20081228

Fruitcake wins!

International Federation of Competitive Eating - IFOCE: "Takeru Kobayashi will attempt to break the fruitcake-eating world record, seeking to consume all fruitcake leftover from the holidays ..."

Kobayashi failed to beat Sonya"The Black Widow" Thomas' 2001 record of 4 pounds and 14 ounces in 10 minutes.

An Italian legend says fruitcake was created by a nun at the urging of the devil in the form of a black cat

20081207

The Atlas of True Names

The Atlas of True Names : Strange Maps: "The Atlas substitutes the original meanings of the world’s place names for the better-known, ossified toponyms."

The Atlas of True Names restores an element of enchantment to the world we all think we know so well.

Spotted: Sibling Love, Stink Onion, Conquered City, "I don't understand you!"

20081204

Repeal Day!

21st-Amendment Brewery: Prohibition: "The Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution went into effect on January 16, 1920. It wiped out the beers, the breweries and the culture that had come to define American social life."

Beer Examiner: 75 years ago prohibition was repealed by the 21st amendment of the U.S. Constitution: "December 5, 2008 will mark the 75th anniversary of enactment of the 21st amendment which repealed the 18th amendment and the federal repeal of prohibition.

After Prohibition, brewing companies began to market to women, designing beers that were lighter in flavor and character. While the use of corn, rice and sugar adjuncts was used before, they were now being used to develop a style that would appeal to women."

Heh! Girly-man beers! That's slightly more pleasant than "already been used beer" ...

Happy Repeal Day and Cheers!

20081201

Lovecraft's Re-Animator Re-animated

The Escapist : News : Lovecraft's Re-Animator Re-animated: "the game tells the story of the hapless Dr. Herbert West, the inventor of a special serum that can literally bring the dead back to life. There are a few side effects, of course, like the re-animated corpses turning into violent blood-thirsty zombies

The whole game plays in grainy black and white, reminiscent of the 1920's where the story was originally set; and whilst short, has an online score board where you can see how long you kept the rozzers from your door."

Free download, looks to be Windohs only ... Oh, the sanity points you could loose!

Buy Line

Buy Line - SF Weekly: "With the newspaper industry in a tailspin, readers ditching print for the Web in droves, and the country entering its worst recession in recent memory, San Francisco Chronicle execs have a brilliant solution to their financial problems: Charge people more to read their ailing product."

Oh, yay! As it is, I only buy the paper for event listings (The Pink Section) and tickets going on sale. Heck, they even dumbed down the comix to the point where Peanuts reprints start looking good ... Cathy, Blondie, Hagar, and Wizard of Id, oh joy! Weekend comix even lost a page.

Ah, well, the price hike will mean the purchase of a couple less papers a week. Not like we're short on free daily papers!