Ever had a bad month? My friend Dan has had a bad month, for example:

6 blocks from her house, I was pulled off my bike at the intersection of Shattuck and Alcatraz by a crowd of youths. They kicked me in the face a few times in the middle of the intersection, while cars on all sides honked because we were in their way. When I got up I was almost cartoonishly furious. I hit two of them pretty solidly and they all backed off, melting back into the crowd hanging out by the laundromat. I screamed for them to fight like men, challenging any two of them to face me in the intersection.

Read the whole miserable tale here.

Scientists Analyze Genetic Makeup of Dogs:

Among other findings, the analysis determined that the Chihuahua is actually a type of large rodent, selectively bred for centuries to resemble a canine.

Ha ha!

Ever since Sonia Gandhi's Congress party won the Indian elections and she announced she was going to step aside and let Indian economic whiz, and member of the Sikh minority, Manmohan Singh accept the Prime Minister role from muslim (another minority) President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam I've been doing a daily google search for "a sikh" "a muslim" "an italian" "walk into a bar" with no results. Of course, I just tainted the search pool by posting this, but I am still waiting for the hilarity to ensue.

Epicurious has published an article JAMES BEARD: POCKET FULL OF DOUGH wherein Mr Beard does some investigation into the practice of bribing your way into exclusive restaurants in New York. A short fun read! Here's an excerpt:

Given the size of the crowd and the length of the wait, I decided to reach for my right pocket. I waited until the man behind the podium was alone (Rule No. 6) and rested my left hand lightly on his back. Suddenly, I was Fred Astaire and he was Ginger Rogers. He knew exactly what to do. He pivoted toward me and turned his right hand from face down to face up, giving me a target. I slipped the bill into his hand and said again, "This is a really important night for me."

If you've ever been exposed to the hipster indie rock scene, and you enjoy physics, then you'll love hipster physics. Remember, M+S=XXX!

Boing Boing reports on Colin Powell's appearance on Tim Russert's Meet the Press where a white house press aide attempts to disrupt the interview, physically moving the camera off of Powell as he is asked some tough questions. The aired show includes the disruption, Powell's rebuking of the staff member and his answer to the question.

I've had a number of talks with people recently about Colin Powell. I'm not an expert on his past, but throughout his run with the Bush II administration he seems to me to be a man of honor and confliction. He stood by his president through the questionable build up to the Iraq war because that was the honorable thing for a man in his position to do despite his own conflicting opinion, but when forced to recognize that the office of Presidency may not be acting honorably itself he also upholds his honor to the american public. In my opinion, Powell is the only person in the american political scene right now who would make a great president of the United States. I haven't felt truly proud of any other american politician since Jimmy Carter.

After the seminar, I went to Edinburgh Castle to see Sistersound. Another great show; these guys are better every time I see them. Click the photo above to see the whole set...