Microsoft: Kicking Ass, Taking Pictures...

...and doing some really cool shite with them. WTF seems to have taken a turn for the tech; which I suppose is to be expected given all the paradigm shifting going on at D5 – two of which (shfting paradigms, that is) I just got turned on to today. [Thanx to Kit and John G, respectively. – Ed.]

The first is Microsoft’s stunning new touch-top, ‘coffee table’ display called, Surface. [Yes, please. – Ed.] More videos in this article from Popular Mechanics.com.

The other, an application called Photosynth that aggregates web-based images (think, flickr) like never before – producing a whole that is vastly greater than the sum of it’s parts. You’ve got to watch the demo to truly appreciate how (r)evolutionary, awe-inspiring and powerful Photosynth is. It’s also worth watching this presentation of Photosynth’s capabilities. (By way of TED.)

[Apparently the photo up top is a legit look at Microsoft circa 1978. – Ed.]

More Google Maps Love: Street View

Yesterday Google launched another amazing new feature for Google Maps. It’s called Street View and it is exactly that: it puts you in the map and on the street with 360º walk-through capability. It is another truly sensational addition to what is already a very sweet killer app. The only bummer (For me anyway)? At the moment it’s only available for San Francisco, Denver, Las Vegas, Miami and NYC. Read more about it and/or check out the demo.

[Thanx to Diego for the tip. – Ed.]

What I’m listening to. Right now.

Atlas from the Battles album Mirrored. I knew nothing about these guys until driving one day I flipped over to Left of Center (Gotta love LoC on Sirius!) and I almost had to stop the car. I was mesmerized by the FutureSexyRobotRock I issuing from the speakers and absolutely had to make sure I got the track and group before it ended. I did. And as soon as I got home I DLed Mirrored. Fantastic (In every sense of the word.), trippy, electro-organic art-math-exprimental-rock, Battles is a group pushing the boundaries of what exactly ‘Rock’ is.

Check out this live performance of Leyendecker too – good stuff.
[On second thought – don’t. The quality is shite. Sorry. – Ed.]

The Daily Show... Global Edition.

So, as I ease out of the Paris theme (It will end soon, I promise), it appears I’m moving into a globe theme (If two posts a theme make).

One night after returning to our room weary from another day hoofing it around Paris, while I blogged, Hol thought she’d turn on the TV to “...see what French TV looks like.” Well, French TV, that night at least, looked like this and this. Apparently there was a martial arts expo going on at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, or Bercy, as it’s known.

So, after we’d caught the Capoeira performance we switched over to CNN International to see what U.S. TV looked like when you’re not in the U.S.A. Well, ‘American’ TV basically looked like this. [Meaning, at the moment we changed the channel, it looked like The Daily Show. (In the small screen in the middle of the linked page.) – Ed.] Because it was The Daily Show. The Daily Show Global Edition to be specific. The Daily Show being one of our favorite shows (we catch it almost every night) we watched the whole show pleasantly surprised.

And, I was also strangely pleased to know that the rest of the world got to see this facet of America. The smart, funny America – something to provide some small balance to any impression the world may have of us as delusional, sociopathic, buffoons.

Google Earth Is F*cking Cool.

During our trip to Paris I used Google Maps quite a bit to locate shops, restaurants, galleries, etc. that we wanted to visit. Just today, I figured out what the My Maps feature (f*cking cool in its own right) was all about and began to make a map of the places we visited on our trip (beginning with the restaurants and our hotel) for my Mom to referrence when she’s in Paris in a couple of weeks.

While I was making this map I noticed a button just above the map labeled, ‘KML’. Intrigued, I clicked it and a file was produced and downloaded to my desktop labeled with the title of my map, Paris, and the suffix, .kml. Having no idea what a .kml file was, I clicked it. No luck – “Application not found”. So, I googled, “What is .kml?” and found this. I immediately proceeded to download Google Earth and have been zooming around Paris and St. Louis ever since. A deeply interactive virtual globe, Google Earth is a genuinely amazing resource, tool and toy.

Here is a user created demonstration of some of the capability – an 8 minute tour around the globe.

A Long Way Gone

Finally finished my re-read of Snow Crash. Phenomenal all the way through.

I’ve now begun reading the next book off the top of my stack: A Long Way Gone. This memoir of a boy soldier in Sierra Leone’s civil war is just as disturbing, compelling, heartbreaking and full of incomprehensible inhumanity as I’d imagined it would be. And you should read it.
Here, the author, Ishmael Beah, reads an excerpt from, coincidentally (serendipitously?), the exact point I’m at in the book.

Print is dead! Long live print!

If print is dead, I guess that makes me a necrophiliac of sorts.

The above photo is fifteen of the magazines to which I currently have subscriptions. (I’m under the impression that I may be forgetting/missing one or two.) So, as much as I dig all things virtual and am now an active participant in digital publishing, I’ve clearly got a thing for words and pictures on paper that I’m not going to let go of anytime soon.

However, for all the significant love I have for the medium, it is a labor of love at times. Due to major life commitments that I won't go into here, the subs sort of piled up this month. It’s going to be a real challenge to get through all of them much less pass on anything of interest/value to you. [Beyond the Radar/VF bit. – Ed.]

So, I thought I’d try something different. If anyone has read any of the pubs listed below, or any other pubs for that matter, and have any articles, features, &c. to recommend – please, post a comment to this post and let us know.

So, here they are with links to their respective online iterations – many of which are great destinations in their own right.
[Two sites require paid subs – noted with ‘$’. – Ed.]

Print is still alive! Long live the Internet?!

Rolling Stone
Interview
Metropolis
dwell
I.D.
Details
Esquire
Vanity Fair
Radar
Wired
Fast Company
EGM
Game Informer
Advertising Age $
Creativity $

[UPDATE: I knew I’d forgotten one or two a few. Here are those that didn't make the pic. – Ed.]
The Believer
print [How could I have forgotten?!? It’s name is in the title of the post!]
Giant [I actually hate what, Smokey D. Fontaine, did to this once great pub when he took it over – he turned it into an ego-driven (his), sycophantic, piece of hip-hop drivel trying to masquerade as ‘empowered’ substance. I'm letting my sub run out. /End rant.]
Travel+Leisure [I accidentaly subscribed through some AmEx mailing or other but after initially being pissed off realized I like the pub alot. Great articles, writing, photography and design.]

Hot Sh*t from Winehouse. Or, Winehouse from Hot Chip

I’m testing Snap Shots’ mp3 playing capability.
So, Here’s the Hot Chip Remix of Rehab. And the Ghostface Killah collabo/remix of You Know I’m No Good. Enjoy.

Okay, while we’re at it, let’s test Snap Shots’ video playing capability. Here’s Amy performing Tears Dry On Their Own live on England’s Jools Holland show. And, by the way, it’s fooking amazing!

And, that’ll be the end of The Tuesday Track. Don’t look for it over there on the left any more ’cause it won’t be there. There will actually be more music and vids posted now in the body of WTF posts.

WTF: New Functionality!

I’m really excited about having just added Snap Shots functionality to WTF and I think you will be too. Now, rather than having to click through the links blind, when you roll over a link you'll be treated to a pop-up snap shot of the page or image that is linked. [Hover your cursor over the Snap Shots link above to see it in action. – Ed.] In the case of Wikipedia entries you’ll actually get an optimized ‘summary’, for web sites and pages you’ll get a glimpse at the page referrenced and in the case of images you’ll see a portion or all of the image depending on the image’s size.

And there’s a lot more cool functionality available with Snap Shots that I look forward to using in future posts.

Hope you dig this as much as I do. Let me know what you think.

RIP: SUEB(AED)

So, I’ve decided to kill of the shortlived Tuesday collection of weekly media consumed and instead just post when inspired by a given piece of media.


Today I got the chance to start going through this month’s magazines and decided to start with Radar. I am damn glad this mag made it. Their brief hiatus immediately after I’d subscribed pissed me off a bit, but they’ve come back stronger in every way. [So far so good but it’s still bi-monthly – I’ll be happier about when it goes monthly. – Ed.] If you like your “pop•politics•scandal•style”, smart and snarky then this is your mag. It’s the best thing to happen to pop-cult pubs since the demise of Spy almost ten years ago. [Note: Spy co-founder E. Graydon Carter is the current editor of another favorite pub, Vanity Fair. Read Londonistan Calling from this month’s iss. – Ed.]

Radar also has an robust and engaging web presence, RadarOnline, that doesn’t simply recycle the hardcopy’s content.

And, Radar has a great weekly email, The Radar Report to keep you jacked in with the latest updates.

The WTF Paris Bureau is closed.

Just a quick post from the Home Office about something I’d forgotten about our trip. [And it’s this week’s mini-SUEB(AED). – Ed.]

On our way over, Hol and I we’re having a snack at the Wolfgang Puck Express across from our gate during our brief layover at O’Hare [As opposed to our four hour layover on the way back. – Ed.] when who should walk in? Amy Winehouse. If you don’t have her latest album, Back to Black, do yourself a favor – believe the hype and get it. Even if you were trying to stay off the bandwagon. Tears Dry On Their Own, my current fav off the album, is over there on the left as this week’s misnamed Tuesday Track. [For some reason it has a few seconds of silence – so wait for it. – Ed.] [UPDATE: See this post to see/hear Amy. – Ed.]

Oh, and while you’re at it, pick up Regina Spektor’s latest, Begin to Hope. It’s great too and she hasn’t received nearly the hype AW has.

These two ladies provided the soundtrack for our trip.

Exit... Stage Left.

[Which is an excellent live double album by Canadian power trio, Rush. By the way. – Ed.]

Last day. And we had a fantastic time! Best. Honeymoon. Ever.

Great day. [Today we’re going to play, Cherchez La Tour Eiffel. – Ed.]

Great lunch. Amazingly good salads at Le petit café, a little place we came upon in the 5th behind the Pantheon.

Great dinner. At yet another of my old spots – Maison du Gyros. The best gyros in Paris. Worth it, even if the dudes are a little Soup Nazi-esque; “Eets’ self-service!”. At Holly’s request it was our last dinner in Paris.

We did a bunch of other stuff, but that’s it for now. [Make sure we tell you about that last image. Stunning piece of art in a great show in the Jardin du Luxembourg – Ed.] Gotta pack! We’ll tell you everything when we get back.

‘Olly! Allons nous!

Il pleut.

Yes, it rained – lightly drizzled really – off and on all day. But, it wasn't a big deal at all. Not for us and evidently not for anyone else. It was so not a problem that I'm not sure where to begin because it was another action-packed day. And these posts, however brief they may seem, actually take a while to put together. [Please, if you haven’t been (and even if you have), click the links. There is good stuff there – a mix of info and photos. – Ed.]

So, I think I’m going to do a top-line, bulleted, in-no-particular-order posting of the day’s stops/events/sights. Here goes...

• Le Basilique du Sacré-Coeur. You know it you love it – it’s at the highest point in Paris. I'm not actually going to show it to you though.

• Holly, apartment hunting. I think she likes it here.

• Crossing the Cimetiere de Montmartre. Perhaps not as well known as Cimetiere du Pere-Lachaise but I figured Holly wouldn’t know the difference between one Parisian cemetery and another.

• Art! A couple of Murakami pieces in the window of what I think was the LVMH HQ on the Avenue Montaigne. [After you click the preceding link scroll down to Movies. – Ed.]

• Art! Pt. 2. A piece by Invader somewhere around Place Pigale. [I’ve actually seen quite a few (and shot a couple) around Paris. However, this has been the largest I’ve seen. – Ed.]

• Art! Pt. 3. Graffitied truck. A not uncommon sight in Paris. This was a good one though.

• Everything is sexier in Paris. [The copy reads: Stop... and I’ll give it to you. – Ed.] Even if not particularly subtle.

• Moulin Rouge! We couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of the tourists who may have come expecting the movie and found a slightly seedier neighborhood. [See above. – Ed.]

• Suddenly, out of nowhere... Skate Mob! [With a rollerblading Police escort! – Ed.]

• Art! Pt. 4: Architecture. I didn’t find out what this building is. But it was a trip! [Update: Here’s the story. And here it is poorly translated. – Ed.]

• Dinner! Coming home in a taxi I pointed out a pizzeria I used to frequent. It was another of my old haunts that I almost forgot – Pizza Vesuvio. And it was walkable from our hotel. [Again, the route marked is the driving route. We took the more direct walking route. – Ed.] The best pizza in Paris. It’s a thick, rough, chunky, ‘country-style’ pizza. It’s délicieux!

Saturday in Paris...

Looks like the photo above. Everywhere. Particularly on a beautiful day such as today was. The streets were teeming with people. The day goes roughly like this: eat, shop, eat, shop, stroll, drink, drink, stroll, eat, drink, stroll home. At least that’s how I think ours went. [Note: I believe there are two or three new pieces from the Self-Portrait Series in the above mass of photo links. – Ed.]

Of note:
Brunch at TheStudio a restaurant in a (the?) ‘Terrasse sur Cour Classée du 17eme Siecle” a courtyard in the middle of a dance school in a 17th Century building which surrounds a 17th Century courtyard. Through the French windows which opened onto the courtyard from all sides, we could see and hear classes going on all around us; one side had ballet on the second floor, on the opposite side what sounded like African dance and on the ground floor a flamenco class. Somehow the piano of the ballet class, the pounding drums of the African class and what sounded something like the Gipsy Kings (and the pounding feet) of the flamenco class managed not to be caucophonous but pretty damn cool. We both wished we could have captured the sounds of the courtyard.

A German store called Dom. The site does not do it justice – imagine an über-hip Spencer’s crossed with a nightclub. And if that doesn’t sound cool, just trust me, it was cool.

Dinner at L’altro. We’ve really enjoyed just wandering to ‘discover’ where we’ll eat each meal – we have yet to be disappointed. Tonight was no different. We found our way to this fantastic, hip little contemporary-Italian place on the rue du Dragon. We sat at table Nº 01 in the open front and enjoyed a great dinner after another long day. Awesome.

Okay, that’s all I can do tonight. À bientôt.

Take a picture, it'll last longer.

[Blogger seems to be having some posting issues tonight. I hope it doesn’t give anyone any viewing issues. – Ed.]

Somehow, between the two of us we only managed to take six pictures today. And of those six, three were almost identical shots Holly took for some unknown reason of the Pont au Change. The other three? Three nearly identical shots I took of the front of our hotel while outside having a smoke and waiting for Holly to come down this morning. [We’re the two windows with ivy at left. – Ed.] So, we really only took two pictures today!

And nothing for the Self-Portrait Series! So, here's one from yesterday, it’s the ‘nightcap with cheese’ mentioned in yesterday’s post. The shot up top is the opposite view – a wee dude exiting the metro with a cello strapped on. We were sitting at a brasserie on the NE corner of the Pl. St.-Michel – right outside the metro entrance/exit – and doing some ‘people watching’.

As for our day today – we basically spent the day shopping in Le Marais. [I can’t remember if I gave a Wiki link for Le Marais in a previous post – if not, it’s right here. However, I can’t seem to find a site that has a comprehesive listing of the many, many great shops that are collected in this neighborhood. – Ed.] [Update: Good (but, still by no means comprehensive) Le Marais shops/restaurants link here. – Ed.]

We had reservations for dinner at Brasserie Flo. However, while Hol was still getting ready I started looking up reviews and couldn’t find a single good review of the food and we began to have different reservations all together. But it was when I came across this, from Zagat, “the reputation is better than the food”, that we cancelled our reservations, made new ones, hopped in a taxi and went to Tan Dinh instead. It was great and close enough that we could walk home. [We actually took a route through the streets on the way home as opposed to the route marked that we took in the taxi on the way there. – Ed.]

Encore!

>
Okay, let’s see...

We woke up late. Twelve twenty to be exact – apparently jet lag and two days of non-stop hoofing it around Paris finally caught up with us. But not to worry! We quickly rallied and have just now returned from another solid 10 hour day – we are both having a truly wonderful time.

However, we did dial down the pace a bit today. We decided to do ‘leisurely stroll’. So, we crossed over to the île Saint Louis and headed for the little neighborhood just NE of Notre Dame and, with a taste for quiche and crêpes we tracked down another great little find – Les Gourmands de L'Ile on rue St. Louis en L'Ile – which fulfilled on both counts exquisitely. We then proceed to stroll along that street for an hour or two shopping its boutiques. Holly finally got her shop on. From there we crossed over to the right bank and window shopped our way up to the Marais and its boutiques. More jewelry for Hol, some clothes for both of us. Another couple of hours of shopping and we were hungry again. Which was perfect because we were close to one of my old haunts – featuring the best Mexican food in Paris – La Perla. I know it sounds crazy, but it really is good Mexican, and it really is a cool bar.

Anyway, more shopping in the Marais (we’re going back tomorrow to finish what we started) and a significant detour through a show, called T-mode, of 95 up-and-coming jewelry and clothing designers all gathered under one roof. [Flyer here. Difficult-to-navigate-and-significantly-less-cool-than-the-show website here. – Ed.] I had a great time having an almost tri-lingual conversation with a really nice couple – one of the designers (a Brazillian ex-pat) and her French husband – while Holly shopped the wife’s booth.

So, after we looped past the Centre Pompidou, the Hôtel de Ville, and back past Notre Dame, then across the river, we ended up sitting down for a nightcap and a selection of fromages and now we’re back. I'm writing and Holly’s leaning out our window taking pictures; left (at the top of the post), right, and straight across, where there’s a cinema playing, Ne touchez pas la hache.

A bientôt.

[Oops. I forgot to play WiPaHaC?. So, instead, we’ll play: What is Holly looking at? – Ed.]

Where in Paris are Holly and Chris?

That’s now the daily challenge from here on out. I post a picture of us somewhere in Paris (No, not the one up top. This one.) – you figure out where we are. [Bonus points if you can name the building from the last post. Hint: We were standing on the Pont des Arts – Ed.]

Anyway, another jam packed day: The Louvre, the shops on and around Rue St. Honoré (including the super chic colette), the Champs Élysées, the Artclub gallery (across from the Louvre) where we saw a great show of paintings and manequins [Click image above for larger image – Ed.] by Parisian, nouveau-pop artist, David Cintract. More manequins here, here, and here. Trust me, they are way cooler than these shots through the front window portray.

And after stumbling around exhausted looking for a place to have dinner at 9:30 we found an almost clichéd sounding ‘little gem hidden down a tiny side street in the 6th’ – Le Christine. It was truly merveilleux! We sat in the window on the left.

There was probably more, but we’re trés tired and I’m going to bed.

Nous sommes arrives!

And there's free wi-fi in the room! I decided to bring my computer when I noticed that on the site yesterday. Anyway, room is great. It's the red striped deluxe suite, here.

Sixteen hours after we left our house – and looking and feeling it – we soldiered into our Parisian adventure and spent the day walking around and getting our (my) bearings. Went past my old apt in Le Marais. Had croques-monsieurs and espressos outside at a bistro in our hood – the Quartier Latin. [Correction: We’re actually in St. Germain des Prés which abuts the Latin Quarter. I knew this. I was tired. – Ed.] And took a spin on a Bateau Mouche. And that's after getting in to Paris two hours late. A great first day!

So, I'm getting in a quick post while Hol naps before dinner... and she’s up!

A tout a l'heure.

[I'm not sure what we're standing in front of. We were mentally drained and just soaking in pure ambience and loving it. – Ed.]

A tout a l’heure!

We’re off!

[This is actually another from our Self-Portrait Series. Which is just what it sounds like – photos we take of ourselves out and about or, in this case, standing in the kitchen getting ready to go out to dinner this past winter – I think we were going to King Louie’s. It just felt like a ‘leaving for Paris’ photo. – Ed.]

[Some notes on the art you can barely see: To the left is an art brut chicken on wallpaper covered plywood that my mom bought on the street in New York. Peeking over the kiss is a silkscreen done of me by family friend Ralph Maradíaga in ’74. And, to the right is the ubiquitous Maurin Quina ‘green demon’ poster. – Ed.]

hfta+cla

After a long, yet whirlwind, day (week!) we finally collapsed onto the nuptial bed and... snapped a few shots for our ever growing Self-Portrait Series. [More on the S-PS in future posts. – Ed.]

Next stop: Hôtel Villa d’Estrees, Paris.
[Our hotel is on rue Gît-le-Coeur – translation: Here lies the heart. I hadn’t really registered this until today and I think it probably could go without saying that I found it quite fitting. Anyway, I found this an interesting read with quite a bit of history on the street and its name. – Ed.]

Slicing Up Eyeballs (and Eardrums) 05.0810.07

Cool consumer created content at its crudest (in the rudimentary sense) for the White Stripes bangin' new single, Icky Thump, from the forthcoming album by the same name.

And that's it for SUEB(AED) this week.

[Okay, that didn't go as planned. I was trying to set up a delayed posting of a YouTube vid. It wasn't showing up – now it has. However, the video’s been removed from YouTube. Too bad – it was cool. Also, the alliteration in the first sentence above was completely unintentional. – Ed.]

Raised By Hippies!

It’s like being raised by wolves... only mel-low-er. [Jokes, people! – Ed.]

Here’s a glimpse into the past. From left, me and two of my siblings, Diego and Kelly, circa 1973. Just received by email, it's a nice look back before a big step forward.

In other WTF news:
Not to harsh your mellow but SUEB(AED) is on hiatus. [Why not take another look at last week’s to get you through? – Ed.] I'm hoping to be back with a post-wedding-back-from-Paris power-posting sometime around the 24th and a new SUEB(AED) on the 29th. There is, however, a new Tuesday Track over there on the left – Heart of Hearts by !!! (Chk Chk Chk). It’s been running on a loop in my head as I've been staring at our crest (below) for hours on end while designing all the final pieces of wedding collateral.

Tuckered Out

It was crazy to think I’d get anything posted until the wedding has past. Hol and I had been sitting at the kitchen counter chipping away at the final details – I, the program and invite menu [Of course the invite was done long ago. That's what happens when you post tired. – Ed.], she, seating, ceremony, etc – when she decided to step outside for a break. After about a half an hour, I got up to go out to join her and have a smoke. I found her like this – passed out on the patio table. Planning a wedding is fookin’ hard!

[I’ve never been much of a photographer, if for no other reason than I’ve never really liked carrying a camera. However, I’ve recently started getting into taking photos with my phone cam – it takes surprisingly good photos. – Ed.]

Dirty Dancing

Hol and I were greeted by the above poster posted all over the agency this morning. The brain bastard of Travis (Sr. Copy Writer) and Toby (Sr. Art Director), the idea was that people would phone in their ‘love song’ requests to DJ Travis who would then page them to the agency. But we all know what can happen when you put your brand (and a good idea) in the hands of the consumer – it can go viral. And viral it went. Everyone has been getting in on the act and paging their own requests. We've heard it all; from the requisite nod to the source material to some that are taking the ‘dirty’ seriously.

And contrary to the poster, this isn't how we're crafting the playlist for the wedding.

A Toast!

Posts may get sporadic and/or lacking in any real depth from here through the 14th as we're in the final run up to the wedding. [But don’t let that stop you from checking in. – Ed.] From the 14th through the 22nd there won't be any posts – I'll fill you in on the honeymoon when I get back. [UPDATE: Okay, that turned out to be a big, fat lie. – Ed.]

And we won’t let this happen to you. It’s on!

And watch The Office tonight! [And 30 Rock. – Ed.]

Cheers!

Hump Day

Once again, it just ain’t happenin’ on Wednesday. I’ll be back tomorrow with something. Now I’m gonna go have a smoke.

I'll leave you with this:
“Experts say that Iraq may have nuclear weapons. That's bad news. Now the good news is that they have to drop it with a camel.” – David Letterman

Slicing Up Eyeballs (and Eardrums): 05.01.07

A weekly (Tuesdays) list of what I'm doing with my eyes and ears (and thumbs?). It is by no means a comprehensive list – just of the moment. If something strikes me between Tuesdays I'll update here – so check back throughout the week.

And be sure to check the Tuesday Track Player over there on the right left for the week's featured cut.

Magazines:
Finally found time to devour the lastest iss (May 2007, 15.05) of Wired. Pick up a copy to check the annual Rave Awards honorees – 22 “innovators, instigators, and inventors” – it's an interesting group covering the spectrum, from pop-culture to politics, and technology to design.

Books:
Still in the midst of re-reading Snow Crash. Every page reveals a different piece of very prescient visionary thinking from Mr. Stephenson. [See also SUEB(AED) 04.17.07. – Ed.]

I've got a backlog of stuff I'm looking forward to though. Here's what's on top of the stack:

• After Dark, the latest from prolific Japanese author Haruki Murakami. I haven't read any of his previous work but am looking forward to seeing what the hype is all about. [Technically not ‘on top of the stack’ as it's pub date is 05.08. But I have pre-ordered it. – Ed.]
• A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier, Ishmael Beah. Saw him on The Daily Show and the soft-spoken, exceedingly polite gentleman talking with Jon Stewart was hard to reconcile with the drug-fueled, AK-47 toting child that is said to inhabit this memoir.
• Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Survive and Others Die..., Chip & Dan Heath. Gotta stay on top of my game. So, occasionally you gotta read one of the ‘hot’ books-of-the-moment. Though by the time I get to it, the moment may have passed. We'll see.

If anyone's read any of these and has some thoughts, let me know.

Movies:
I got nothin'.

Music:
Another album I've come late to. A Weekend in the City, Bloc Party's latest. Their first, Silent Alarm, is right up there with Arctic Monkey's debut as one of my favorites of the past couple of years. But, for some reason, I wasn't ready to dive in on this one. Anyway, my brother, Diego, gave it the ‘go ahead’ about a month ago and so I finally picked it up – but I didn't start spinning it. Then, on Monday I'm driving in to work and Hunting for Witches comes on Left of Center (Sirius) – but I don't realize what I'm hearing – and I think to myself, “This sh*t is fookin' hot!” and I look at the display to find – it's BP. And that's why Hunting for Witches is this week's Tuesday Track.

TV:
Heroes, Sopranos, Entourage, The Office, 30 Rock. That's all I can tell you.

Video Games:
Again, I got nothin'. I'm as disappointed as you are. You can still game after you're married, right? Right?

A Convenient Truth

Not to make light of the very real problem of global warming but I'm getting married in an outdoor ceremony on May 11. So, the above forecast is a very welcome sight. [Click on the image for a larger view. – Ed.]

And, while we're on the subject, TreeHugger.com (30 Global Writers Bring You the Latest in Modern Green.) is a fantastic, nicely written and designed, Green resource. [As is TheClimateProject.org linked to ‘global warming‘ above. – Ed.] The site has great ‘Green Guides‘ with easily implementable ways to go Green in various aspects of your life – including one on How to Green Your Wedding. We didn't hit all of the ‘Top 10 Tips’ but we did hit a few. You gotta start somewhere, right?