If you don't have multiple monitors...

...this is an AWESOME Firefox add-on!

For example, look at this:

So French

I entirely agree that the flood of megastores on the Champs-Elysees is terrible and I just love this quote from the article:

Many other merchants lament that the move to save the avenue has come too late. “High-class Parisians don’t want to come to the Champs-Élysées,” said Serge Ghnassia, owner of the fur shop Milady, which opened on the Champs-Élysées in 1933. “It’s not prestigious; it’s not pleasant. The people who come are very common, very ordinary, very cheap. They come for a kebab sandwich and a five-euro T-shirt.”

Don't these fools know that there are better kebabs and cheaper t-shirts elsewhere?

You're So Vain

Yes, I'm talking to you, the guy freezing his head off because he didn't want to mess up his hair. It's cold outside. Hats keep you warmer. Grow up.

The more things change, the more they stay the same

When asked to describe a family in 2nd grade, I wrote: "A family is a big group of people who are all related. I love my family because they take me on vacation."

On Writing

Writing used to come so easy to me. To wit, check out this story from 2nd grade (one of a 3-part series on killers):

The Serial Killer

One day there was a person named Dan Luthor. He was walking down the street and suddenly out of nowhere someone killed him by shooting him. Then one day the same person killed the president and then the next day he killed the mayor. They had been after him for a year. He kept on killing more and more people. In the next 5 days he killed over 50 people. Then one day he shot 100 people. But then a very good police officer went over to his house and blew it up but he wasn't inside. Then the next day someone saw him unarmored and shot and killed him.

Incredible Pictures

See Hitler as a boy (no moustache), a proud papa Putin, W with a buzz cut, and much much more over at this collection of World Leader youth pictures.

Doesn't Putin look like Macaulay Culkin here? Thanks MR.

Update:

Apparently, someone else agrees with me on the Macaulay thing.

Oh Canada!

You are home to what we call illegal downloading, movie piracy, and the greatest eBay auction of all-time. Can someone buy that for me for my birthday?

Hat tip to AG.

New Feature!

Starting today (but normally every Friday), I will post my restaurant of the week. This will be a way to highlight some of the best picks from my guide. So here is the first choice:

Le Miu [107 Avenue A (bet. 6th and 7th Sts.) 212-473-3100]
An absolute gem of a restaurant in the East Village, Le Miu offers Japanese food with a twist. By that I mean that Le Miu provides its patrons with a creative array of dishes that you won't find at any ordinary Japanese joint. And when you combine excellent food with a sleek, modern atmosphere and good service, you have a place worth returning to multiple times. For appetizers, my dining companion and I began with the Grilled Marinated Duck Breast and the Deep Fried Soft Shell Crab, which was particularly delicious. For main courses, we split the Miso Marinated Baby Lamb Chops and the Chef's Sushi Platter. Both were exquisite and presented beautifully. The only thing that might scare people away from here would be the prices, but the prices are reasonable for the quality of the food and I highly recommend that anyone who reads this review pays the restaurant a visit.

A Very Good Ad

It's for Ikea and it's about a lamp.

Genius Blog

No, not this blog! Check out the new blog by David Shenk about "the genius in all of us." There's some very fascinating stuff in there. Thanks to Freakonomics for the pointer.

What I learned tonight at the Knicks-Suns game

Yes, Nostra and I went to MSG tonight (after a surprisingly wonderful trip to Nathan's across the street) and watched the Knicks take on the most exciting team in the NBA. The Knicks were even ahead at one point!

Actually they were ahead for much of the first half, before a disastrous third quarter in which they played very sloppily and gave up the lead for good. Let me say this though: Knicks fans absolutely adore David Lee. And with good reason. Lee had a monstrous 14 rebounds to go along with 17 points, including many impressive dunks. This kid is for real and he should be playing as many minutes as possible. On the other hand, although Nate Robinson plays very hard, he is just not a very good shooter. He needs to work on his jump shot, but if he develops that, he has some potential to be a dangerous player. Eddy Curry dominated much of the first half, but he struggled with foul trouble and eventually an injury in the second half. He is a tantalizing talent who has yet to put it all together.

Also, not surprisingly, Steve Nash was incredibly impressive. His shot is so pure. He seemed to be in control of the tempo of the game at all times, to the point that when he made mistakes it was legitimately a big surprise. Finally, the Knicks really have to work on their defense. They gave Phoenix far too many open shots and were honestly lucky not to lose by more than five.

Restaurants in New York

Frank Bruni has an interesting article in the New York Times today about the increasingly pompous attitude of chefs and restaurants in New York (thanks Mom). I have only been to two of the restaurants he mentions (Eleven Madison Park and Tabla), and at this point I could not imagine going to any more of them. That's not to say that the food was not fantastic at these two places, because it was. It's more the fact that upon further reflection, it just seems absurd to spend so much money on these tasting menus when there are SO many excellent New York restaurants that cost so much less. And I'm hardly Mr. Moderation. I spend way too much money going out to eat as it is. The heart of the matter is that if these chefs can get away with this bullshit, more power to them, but I'm just not going to support it (unless of course they are willing to have me in as a restaurant critic).

Interview Questions

My vast football knowledge and ability to provide conventional answers to questions finally came in handy at the end of an interview recently when I was asked these two questions:

1. Who is going to win the Super Bowl and why?

2. What is the greatest college or pro football game of the past 10 years?

Answers in comments section.

Innovation

So now that I have started using Google Reader (after a brief stint over at Bloglines), I have discovered a very useful feature. There is a public sharing page available wherein I can "share" any blog posts or articles that I find of interest during my way too vast time spent reading things on the internet. Here is a link to my page (which will also be on the sidebar from now on). This is probably more efficient than me posting links all the time here and sending a lot of e-mails to people. BUT I will still post some links to articles on the blog if they have great excerpts or if I can make fun of Tom somehow.

O.J. Update

Apparently, the Juice is trying to publish a new book about life with Nicole (pre-brutal murder and minus his beating of her). Analysis at Slate. How could anyone possibly sell or buy this book?!?