“What’s Lost Is Found, Very Cheaply”–If you’re ever in Scottsboro, Alabama, be sure to stop by the Unclaimed Baggage Center. I’m not sure how people lose some of the stuff that ends up in the store. One shopper, called Allan, is quoted as saying, “When Jesse Jackson was running for president his suits came in here. And one year when M.C. Hammer was touring, his backdrop came in here from his concert stage.” Jewelry, skis, works of art. Nothing’s too priceless to lose. (Check out the interesting stuff section of the store’s Web site for more gems. I won’t spoil it for you.)
Driving Under the Influence–I’ve only ever seen a few minutes of Reno 911! And I will look back on those minutes fondly.
Ask MetaFilter–Have I ever mentioned that I love this site? All the discussions I’ve ever read on there have been surprisingly good (and spam- and flame-free). Get or share your answers to such timeless questions as “What exactly do people, especially young people (18-22) DO at the lake or beach all day?” I’m still trying to decide whether or not I want to pay the $5 one-time registration fee to be able to post comments.
Metropolitan Opera–This New York institution (see Moonstruck) is having its first-ever open house Sept. 22. For those with no obligations that Friday, you can attend the final dress rehearsal for Madama Butterfly, which will kick off the Met’s 2006-07 season. Tickets to the rehearsal are free and will be distributed Wednesday, Sept. 20 on a first-come, first-served basis.
Survivor–The next season of this reality adventure show will premiere Sept. 14, with four teams of five members each based on race. Which means that the show will boost the total number of Asians on TV to 5. (OK, that might be a little harsh. More like, 6.)
Pluto’s demotion–Did anyone stop to think about the astrologers??
Took these photos awhile ago. I’ve only ever seen these miniature displays in Target stores. I got such a kick out of them the first time I saw them. I like to think of them as matching tents and sleeping bags for your ferret should you go camping with your ferret. You could have the miniatures inside of the human-sized counterparts. Very postmodern.
I spent the July 4th weekend in Boston. I’ve been to Boston a few times now, but I still learned new things about the place, the characteristics that make each city unique. For example, sometimes two people will go through a rotating turnstile together on one subway token. I’d never seen that done anywhere else, but apparently it’s common in Boston, at least in places where security cameras have yet to be installed. I’m not even sure two people can fit into the turnstiles here in the New York City subway.
The T is phasing out its token fare system. One night, I had to buy a token from the attendant. I could see through the glass that he had lined up all the tokens on the counter to his left. On his right he’d lined up different coins so he could quickly give out change.
The T passes are known as CharlieTickets and CharlieCards, named after the Charles River. That’d be like New York City’s MTA naming its passes the Hudson or, as a friend pointed out, the East.
The announcements on the T sound a little mournful, not at all jaunty like the announcements on the Chicago El. No one can hear anything on the MTA, at least not on the older trains. (Saturday Night Live got it right with its sketch about why subway announcements are impossible to understand.)
Posted: July 19, 2005 | Author:mll | Filed under:Entertainment, Portfolio | Tags:animals, books, travel | 2 comments »
I’m posting two reports that I did for my radio reporting class. The files are fairly big but unless you’re on a modem, you should have no trouble listening to them.
Brooklyn stoop sales (1:42) I’d wanted to note that I always see flyers for stoop sales taped to streetlamps or advertised on the sidewalk in chalk, but there wasn’t enough time. A minute and a half really is no time at all!
Feral cats (3:34) The inspiration for this report came about because I fostered a feral cat that Elyse (one of the women whom I interviewed) had trapped.
After writing about my desire to walk across the country, I read about a man who’s doing just that right now. He left California in April and expects to reach New York in September. His story appeared in the New York Times magazine a week ago, meaning you’d have to pay for access, but here’s his Web site: The Fat Man Walking.
Just for fun, here’s a cute article about the release of the latest Harry Potter book, about a husband and wife who have to buy two copies of The Half-Blood Prince because both want to read it at the same time. I totally understand their rationale. On another note, I noticed around 1:30 Saturday morning that the New York Times online had a review of the latest Harry Potter book. I wonder if the reviewer wrote a draft beforehand, based on what she thought would be in the book, and then skimmed the book for plot points. As far as I know, no advanced copies of the book were (intentionally) released.
Posted: July 12, 2005 | Author:mll | Filed under:Culture | Tags:oddities, travel | 2 comments »
Between May 2002 and December 2004, Caleb Smith walked every street in Manhattan. The press, including a journalism school classmate, wrote about his exploits.
Today, All Things Considered aired an interview with a woman who walked all the streets of Minneapolis. Is this a new trend?
If I did something like that now, it would seem kind of derivative to me. (On his Web site, Smith mentions hearing from people who have tackled walks in Minneapolis as well as San Francisco, Christ Church, New Zealand, and Amsterdam.) I’ve always thought walking across the country might be fun, setting off like Forrest Gump, perhaps, and not stopping until, well, I guess Forrest Gump stopped when he felt like stopping. But I’d love to do a coast-to-coast tour, if not on foot then by car. I think in some ways, that impulse appeals to the side of me that prizes lists and organization. I’m fascinated by the thought of being able to catalog — through words and pictures — all the places I would visit.
Posted: February 14, 2005 | Author:mll | Filed under:Culture | Tags:oddities, travel | 1 comment »
Noticed some articles on unusual people in Sunday’s New York Times:
One article profiled a man who is walking across America for the second time. I’ve thought about walking across America before, but I haven’t even driven across most of it. Maybe one day, after I’ve accumulated enough disposable income, I can take the time off to do something like that.
Another article was about a woman who sold her house and now lives on a cruise ship. Wonder what kind of tax breaks she gets. I doubt I’ll ever be able to afford such an arrangement. After reading David Foster Wallace’s “A Supposedly Fun Thing I’ll Never Do Again,” though, I’m not sure I’d want to spend even a week on a cruise much less live on one year round.
