randomwalks/dj

fig. a: corn

Good God, it has been a while, hasn't it?

I'd give you the full story, but there isn't much time. If you're going to make this chowder before Quebec's corn season comes to an end, you're gonna have to hop to it.

fig. b: corn chowder

AEB Corn Chowder

4 ears fresh corn, shucked
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1/4 cup salt pork, diced
1 red onion, peeled and diced
1/2 red bell pepper (or some other mild to medium-hot capsicum), diced
1 stalk celery, diced
4 red potatoes, scrubbed and chopped into 1/2" cubes
2 cups whole milk
ground hot red pepper
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Using a sharp knife, cut the kernels from the cobs of corn, then use the back of the knife to scrape down the sides of the cobs to remove as much pulp and juice as possible. Break the scraped cobs in two and simmer the halves in a pot with three cups of water and the teaspoon of salt for twenty minutes.

Melt the tablespoon of butter in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the salt pork and sauté until the pieces begin to turn crisp at the edges. Add the onion and sauté until it begins to turn translucent. Add the bell pepper and the celery and sauté until the onions are fully translucent and the bell pepper and celery have softened slightly.

Remove the cobs of corn from the water and discard. Replace them with the potatoes and simmer them for 15 minutes, or until they are just tender. Add the contents of the skillet, the corn kernels and any reserved pulp and/or juice, and the milk. Taste for seasoning, adding salt as needed, and grind in plenty of black pepper. Add a little hot red pepper (we used a combination of smoked hot paprika and our own blend of chili powder) and heat the chowder through, just long enough for the corn to cook, about 5-10 minutes. Serve immediately.

Serves 4-6.

The broth is sweet and delicate, the mingling of flavors sublime.

aj

Originally posted by aj kinik from ...an endless banquet, on September 13, 2008 7:50 PM

From TPM Reader BK ...

It seems to me that the lying and exaggerating that has been done by the mccain campaign either from his lips or with his approval has a moral dimension that is not being discussed. No one is questioning McCains physical courage. But lying is an immoral act, one that you cannot get "forced into" by acts of others.

If there is a sustainable link between McCain, Palin, Bush and Cheney, it is their willingness to lie to get what they want. Bush and Cheney lied us into a war they wished to wage and they have been deceptive about many of their other policies. And the way an Administration runs takes its direction from the top. Is there really any doubt that if McCain and Palin are willing to lie about themselves and their opponents in an effort to get elected that they will continue to lie to the American public about there plans and policies.

Campaigns offer a direct view into how a candidate will run a large complex organization. McCains true colors,,,,,his true moral convictions....are being demonstrated for all of us to see. We have seen this ends based strategy before and we know it never turns out well for us.

I quite agree. This campaign has shown that while we know McCain has physical courage, he has bad moral character. And in this respect he's found a true partner in Sarah Palin.

Originally posted by Josh Marshall from Talking Points Memo, on September 13, 2008 10:03 AM

In Photoshop, the "Multiply" blending option is very handy. I use it to color line art without painting over the lines, and to try out colors for stuff in my home.

Setting "Blend mode: Multiply"

To use it, right-click on a layer, select "Blending Options…" and then set "Blend Mode: Multiply". Or use the Layer > Layer Style > Blending Options… regular menu item.

You will also want a layer below that one. You may need to right-click the first layer and click "Layer From Background…" if it is a background – you won't be able to put layers below it otherwise.

Multiplying two layers basically means, to my understanding, that the top layer will darken the bottom layer. Black in the top layer is opaque. Pure white is completely transparent, showing the background layer as-is. Near-whites are near-transparent.

So I use it for two things:

Coloring line art

Actually it's my girlfriend (an artist) that uses it, but I usually set it up for her.

Put some scanned or drawn-digital line art in the top layer and set blend mode multiply.

Then paint on a layer under it. The colors will show right through the white parts of the drawing, but the lines will never be painted over.

Note that this only prevents you from painting on top of the lines; nothing prevents you from painting outside them. In the example image above, I used the "Quick Selection" tool (with the "Contiguous" option checked) on the "Pug" layer to select everything outside the lines. I can then change to the "Color" layer and press "Delete" to remove the excess color.

Colors in the home

If my girlfriend and I are not sure what color we want for e.g. a rug or our kitchen cabinets or walls, multiply is also useful.

You should first make sure that the thing you're coloring is white. Our kitchen walls and cabinets are. When trying rug colors, we just used a white sheet as a dummy.

If you have another color, this might not be the method for you.

So I put a photo of e.g. my kitchen cabinets in the top layer and set blend mode multiply. I create a lower layer to paint on.

I used the polygonal lasso tool to outline (select) the areas to color, then I just painted them in, in the lower layer, with the paint bucket tool. If you just want a rough idea of how the colors will look, you can make a pretty rough outline. Whether or not the surrounding areas are light or dark will also affect how sloppy you can be.

Once you have colors in your lower layer, you can use Image > Adjustments > Hue/Saturation… to change the color around.

What's nice about this, as opposed to just painting on top of the photo, is that the colors aren't flat. It will show through lighter in lighter areas of the image, and darker in shaded areas.

In general, Photoshop is really useful for home decoration. Other than try colors, we've also used it to figure out things like where to put shelves and art, what art to get, and whether to paint the pineapples on our bed frame (we did).

Originally posted by Henrik from The Pug Automatic, on September 13, 2008 6:43 AM

Sarah Palin struggles to explain why she's been saying she said "Thanks. But No Thanks" even though she didn't ...

Note particularly how she explains where this "Nowhere, Alaska" t-shirt when running in support of the Bridge in 2006 ...

Originally posted by Josh Marshall from Talking Points Memo, on September 12, 2008 9:12 PM

App Store: I'm out.:

By Fraser Speirs, developer of Exposure:

I will never write another iPhone application for the App Store as currently constituted.

He cites the recent rejection of two fart-sound-effect apps and the more serious rejection today of Podcaster, simply because it competes with iTunes’ built-in podcast functionality (despite Podcaster providing features that iTunes doesn’t have).

The biggest problem is that developers have absolutely no guarantee that their apps will be approved until after they’ve spent months making them. It’s hard to justify pouring tons of time and money into something that Apple can subsequently reject for any reason whatsoever with no possible recourse.

What would make me change my mind? Here are a few ideas:

His ideas are excellent, and I hope Apple implements at least some of them.

The most effective and realistic idea would be official app-idea preapproval. If you give Apple some prototype screenshots and an idea of what the app does, they should be able to tell you whether it’s likely to be approved (and what aspects might cause it to be rejected) before you’ve sunk a ton of time and money into developing it.

Originally posted by (author unknown) from Marco.org, on September 12, 2008 5:19 PM

Tonight’s game against the Braves has been postponed due to rain and has been rescheduled as the second game of a single-admission doubleheader tomorrow afternoon starting at 3:55 p.m. 

According to a team press release…

Only tickets marked Game 73 for tomorrow’s game will be honored for the regularly scheduled 3:55 p.m. game and the second game to follow.

Upon the conclusion of the regularly scheduled 3:55 p.m. game, all fans at Shea are welcome to stay for the second game to follow.  Tickets from tonight’s rainout will NOT be valid for admission tomorrow.  Tickets from tonight’s game may be exchanged for a future Mets 2008 regular season home game, subject to availability.

ShareThis

Originally posted by Matthew Cerrone from MetsBlog.com, on September 12, 2008 4:19 PM

I haven't yet seen the entire interview or interviews. So I'll reserve final judgment. But as you know I was very skeptical and fairly hard on Charlie Gibson in advance of his interview with Sarah Palin. I still think this was a terrible way to interview a person trying to be one heart beat away from the presidency (more like a celebrity interview than a live-to-tape interview on a Sunday morning show). But Gibson was more probing and his questions more substantive than I expected.

Originally posted by Josh Marshall from Talking Points Memo, on September 12, 2008 4:01 PM

From Serious Eats

Photograph taken by Stephanie Shapiro

The 200-year celebration for Enoch Pratt at Baltimore's Enoch Pratt Free Library featured a special cake by star cake designer Duff Goldman of Charm City Cakes. This edible stack of books included H.L. Mencken's The American Language, Edgar Allan Poe's The Black Cat, Anne Tyler's Breathing Lessons, and Laura Lippman's Every Secret Thing, and was topped with a small figurine of Pratt wearing a suit and a birthday hat.

Related
Coming Soon to Charm City Cakes: Duff Goldman Action Figure
Photo of the Day: Super Mario Kart Wedding Cake
Photo of the Day: Homer Cake #2

Originally posted by Robyn Lee from Serious Eats, on September 12, 2008 4:00 PM

A couple of weeks ago Matt gave an Ignite talk at Gnomedex about his experiences dancing around the world. If you've seen the video you'll enjoy his talk - plus it ends with bonus footage of 100 of us dancing with him.

Originally posted by Brady Forrest from O'Reilly Radar - Insight, analysis, and research about emerging technologies, on September 12, 2008 11:11 AM

Thanks to David for the link, who got it from here.

Originally posted by Valarie Smith from Crazed Teacups, on September 12, 2008 10:59 AM

“L-A-R-R-Y … L-A-R-R-Y”

Ahh, the sweet sound of serenading Chipper Jones at Shea Stadium.

For all of its lack of charm, there is something to be said of how that chant, along with the “Tomahawk Chop,” sound in Shea.

This weekend will be last time the Braves play at Shea. So, it’s worth noting that I have more great memories of them at Shea, as compared to other teams.

From Andruw Jones to John Rocker, this series has never been short of despised personalities in the last decade or so, especially the aforementioned Chipper.

In fact, there are too many to choose from.

My two favorite moments against the Braves at Shea involve my favorite Mets player of all-time, Mike Piazza.  I will never forget September 21, 2001, when Piazza put New York City on his shoulders and lifted its spirits with a massive home run off of Steve Karsay.  Forget about Bobby Thompson, for me, that was “The Shot Heard Around the World,’ the sound of which hit still sends chills down my spine.

My second favorite memory is June 30, 2000, when Piazza capped a 10-run inning with a laser of a three-run home run to left field to beat the Braves.

Todd Zelie’s quote about that game described it the best:

“There was no doubt it was going to stay fair.  It was just whether it was going to hit the wall or go through the wall.”

The resiliency of the 2000 N.L. Champs resemble the same “never-say-die” attitude that the 2008 edition showcases each night.

So, for all of you who are going to the games this weekend, make sure you, the Shea faithful, let Larry hear it one last time and send him home with a sweep!

ShareThis

Originally posted by Brandon Eddy from MetsBlog.com, on September 12, 2008 10:32 AM

A week ago I closed ORblogs—a project I started in March 2003 and worked on in some way or another every day until last Thursday. The site was a directory of weblogs based in Oregon and a post aggregator that gathered together posts from those blogs. The site sliced and diced posts by topic and city, and gave readers a way to quickly scan who was saying what, where in our state. At various points it was also a photo-sharing site and general virtual gathering place for Oregonians. I closed the ORblogs discussion forum sometime in 2007, and closed the photo-sharing portion of the site in January of this year. Even with the leaner, meaner ORblogs I found that I simply didn't have enough time to devote to the site that it needed. Traffic to the site had been trending down over this year while blog submissions were growing exponentially. I knew that as the number of blogs in the directory grew, there needed to be new ways to organize posts so readers could find what they're after, but I didn't have time to code it.

In the wake of the closing I've received many emails of thanks and support. I appreciate it, especially knowing that many are losing a daily web destination and source of readers for their blogs. I also received many offers to take over maintenance, but because the code wasn't written for public consumption in mind, it's a Rube Goldberg-esque series of pulleys and levers that would drive someone who isn't me insane. And to be honest, I wasn't sure there was enough interest in a general-topic, local aggregator to make it worth someone's effort.

But I found there was quite a bit of interest after Portland tech community maven Rick Turoczy posted about the closure on Silicon Florist: Can ORBlogs be saved? And John Metta in Hood River began organizing an effort to build something new: Roll your sleeves up.... That was followed quickly by Lewis & Clark College in Portland offering to host a new Oregon weblogs directory. I talked with John on the phone on Wednesday night, and he posted a summary of our conversation: Talking with Paul Bausch about ORblogs.

As John mentions, I still believe in the idea that community aggregators can provide a view of blogging that you can't get from a personal newsreader. That made closing the site an extremely difficult decision, but I didn't have time to take the site to its next stage. I'm looking forward to seeing what Metta and crew build because with the current level of energy around their project, I think they can make that next stage happen.

Originally posted by (author unknown) from onfocus.com, on September 12, 2008 9:45 AM

while the majority of gadgets get more complex with every version, peek aims to be as simple as possible.
technology convergence has progressed to a point where most mobile phones can now take pictures,
surf the web and organize your life. peek is a mobile email device which does nothing more and nothing less.
the product was designed by the multidisciplinary design studio IDEO. it cost only 100 USD and service fees
are a flat 20 USD a month. the bare bones device flies in the face of complicated technology, reaching out
to average users who want a device which does one thing and does it well.

http://www.getpeek.com

read more in business week

this post also appears on the samsung young design award blog which features more posts from

designboom on technology, design and lots more!

Originally posted by (author unknown) from Designboom - Weblog, on September 12, 2008 9:22 AM

From a Copenhagen blog that highlights biking style, a plea to cool it with all the subculture cycling attitude and terminology already.

Let's straighten things out, shall we? What you see in the photo above, taken in Copenhagen, is something we call a "cyclist".

Not a "bicycle commuter", nor a "utility cyclist". Certainly not a "lightweight, open air, self-powered traffic vehicle user". It's a cyclist.

The Copenhagener above is not "commuting" - or at least she doesn't call it that. She's not going for a "bike ride" or "making a bold statement about her personal convictions regarding reduction of Co2 levels and sustainable transport methods in urban centers".

She's just going to work. On her bike.

(via gulfstream)

(link)

Originally posted by jason@kottke.org from kottke.org, on September 12, 2008 8:42 AM

[Click to expand.]

The news that Lord. Norman. Foster. is coming down to the Bowery to show the formerly gritty boulevard how they do it in Jolly Ol' England hit Vanishing New York's Jeremiah like a ton of glass. He muses long and hard on the changing cityscape ("This tsunami is not to be outrun. No neighborhood is safe."), but the focus is on the Bowery, and all the changes it has undergone. As a visual aid, he assembled the above collage of all the buildings that have recently sprung up or are being planned, a greatest hits collection if there ever was one. His conclusion: "Four years ago, none of this existed. That's fast, that's big, and that's not business-as-usual in the ever-changing city." Now if only we could get those buildings turned into action figures. Dibs on the New Museum!
· Bowery Tsunami [Vanishing New York]

Originally posted by Joey from Curbed, on September 12, 2008 8:17 AM

Now, this is a jink.  Nice work, MLB.  Thanks.

…thanks to Ice Shot Kid for the link…

ShareThis

Originally posted by Matthew Cerrone from MetsBlog.com, on September 12, 2008 7:47 AM

A number of articles from CC insiders hit the blogs this week. I have one up at Media Rights, a site that focuses on social-justice documentaries and the activist filmmaker community. I focus my examples on how Creative Commons can help film makers reach greater audiences and media by framing them in light of the recent US Court of Appeals decision in our favor:

On August 13th, 2008 the United States Court of Federal Appeals handed down an opinion that further cemented the legal footing that gives “open content” licenses like Creative Commons (CC) their legal teeth. The decision of Jacobsen v. Katzer was monumental for the free culture and free software communities for a number of reasons. Public licenses, like CC’s six “Some Rights Reserved” copyright licenses and the one being litigated over, the Artistic License, grant rights to the public in general as opposed to a specific party. Where a private license between a filmmaker and a distribution company might stipulate that a particular distributor is given the exclusive rights to show a film, a public license might stipulate that anyone who comes across the film is allowed to show it so long as they give proper attribution and do not make modifications.

You can read my whole article here.

 

And over on BizCommunity.com, friend of the cause and South African lawyer Paul Jacobsen writes about some of the South African projects using Creative Commons in part 3 of his series about our licenses and the issues they implicate:

JoziKids, http://jozikids.co.za/, a wonderful child focussed website, uses Creative Commons licences to licence content created by its advertisers who create listings on the website rather than trying to take ownership of the content in order to provide the listings to visitors to the site. In this way Merle Dietrich strikes a balance between being able to publish rich listings on the site and not interfere unduly in the advertiser’s ability to exploit their content commercially outside the website.

Read on for Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of Paul’s series.

Originally posted by Fred Benenson from Creative Commons » CC News, on September 12, 2008 7:30 AM

Canya believe Gary Sheffield hit the twenty five thousandth home run in MLB history?

well he did.

Originally posted by dayf from Cardboard Junkie, on September 12, 2008 6:56 AM

James Fallows on why Palin's ignorance around "the Bush Doctrine" matters:

Mention a name or theme -- Brett Favre, the Patriots under Belichick, Lance Armstrong's comeback, Venus and Serena -- and anyone who cares about sports can have a very sophisticated discussion about the ins and outs and myth and realities and arguments and rebuttals.

People who don't like sports can't do that. It's not so much that they can't identify the names -- they've heard of Armstrong -- but they've never bothered to follow the flow of debate. I like sports -- and politics and tech and other topics -- so I like joining these debates. On a wide range of other topics -- fashion, antique furniture, (gasp) the world of restaurants and fine dining, or (gasp^2) opera -- I have not been interested enough to learn anything I can add to the discussion. So I embarrass myself if I have to express a view.

What Sarah Palin revealed is that she has not been interested enough in world affairs to become minimally conversant with the issues. Many people in our great land might have difficulty defining the "Bush Doctrine" exactly. But not to recognize the name, as obviously was the case for Palin, indicates not a failure of last-minute cramming but a lack of attention to any foreign-policy discussion whatsoever in the last seven years.

Originally posted by David Jacobs from hello, typepad, on September 12, 2008 6:20 AM

I have taken lots of photos of Shea and Citi from this angle but I especially like this one from Wednesday night. Under an early autumn sky, Shea shimmers in all its blue and orange gaudiness. CitiField (with its corporate logo...er i mean name) now affixed upon its top, sorta blends into the background, its not yet arrived.

I have been posting the best of Shea tributes as I find them. The Queens Tribune ran a few yesterday (read them here). One in particular stands out. So many of us associate Shea Stadium and baseball to great moments with our Dads, Moms and/or families. This memory is especially poignant:

A Lasting Memory With Dad

My father took me to my first baseball game sometime in September 1972. It was such an unforgettable experience that I can still recall images from that game today, as if it just happened yesterday. It was a beautiful evening- late September. From a very young age, I was crazy about baseball. My big hero was Tom Seaver.

The stadium was Shea Stadium, in my opinion, the world capital of baseball. Until then my only visual contact with big-league baseball had been on a 10-inch, black-and-white television screen, so I was not prepared when the subway train shot into the sunlight of the elevated tracks at the 74th Street-Broadway / Roosevelt Avenue stop in Jackson Heights. Color was everywhere. My father lifted me up so I could see.

I remember my eyes taking in the beautiful, green field, the baselines, and the bases. That day has stayed with me through these 40 years and I can see it just as clearly as way back then. The best part was coming in to take our seats. We had seats along the first base line in the second deck. The Mets were playing the Pirates. My father had just gotten me just gotten me a program and my father was starting to explain keeping score. A player on the Pirates had made history that day by hitting a milestone homerun. However, I do not remember who it was. Then the game was over. In retrospect, it was an ordinary ballgame. But, to me it was just so special-my first baseball game and I was with my dad. The Mets lost, 5-0.

After that, it was time for us to leave. We had talked about batting and hitting and home runs and players, but nine innings on a cool September night with a little boy who loved every minute of being there was a great start to what should be many years of total fun.

We headed out of the gate to our parking lot. On our way out, I remember talking to my dad about how much fun we had. I was glad that the day was everything I had hoped it would be, and a little more. We took the subway back to Penn Station and found seats together on a crowded commuter train. Looking out the window at the creeping twilight, I felt sadness. My father, reading my face, asked me what was wrong. I told him I didn’t know. He said it was okay to be sad and not know why. It seems to me now that this ride marked the first time my father had really taken me anywhere-as he was very, very sick. He had blood clots in his legs and was in and out of the hospital. Mom had always prepared me for the worst.

When we got home, my I couldn’t wait to tell my mom all about our day. I didn’t leave out a detail, from telling her how quickly the ice cream melted, to how many people were there (“there must have been a million”, I said; there were more like 40,000), and how men walked around selling lemonade. I told mom in my sweet, little-girl voice, with a big, wide-eyed smile on my face, “today was the best day of my entire life.”

One night, nearly 6 months later in March 1973, my father died at the age of 47. This day has stayed with me through these 40 years and I can see it just as clearly as way back then. The remembrance of sharing one of the greatest days’ of my life with my father coupled with a profound love for the game, is now passed along to my own son.

Michelle Grasberg
Ozone Park

Originally posted by Kingman from Loge 13, on September 12, 2008 4:55 AM

On Wednesday night, I noted that some of the giant player pictures were no longer hanging over gate D (see photo - Robin Ventura should be hanging there).

Now we know why. They're for sale.

After staging a successful seat sale, The Mets have announced another effort to unload classic Shea Stadium memorabilia.

They sold the seats, and now they're selling nearly everything else. The Mets on Thursday announced plans to sell more than 2,000 pieces of Shea Stadium memorabilia, ranging from player lockers to outfield wall panels to both foul poles.

Items, sold in partnership with the MeiGray Group, will go on sale Friday at 10 a.m. ET.

"There clearly is an interest among our fans and other New Yorkers to own a piece of Shea history," Mets executive vice president of business operations Dave Howard said in a statement. "Our new partnership with MeiGray Group provides fans an easy way to get authentic Shea Stadium memorabilia, and through the support of Major League Baseball's Authentication Program, we are able to ensure peace-of-mind for fans and maximum value for collectors by guaranteeing the authenticity of these historic items."

Fans can only buy the memorabilia by calling (888) 463-4472 after 10 a.m. Friday, though items will be available to view throughout this weekend's series against the Braves -- on the Field Level concourse for Friday and Saturday's games, and on the Loge Level concourse for Sunday's matinee.

"Whether it's a turnstile from Gate B, an original brick from the old right-field wall, or one of the colorful photos or banners that have hung proudly for so many years, we have something for everyone," Barry Meisel, president and CEO of the MeiGray Group, said in the statement. "We are proud to partner with the Mets to honor this great New York landmark."

This is the final baseball season at Shea Stadium, before the Mets move into their new state-of-the-art Citi Field home in April. Shea has been home for the Mets since 1964, playing host to two World Series winners and many other notable concerts and events.

Originally posted by Kingman from Loge 13, on September 12, 2008 4:45 AM

I believe in the necessity and obligation to know the source of the food I buy and to buy hand raised products.  This often means paying more for my food.   I have to confess that I'm a terrible skinflint and that when I'm at my wonderful North Union Farmer's Market, much as I'm grateful for it and proud of it, there's much I don't buy because I think I can't afford it, such as the mushrooms, the grass fed beef. (I think all writers who become productive primarily out of fear of poverty retain forever a knee-jerk miserlines.) 

But on Saturday morning—(rain, happily! seriously cuts down on the crowds, and strollers are rare)—I decided to take my time and buy everything I'd buy at the grocery store.  Plus a lot more corn than most people would imagine eating.  Six, seven, eight, nine ears is a perfect Saturday morning breakfast as far as I'm concerned (I bought 18 ears for $9). I did not by the five-pound $25 duck.  I did not buy potatoes or some of the beautiful greens available (wish I had).  And when I totaled it all up, it didn't cost much more than what I'd have spent at the grocery store on a typical visit.  For $71 bucks, and a few staples, I think I've got four great meals for four, plus a couple of lunches.

Instead of the whole duck, I bought 6 legs for about $3 a piece—will braise four for dinner on monday and confit two more for a weekday lunch with my amazing wife.  I love to be able to buy the farm-raised veal and $11 of loin will cover four people if I stretch it.  The farm raised meat I believe is truly important to buy.  Next week beef.  And of course a couple friends and I are going in for two massive hogs in the fall.

Eggs.  I love love love fresh eggs.  They cost a buck fifty more than agrichicken eggs?  That's $3.50 well spent.  The heads of garlic at $1.50?  They were a buck last year—how that old hippy gets by selling garlic even at a dollar fifty, I don't know but I'm glad he does because it's the best garlic on earth.  The other stuff: cabbages, green beans, zucchini and summer squash, peaches, eggplant, and bell peppers.  By the time I had all this stuff my arm was so tired and it was becoming so difficult to fumble through my wallet for cash, I gave up from fatigue and said, no potatoes today, none of that beautiful baby arugula.  Sigh.

I think the thing I have to remember is to shop smartly at these markets—the kids don't need that fudge, made by the veal and duck people, Donna and I don't need those gorgeous mushrooms this week (maybe next)—and that paying more for the food isn't really that much more.  And of course the quality of the product cannot be beat.  What I need most, though, is a shopping cart.

Originally posted by michael ruhlman from ruhlman.com, on September 12, 2008 4:39 AM

E.J. Dionne: "McCain has shown he wants the presidency so badly that he's willing to say anything, true or false, to win power. Obama can win by fighting for what he believes. What he can't do is wait for the media to call McCain out -- although they should -- or expect voters to know he'll fight for them when they are not yet sure that he's willing to stand up for himself."

One point E.J. mentions that I've noticed too. Beside his convention speech, I can't think of a time in the last week or so that I saw Obama in front of a crowd. The appearances that I'm seeing showing up on TV during the day (an incomplete but probably not unrepresentative sampling) all look like there in front of a hundred or so people in a library or something. I wonder whether the celeb thing has just gotten inside his people's collective head and they're afraid to get him in front of real crowds.

If so, it's a very bad mistake. He has to be who he is. He can't run from his strengths. And he needs to charge up the people who want to be in the trenches with him. Excitement is infectious.

Originally posted by Josh Marshall from Talking Points Memo, on September 11, 2008 8:42 PM

KmikeyM.com is a fully-functional stock market allowing anyone to become a shareholder in all the future projects of Mike Merrill. As this micro economy grows, the stock price becomes a kind of benchmark of success; the higher the stock price, the more viable the worth of these projects. Additionally, shareholders are partial owners and able to influence the direction of the projects. KmikeyM is using capitalism to create community.

More info: kmikeym.com

Originally posted by eyeblog from Eyebeam reBlog, on September 11, 2008 3:21 PM

"That dumb baby is totally annoying. 'Ahn Junior is so cute!!!' 'So precious!' 'Look at him poop!' Puhlease.

I got news for you, Kid. This passie is mine."

Thanks, Vera. Good luck with Lampiao pup...

Originally posted by Meg from Cute Overload, on September 11, 2008 2:20 PM

Wow, going to war with Russia might be necessary if Russia invades another one of the former states of the Soviet Union. So says Sarah Palin. War with Russia over Armenia? If Russia and Georgia go at it again? War between the US and Russia sure would be a positive development for the US. And sort of shows the consequences of taking a freshman governor with no experience in foreign policy and giving her a ten day crash course with Randy Scheunemann and the rest of John McCain's neocon brain trust that got booted from the Bush inner circle for being too nutty.

Late Update: Do we all understand now why former Sen. Chafee (R-RI) called her a "cocky whacko" earlier this week?

Originally posted by Josh Marshall from Talking Points Memo, on September 11, 2008 1:24 PM

From ABC News:

EXCLUSIVE: GOV. SARAH PALIN WARNS WAR MAY BE NECESSARY IF RUSSIA INVADES ANOTHER COUNTRY

More of the first excerpts from the Charlie Gibson interview here and here.

Here's the exchange on Russia:

GIBSON: And under the NATO treaty, wouldn't we then have to go to war if Russia went into Georgia?

PALIN: Perhaps so. I mean, that is the agreement when you are a NATO ally, is if another country is attacked, you're going to be expected to be called upon and help.

But NATO, I think, should include Ukraine, definitely, at this point and I think that we need to -- especially with new leadership coming in on January 20, being sworn on, on either ticket, we have got to make sure that we strengthen our allies, our ties with each one of those NATO members.

We have got to make sure that that is the group that can be counted upon to defend one another in a very dangerous world today.

GIBSON: And you think it would be worth it to the United States, Georgia is worth it to the United States to go to war if Russia were to invade.

PALIN: What I think is that smaller democratic countries that are invaded by a larger power is something for us to be vigilant against. We have got to be cognizant of what the consequences are if a larger power is able to take over smaller democratic countries.

And we have got to be vigilant. We have got to show the support, in this case, for Georgia. The support that we can show is economic sanctions perhaps against Russia, if this is what it leads to.

It doesn't have to lead to war and it doesn't have to lead, as I said, to a Cold War, but economic sanctions, diplomatic pressure, again, counting on our allies to help us do that in this mission of keeping our eye on Russia and Putin and some of his desire to control and to control much more than smaller democratic countries.

His mission, if it is to control energy supplies, also, coming from and through Russia, that's a dangerous position for our world to be in, if we were to allow that to happen.

Originally posted by David Kurtz from Talking Points Memo, on September 11, 2008 1:20 PM

From Serious Eats: New York

Your office is in Harlem, and you order "sandwiches and flatbread pizza from Cosi" for a lunch meeting with the Democratic nominee for President? Shameful. Bill, next time you need to order takeout, might we recommend: Amy Ruth's, Dinosaur BBQ, Louise's, Margie's Red Rose Diner, Charles's Southern Style Kitchen, and Miss Maude's Spoonbread Too. Not only would your food be better, Bill, but you and Barack would be doing your part for Harlem economic development. Soul food in New York needs the two of you more than ever, as this recent New York Times story notes. [via Eater]

Originally posted by Zach Brooks from Serious Eats, on September 11, 2008 12:45 PM

One of the McCain campaign's chief assaults on Barack Obama is that McCain is insisting that the troops return only after "victory" in Iraq, while Obama refuses to use that word -- a position the McCain forces describe as tantamount to wanting to lose.

But it turns out that none other than General Petraeus may now be refusing to use the word "victory," too.

In an interview with the BBC, Petraeus said he didn't know if he could promise "victory," said he didn't know if he would ever even use that word, and suggested that using it is irresponsible. Here's the key exchange:

Q: Do you think you will ever use the word "victory"?

Petraeus: I don't know that I will. I think that all of us at different times have recognized the need for real restraint in our assessments, in our pronouncements, if you will. And we have tried to be very brutally honest and forthright in what we have provided to Congress, to the press, and to ourselves.

A bit later, Petraeus elaborated:

"This is not the sort of struggle where you take a hill, plant the flag and go home to a victory parade...it's not war with a simple slogan."

This seems a bit at odds with McCain's frequent assertion that our goal should be for our troops to come home with "victory" and "honor." What's more, the McCain forces have directly faulted Obama for refusing to use the word "victory." In her convention speech, Sarah Palin said:

"This is a man who can give an entire speech about the wars America is fighting, and never use the word `victory' except when he's talking about his own campaign."

This is not to suggest that Obama and Petraeus are in agreement on Iraq. Rather, the point is that the simple-minded bromides and attacks coming from McCain and Palin are at odds with the analysis offered by Petraeus himself.

Late Update: Here's the video:

Originally posted by Greg Sargent and Eric Kleefeld from TPM Election Central, on September 11, 2008 12:12 PM

The Mets made it quasi official - there will be a home run apple in Citi Field.

But it won't be THE Home Run Apple.

The confirmation was reported by the NY Daily News:

The Mets had hoped to keep their intentions quiet for now about whether they would transfer the apple from Shea to their new stadium or commission a new one. But they inadvertently upstaged their own announcement. An official with ties to the team revealed on a late-night airing of a special about Citi Field on SNY that it will, in fact, be a new apple celebrating longballs.

The apple is a nine-foot mass of fiberboard slathered in red paint that, whenever a Met blasts a homer, pops out of a 10-foot, upside-down black top hat made of plywood. The Mets logo on the apple lights up and blinks. The phrase "home run," which replaced the original "Mets Magic," an offshoot of the Mets' old "The Magic is Back" campaign, is visible on the top hat. The apple, all 582 pounds of it, appeared behind the fence, to the right of the 410-foot mark in center field, during the 1980 season.

Of course, the guys over at SaveTheApple.com are none too happy:

We are pretty upset, even though we've felt that this was going to be the outcome for some time. So now it's time to turn our attention towards what to do with the Apple.

Last summer a blog mentioned their solution was not to Save the Apple but to leave it EXACTLY where it is. Well, the Apple's not moving, so we'd like to throw our support behind this idea. Mets officials, if you come here, please PLEASE just leave the Apple where it is. It's right next to the fan walk, it's a great location, 8900 fans have signed the petition begging to keep the Apple, give us something...

I love the idea. Citi Field-goers of the future would be able to say,"Meet me at the Apple" or "I parked by the Apple," or (sadly) "If you can't wait until we're inside, just go behind the Apple."

Seriously, it would be a classy move. And the old Apple would serve as an unofficial tribute to the many thousands of partial season ticket holders who almost made it into Citi Field but were instead left behind.

Long Live the Apple!

Originally posted by Kingman from Loge 13, on September 11, 2008 11:58 AM

9/11 makes me crazy every year but this year it made me a weird kind of crazy

Originally posted by (author unknown) from Choire, on September 11, 2008 11:21 AM

Merlin Mann has been on a tear lately. He's been rethinking what he wants to do with 43 Folders -- a site he started four years ago to think in public about Getting Things Done (and other stuff) -- which rethinking has resulted in a bunch of good writing on weblogs, creative work, and online media. Some links and excerpts follow.

How to blog, the best and most succinct blogging advice I've ever read:

Find your obsession. Every day, explain it to one person you respect. Edit everything, skip shortcuts, and try not to be a dick. Get better.

Going through my newsreader today, most of the sites I follow are written with those things in mind. Those that don't, out they go.

Better is a short account of Merlin's quest to remove the unpleasant and unproductive from his life. Worth quoting at length:

What makes you feel less bored soon makes you into an addict. What makes you feel less vulnerable can easily turn you into a dick. And the things that are meant to make you feel more connected today often turn out to be insubstantial time sinks - empty, programmatic encouragements to groom and refine your personality while sitting alone at a screen.

Don't get me wrong. Gumming the edges of popular culture and occasionally rolling the results into a wicked spitball has a noble tradition that includes the best work of of Voltaire, Dorothy Parker, Oscar Wilde, and a handful of people I count as good friends and brilliant editors. There's nothing wrong with fucking shit up every single day. But you have to bring some art to it. Not just typing.

What worries me are the consequences of a diet comprised mostly of fake-connectedness, makebelieve insight, and unedited first drafts of everything. I think it's making us small. I know that whenever I become aware of it, I realize how small it can make me. So, I've come to despise it.

I've pointed to this one before...What Makes for a Good Blog?

Good blog posts are made of paragraphs. Blog posts are written, not defecated. They show some level of craft, thinking, and continuity beyond the word count mandated by the Owner of Your Plantation. If a blog has fixed limits on post minimums and maximums? It's not a blog: it's a website that hires writers. Which is fine. But, it's not really a blog.

And then a pair of posts that serve as Merlin's public declaration for 43 Folders' new direction and as a blistering takedown of the productivity blogs industry, reminiscent of Joel Johnson's classic takedown of Gizmodo and other gadget blogs published *on* Gizmodo. The first is Four Years:

At this juncture, I wish to apologize and formally atone for any role 43 Folders or I have had in popularizing "hack" as the preferred nomenclature for unmedicated knowledge workers dicking around with their "productivity system" all day. 43 Folders regrets the error.

And then Time, Attention and Creative Work:

If the work that really matters to you involves understanding a relationship between a handful of seemingly unrelated things and then figuring out the best way to portray, magnify, or resolve those relationships, then you're already doing creative work. Any time you make a connection between two or more axes that hadn't occurred to you 10 minutes ago, yes, you've done something creative. Seriously. This does not require your wearing a beret.

But, then -- and this is really important -- if you want to actually make something out of all that insight, and if you have the will and desire to polish and improve the execution of all the things you produce, then we'll have a lot to talk about.

Good luck with your new direction, Merlin. I never really read 43F too much before this summer -- spending a lot of time reading about all those little productivity tricks and whatnot seemed oxymoronic -- but I'm paying attention now.

Originally posted by jason@kottke.org from kottke.org, on September 11, 2008 11:08 AM

Awesome new tools!

Originally posted by agolis from andrew golis, on September 11, 2008 10:24 AM

From left to right: Me, Gabe, Kurtz, Tycho.

This was pretty much as fantastic as I thought it would be, and I'm very proud of myself for never blowing a save versus "OH MY GOD I CAN'T BELIEVE I GET TO DO THIS" the whole time we played.

Check this out: we had so much fun, Jerry says that if they do more D&D podcasts, I'll get to join them, as the intern who opens all the doors and doesn't get any gold.

Awesome.

(Note: This picture is © All rights reserved because Kiko took it.)

Originally posted by wil@wilwheaton.net (Wil Wheaton) from WWdN: In Exile, on September 11, 2008 10:21 AM

The controversial shuttering of 1st Avenue favorite David's Bagels is hitting the East Village Idiot hard. Today he has a eulogy: "In the eight weekdays since David’s closed, I have n