News from Imponderables Central:
The Master Index of Imponderability Is Finally Online
At last, our index of the first ten Imponderables books and Who Put the Butter in Butterfly? is up. Click on the "Index" button on... More
Why Do Pirates Love Parrots? The newest Imponderables book.
Get it from Amazon.com
June 21, 2009
Happy Father's Day
Well, maybe not for everyone.
I wish everyone had a cool father, like Mark Evanier's.
Why Do Doctors Wear White Coats?
June 19, 2009
Dixie Does Yoga
Watch at your own risk.
[Thanks to List of the Day]
June 07, 2009
Why Are More Females Elected in Male-Dominated Districts?
Nate Silver doesn't know, but he lays out the stats, which are fascinating.
June 05, 2009
Away We Don't Go
It's not often I bother posting a warning about a pop culture experience. But unless you are an aficionado of annoying movies, I urge you not to see Away We Go, directed by Sam "Revolutionary Road" and "American Beauty" Mendes, with an appealing cast (John Krasinsky, Maya Rudolph, Catherine O'Hara, Allison Janney, Jeff Daniels, etc.) and an uber-irritating script by the smug Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida. I've never agreed with a review more than A.O. Scott's takedown in today's New York Times.
[Thanks to Brian Rose]
June 01, 2009
Cool Guys Don't Look at Explosions
May 30, 2009
Psycho
Featuring the Sonics and an unknown, very cool go-go girl. 1966.
[Thanks to Susan Thomas]
May 29, 2009
It's a Bikini World!
May 25, 2009
Happy Memorial Day
But I do have one sad piece of news: Not everyone loves horses.
May 23, 2009
Pretty Rice
David Lebovitz writes about how to make perfect Asian rice (rice that looks like the bowl on the right).
May 20, 2009
The Proposal
I hate most movie trailers, especially ones for comedies. Here's one that works.
Sometimes, You Gotta Go
Ever know you are not going to make it through a movie? But when can you bolt for the bathroom? RunPee comes to the rescue, with all the, er, poop on when to leave, how much time you have to do your business, and what you have missed.
May 19, 2009
In the Market for New Business Cards?
May we humbly suggest Meat Cards?
[Thanks to John DiBartolo]
May 18, 2009
Behold the Average
You may be familiar with the horrors of FML. But MyLifeIsAverage, which we heard about at Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch blog, is more our style.
May 12, 2009
Beatles Tube
Want to have access to every Beatle song on video in one place? Try Beatles Tube, which includes lyrics to each song. Want to browse by album? Or watch one of the Fab Four's movies? No problem.
May 07, 2009
The New Star Trek Movie: The Ultimate Betrayal
Trekkies Bash New Star Trek Film As 'Fun, Watchable'
May 06, 2009
How Fast Do You Eat?
This chart, from Economix's Catherine Rampell, shows a startling correlation between speedy eating and obesity. The French spend literally twice as long eating as Americans. And we like the Turks' style: they average almost 3 hours a day chowing down, and yet have low obesity rates.
May 04, 2009
Susan Boyle Has Competition
April 30, 2009
Does Russell Crowe Look Like a Dumpling in a Wig?
New Yorker critic David Denby thinks so.
Weird Cross-Promotion of the Month
The View meets WWE Smackdown
April 29, 2009
The Grilled Cheese Invitational
My kind of festival! This was featured in a charming food blog, gas.tron.o.my
April 27, 2009
IBM Takes On Jeopardy
What's the latest artificial intelligence curiosity, Alex?
April 20, 2009
Video for a Monday Morning.
Say Hey!
April 12, 2009
Fix Rumer
Among the more obscure blogs I've ever stumbled upon: a site devoted to photoshopping the daughter of Bruce Willis and Demi Moore.
April 11, 2009
The Wah-Watusi
Originally recorded by The Orlons, here's a slightly, er, different version (which, unfortunately, I can't embed).
[Thanks to Antone Parsons]
Ubuntu
Do you think deprivation when contemplating a vegetarian meal? We think you'll reevaluate after seeing Jeff Zalaznick's photo-laden review of the vegetarian tasting menu at Ubuntu, in Napa, California.
April 10, 2009
Cat Stevens/Yusuf
After his conversion to Islam, Cat Stevens has been a shadowy figure in the mainstream American press. Stevens, now known professionally as "Yusuf," is in the States promoting a new, soon-to-be released secular CD, Roadsinger. In the best episode of The Chris Isaak Hour I've seen yet, Cat speaks about his religion, his family, and mostly his music. Contrary to conventional wisdom, he seems to have his head screwed on right.
He performs many songs, too, and he although his voice has frayed more than a little, his music sounds great stripped of production touches. Accompanied by Gunnar Nelson (!) on acoustic guitar, Stevens makes a good case for his stature as a songwriter. The show airs on the Biography Channel, rerun this Saturday at 8:00 a.m. and Sunday at 9:00 a.m.
If you want to learn about Yusuf's long musical and spiritual path, the Wikipedia article about him is excellent.
April 08, 2009
Top 100 Independent Restaurants
Here's Restaurants and Institutions' 2009 list of the Top 100 independent restaurant food and beverage sales. As usual, New York and Las Vegas establishments dominate the list.
I'm surprised how few of the top grossers I've been to (one in the top ten, Tavern on the Green, and 24 of the top 100), and how few have provided memorable meals. Two old favorites in New York City, Aureole and Grand Central Oyster Bar, are past their primes. Trattoria delle' Arte is reliable for the antipasto bar and thin-crust pizza. Cheesecake at Junior's (in Brooklyn or Manhattan) is always a treat, but not so much the rest of its offerings.
Even a brief glance indicates that if you are aiming for a home run, a steakhouse might be your best shot, unless you are located in Florida, where it helps to have "crab" or "fish" in your name. A few Japanese and Italian restaurants made the cut. True, Tao, a repeat number one, and Ruby Foo's offer pan-Asian fare (although Tao is as much a nightclub as a restaurant), you'd think that one Chinese or Mexican restaurant might make the Top 100.
If anything, the average dinner check listed seems suspiciously low, especially if alcohol is included. For example, the restaurant that serves the most covers per year, Frankenmuth Bavrian Inn is listed as having a $15 average check, and yet its specialty, an all-you-can-eat chicken dinner, costs $20.
And one other observation: Frankenmuth, Michigan has more entries in the Top 100 than Los Angeles does.
April 07, 2009
Celebrity Couple of the Day
[Thanks to Bedazzled]
April 05, 2009
In Treatment
Considering the usually depressing content, I don't think you can find a more fun drama on television than In Treatment, which starts its second season tonight with two episodes back to back (8:30 P.M. - 9:30 P.M., on HBO), with four new patients, a beleaguered shrink (Gabriel Byrne, as Paul). Dianne Wiest is back as Paul's mentor. Tonight, a former patient (Hope Davis) comes back into Paul's life, and a young woman faces a medical problem.
Tomorrow night, tune in between 9-10:30. In Treatment requires a big time commitment, but I do think it's the best HBO show since The Sopranos in its prime.