the designated hitter rule is that it puts more offense into the game, which should please the fans. Folks who favor the other side, like me, prefer the added complexity of strategy that comes with how a manager pinch hits into the pitcher's slot, particularly, of course, in the late innings of a ball game. I have often wondered if, in fact, since the home team bats last each inning, there shouldn't be some additional home field advantage in the National League because the home manager can, in essence, opt for one more inning out of a well-performing pitcher than the visitor can.

At the convenient pause of the All-Star break, I decided to check the theory. American League teams so far in 2003 have a combined home-field record of 339-311, or 52.2%. In the National League, the combine home-field record is 405-345, or 54.0%. So, dh fans, for this season at least, what you are geting is the chance to cheer some post-agile non-fielding bat-wielder as he smacks a few late career liners. But in the course of it, your team has surrendered some of its hometown edge. You might be getting to see more hitting at the local ballpark, but not as much winning.

News
07.16.2003/09:49
"There was no food in the tents. The bear was going for the campers."

News
07.16.2003/09:42
Anyone who has spent much time in Phoenix would understand how you could name your twin girls Tatum & Shea.

Sites
07.15.2003/22:51
Autopsy Report is the weblog of a medical examiner intern. Do not take with meals. (via Zannah)

Sites
07.15.2003/08:53
Sea anemones.

Sites
07.15.2003/08:36
You can bid on the domain name FreeEdwinEdwards.com.

News
07.15.2003/08:19
Tragedy on the Teche
Two people drowned when their car was driven into the Bayou Teche, about half a mile from my house, in downtown New Iberia. The bayou is a prominent aspect of life in New Iberia, and this event is being much talked about in our town; most people I've talked to here have visited the scene of the tragedy, many of them in the course of their regular movements about town.

Sites
07.14.2003/22:55
Degrees of separation aren't just for Kevin Bacon any more. Go from one book, CD, etc. to another in as few hops possible using "customers who bought X also bought Y" Amazon.com info, at The Amazing Baconizer. (via the unfailingly rewarding Backup Brain) And, similarly, the connection between Dennis Menke and Jim Palmer.

News
07.14.2003/21:50
One of favorite little corners of New York, Father Demo Square, is slated for an overhaul. "Improvements the block association has considered include decorative tile, flower beds, possibly a fountain and a bust of Father Demo, the beloved former pastor of Our Lady of Pompeii Church at the corner of Bleecker and Carmine St."

Sites
07.14.2003/21:31
Google images: edmunds.jpg; and, also, porkpie.jpg.

Drivel
07.14.2003/13:09
During dark
When we say "after dark," I suppose it must be an understood shorthand for "after darkness falls." Otherwise, it would mean ... morning, after it has been dark, and is no longer dark, and it is After Dark. The hours between sunset and sunrise are not After Dark. They are During Dark. I like the idea, actually, of a rendez-vous being set with the husky whisper of, "after dark," and taking place in the streaming sunbeams of the earliest morning light.

News
07.13.2003/21:44
Otter numbers on the rise in U.K.'s Devon and Cornwall.

Photos
07.13.2003/15:19
Click here for photo
Sidewalk Clown
I added this sidewalk art photo today to the Sidewalks page of my New Iberia site.

Sites
07.13.2003/13:31
Simon Song's weblog, which was written about in The New Yorker.

Drivel
07.13.2003/13:21
Click here for photo
Vane Discovery
Look what I found! It was in the trash down the street. I am gripped by its charm.

Drivel
07.13.2003/12:48
Windows down
Our friend Jackie and her daughter Caroline are driving from Louisiana to Colorado this weekend for a family vacation, and their air-conditioner went on the fritz within the first couple of hours from home. She writes:

"About traveling 50s style....No air conditioning means that we travelled for the next nine hours with the windows rolled down. First stop was at a service station to change from blue jeans into light weight clothing and to purchase sun screen.

"Things were fine for a while, until we hit a major traffic snag in Dallas (what a surprise) and felt the full impact of 99 degrees and no clouds in the sky.

"Just as we were wishing for clouds, we realized clouds meant rain. Autos today no longer have those little vents built into the windows, so our choice would be to get wet or suffocate.

"We also experienced something I do not remember: getting gritty riding with the windows down. That shower in Amarillo--the one in the hotel, not the one from the clouds--was welcomed!"

News
07.13.2003/11:00
Save the Great Wall of China.

News
07.11.2003/18:04
The Blob in Chile turns out to have been the carcass of a sperm whale. I'm fairly disappointed, are you?

Drivel
07.11.2003/09:15
Active sleepwear
A new product category: Active sleepwear, for insomniacs, somnambulists and for just plain folks who spend a lot of nights on the road. Pajama shirt with a tiny flashlight in the collar piping. Soft slippers but water impervious and with gripping soles. Fleece shorts with a cell phone pocket. I'll be looking for a seamstress partner...

News
07.11.2003/09:13
"It's appalling in this day and age, a successful person like him and his staff not knowing how to search for e-mails."

Sites
07.11.2003/09:03
Sites That Are What Their URLs Say They Are Dept.:
helicoptergolfireland.com

News
07.11.2003/08:55
Art imitates life.

Sites
07.10.2003/09:10
McD Wireless.

News
07.10.2003/09:02
There was a woman who swallowed a fly. She didn't die.

News
07.9.2003/21:25
A historic and spectacularly scenic railway line re-opens in war-torn Eritrea.

News
07.9.2003/21:25
Laurie Anderson as NASA artist in residence. (via the similarly eclectic Sheila's web site)

Drivel
07.9.2003/21:25
Back to work, for how long?
After having stretched July 4th into what was essentially a four-day holiday, the first three days of this week have been hectically busy, and it has felt satisfying to be productive after that idle time. It was good to be off, but I get antsy if I go too long without doing something constructive (or something that I at least delude myself into thinking is constructive). And tonight, I ate the last of the leftovers from the Independence Day barbecue.

There has been an abundance of stories lately about people postponing retirement or otherwise rethinking their financial futures with the idea that however rich we thought we were getting over the last decade or two, we weren't and aren't. One problem often discussed is that retirement funds will now have to stretch over a longer time because we're healthier and live longer. But if we're living longer and healthier lives, the question does arise as to whether we ought to be expected to work longer, too.

Perhaps the Boomers will wind up not retiring early, staying in the workforce longer because they'll need more cash to finance their longer lives. And there's another, similar self-indulgence at play: we don't want to be bored or feel useless any more than we want to be cut out of our spending money.

Sites
07.9.2003/10:22
"The fast, easy and inexpensive way to protect you and your fellow officers from possible illnesses and the uncomfortable feeling of being spit on!"

News
07.9.2003/09:48
Absorbing look at the state of classical music today: Why Classical Music Has Fallen Off The Cultural Literacy Menu.

Sites
07.8.2003/23:12
At bluishorange, a look at Jack Nicholson's About Schmidt scene that echoes a very famous painting...

News
07.8.2003/22:25
Save the tide pools.

News
07.8.2003/21:30
You want Wi-Fi with that? Wireless Internet coming to more McDonald's restaurants in Bay Area, Singapore, then NY, Chicago, etc. How about Wi-Fries?

Sites
07.8.2003/08:03
Octodog's Frankfurter Converter takes an ordinary dull weenie and converts it into an octupus shape that adds fun and excitement to any meal!

News
07.8.2003/07:56
"It looks like he came from Ville Platte."

Sites
07.7.2003/20:04
Some very engaging photos of the mid-renovation old Brooklyn Tabernacle at the always-rewarding lightningfield.com.

News
07.7.2003/19:51
Twenty-years dead corpse found in English woods. How many British mystery novels have I read that began just this way?

News
07.7.2003/07:49
The Kream 'N Kone controversy in coastal Massachussetts.

Sites
07.7.2003/07:40
Sites That Are What Their URLs Say They Are Dept.:
upcomingdiscs.com

Sites
07.5.2003/23:56
The 3rd Annual Nigerian EMail Conference. (via RandomWalks)

News
07.5.2003/23:25
"What do pool cues and flagpoles passing through the Port of Seattle have to do with the survival of critically endangered orangutans on the other side of the planet?"

Sites
07.5.2003/22:10
When Bobby Darin was on What's My Line? Read about it. Listen to it.

News
07.5.2003/18:12
A new Thomas Hardy relic in Cornwall.

Drivel
07.5.2003/17:53
Viral dystopia
We went into the theater to see 28 Days Later, and about 28 minutes later, Susan walked out and went cosmetics shopping, whispering as she nervously left her seat that she would pick me up when it was over. This was not her condemnation of the movie, but her acknowledgment that it was effective. While this virus-epidemic thriller is inevitably compared to On the Beach and other end-of-world dystopiflicks, it does have a fresh quality to it. And although the "infecteds" are scary enough, it's interesting there is no need for Jason or Freddy (or even T-X), or anything very high-budget or high-tech or high-concept, to send those braces-wearing blondes scuttling away to the safety of the mall.

Maybe refreshing is not the right word, but there was something oddly, say, reassuring, about the fact that the threat was in the form of a people virus, not a computer virus. And, of course, the underlying conceit of the movie is the rage that lies within us and which reduces us to violent zombies if not held in check.

Ah, yes, nothing like a good old-fashioned- man- vs.- man- zombie- state- inducing- windswept- streets- with-overturned- vehicles- and- blowing- newspapers- empty- plazas- and- untended- stores- down- to- the- gut- instincts- of- the- seeming- few- last- survivors movie to put a fine cap on the holiday weekend!

Drivel
07.5.2003/11:37
Youthful smile
Susan has gotten braces on her teeth. You will note that this is not an illustrated entry, in deference to the wishes of its subject.

Susan has for decades looked less than her age; people around New Iberia refer to us as "that Dorian Gray couple." But the addition of braces has really made me feel like a cradle-robber, or even a doting dad. And I think all that mouth metal is affecting her, too; she has started looking for a prom dress, and I think she is planning to take the SAT.

The bonus in my life out of all this is that I have had the opportunity to focus on learning how to cook a wide array of soft foods and soups. Mashed potatoes are in, rice is out. Soup is in, steak is out. Beans are in, popcorn is out. Grits are in. Grits.

There is one thing I can say that I hope allays the concerns of braces-wearers everywhere. You shouldn't continually apologize for how gross this or that food must look caught in your braces. Worry not, for we are not looking. We are averting our eyes. We don't want to look. So relax! Smile!

Drivel
07.5.2003/10:52
Entertainment missiles
I can't remember precisely where it was that I read that July 4th is a great holiday because there are no gifts to buy and no religious overtones, and fireworks are getting better every year. The movies are not necessarily getting better every year, however, although we did have low enough expectations to enjoy T3. (By virtue of being able to, whatever other Thespian talents she possesses, look attractive while being stern and determined, robot-assassin portrayer Kristanna Loken joins Arnold in having a great summer run with a purposely emotionless portrayal; what I wonder is if it will do as much for her career as such roles have done for Arnold's. There are continual opportunities for grunting macho male heroes; but where will Loken find future work? Is there anything about what she did in T3 that will lead to her being cast in, say, a remake of Tess or Pride and Prejudice?)

On the fireworks front, we elected to stay home and didn't go downtown to see the fireworks or even any of the neighborhood skyrockets (or, as we like to call them, entertainment missiles). We heard them, though, the neighborhood ones, that is; heard them well enough to feel at least remotely involved in patriotic observation.

What we mostly did was cook, traditional barbecue, potato salad, etc. There were nice fresh cherries in the supermarket when we were shopping for the cookout, and I made a tart, using the excellent recipe in Carol Field's always dependable The Italian Baker. I made cookies, too, with the leftover pastry dough. But now I have to go clean the grill.

News
07.4.2003/21:48
Ocean-crossing caterpillar in the news.

Sites
07.4.2003/17:17
Play Ping-Pong here or here.

News
07.3.2003/23:17
The Blob?

News
07.3.2003/08:48
Barnes and Noble store manager canned for opening Harry Potter box early.

News
07.2.2003/21:21
Ocean-crossing pigeon in the news.

Sites
07.2.2003/21:13
Ties you can buy, depicting The Three Stooges.

News
07.2.2003/21:10
"Teenagers with paintball guns who allegedly used the Des Moines Rowing Club for target practice were trumped by Des Moines police officers, who pulled real ones."

Sites
07.1.2003/21:14
Sites That Are What Their URLs Say They Are Dept.:
shrimpanywhere.com

News
07.1.2003/12:55
Flying into San Francisco just got easier, because now BART trains go to the airport. (via evhead)

News
07.1.2003/12:29
Protecting nesting terns from July 4th visitors to Mississippi beaches.

News
07.1.2003/00:26
Serial cat killer.

News
06.30.2003/23:26
Gypsy funeral.

News
06.30.2003/23:15
It's here!

News
06.30.2003/22:59
Fox Nix Chan Pix.

News
06.30.2003/21:02
Well, Tropical Storm Bill side-stepped New Iberia and is giving its rain to New Orleans and Mississippi. Today it was sprinkly on occasion in New Iberia and it was nice and cool when I went jogging. Good wishes to those to the east of me who are getting a bit waterlogged just now, but the hope is that they will be wet but not noo much worse for the wear.

Sites
06.30.2003/09:56
A place to catch up on the latest news regarding the Oxford English Dictionary.

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