Fun

LONDON: He has given the world bacon and egg ice cream, snail porridge and a mousse “poached” in liquid nitrogen. Now one of Britain’s leading chefs is to provide his diners with a way of hearing their eating experience. Full Story.

Side note: Apparently, according to this article, Restaurant Magazine named French Laundry #1 restaurant in the world. Impressive! (although how swayed are they by popularity?) Even though Maggie’s stomach did somersaults when she saw the bill when she and I went there, it’s still cool to have eaten there. And thanks Dad and Mom for taking us!

I just finished one of Jeffrey Steingarten’s (of The Man Who Ate Everything Fame) food articles from Vogue. He gets a variety of ice cream makers and endeavors to create the ultimate soft-serve. At the end of the article, he devotes a lot of words to praise for Meredith Kurtzman, a pastry chef who started at Mario Battali’s Esca and is now at Otto, making handmade authentic Italian gelati. They made available several of the mouth-watering recipes at a site called eGullet of all things: Meredith Kurtzman’s Gelato and Sorbet Recipes. I think I’ll have to make a point of going next time we’re in New York.

Anyone want to review a mystery and possibly have part of your review published online at MysteryNet? We’re doing a promotion for three mystery books for BantamDell. Sign up to enter the drawing and 10 people will be picked for each book, and will receive an Advance Reader Copy. Then send in your review by the deadline and excerpts will be posted at the websites.

Go to the Advance Reader Reviews Drawing page at MysteryNet and enter your email address. (You won’t get spam or on any email list.) Let me know your email address; I think I know who’s picking the winners :). Email me at: james {at} prickitt.com

Forwarded to me by Liz, who works in the International Terminal at JFK…

This article appeared on the front page of section D in today’s USA Today following a 24-hour visit to T4 arranged by IAT for the writer, Laura Bly earlier this week.  It is tied to the release of the movie, The Terminal today.  It is a slightly different version than appears in print but nevertheless is another great story about Terminal 4 and the people who work here.  Janice

Trapped in an Airport?

70 Years on the job. Missed one day of work. Meet Arthur Winston, the real
deal in a city full of fakes.
‘Just keep moving’

Maggie and I have been enjoying “The Time Traveler’s Wife” by Audrey Niffenegger. The story is about Henry, a twenty-something librarian who has Chrono-Displacement Disorder that comes on somewhat like epilepsy, and Clare, a paper-making artist who has to endure long periods of waiting as well as a lot of surprises. Maggie was wondering if the author wrote anything else so I Googled her and found out more about her. Looks like she based the character of Clare on a lot of the things she knows about. I found an interview: Audrey Niffenegger: Woman on the edge of time, her art at a gallery, and in this photo you can see she resembles the main character.

The Edgar Allan Poe Awards are given by the Mystery Writers of America for best in a number of categories. I’ll be posting all of them shortly at MysteryNet’s Edgar Awards site. Here are the Edgar Award Nominees in the Young Adult and Kids categories:

BEST YOUNG ADULT MYSTERY BOOK 2004

Nominees

BEST JUVENILE MYSTERY BOOK 2004

Nominees

OK, Christina, put this on my Christmas wish list for 2005…

Philips to Mass-Produce Flexible Electronic Display for Newspapers

Amsterdam — Dutch Consumer electronics firm Philips on Monday announced plans to release a flexible electronic display panel that can download
newspapers and other text from the Internet and then roll up into a
pen-sized holder, Reuters reported. The Philips product will utilize
technology developed by Cambridge, Mass.-based E Ink, which partnered with
Philips in early 2001 to develop its technology that uses tiny cells whose
color may be manipulated electronically. The Philips display may be
connected to a mobile phone for downloading content, the company said. “We
can produce this in batches. It’s no longer a research project,” a
spokesman at Philips Research told Reuters. “We’re going to build a pilot
line that should be ready in 2005 to make one million displays a year.” Full story

Speed dial replaces memory: In a sign of the times, more people are relying on speed dial to keep track of their phone numbers instead of their memory. And of course there are a few holdouts for paper and pencil. But with so many numbers to keep track of, why not let the phone do it for you?

One problem is losing the phone. Here’s an idea for the cell phone companies: come up with a way to store all your contacts on the company’s computers if you choose, transparently. Those who have privacy issues may be afraid of hackers or evil corporations or law enforcement getting access to your call list (hmm… a future Law & Order episode?), but they could opt not to sync up. Then when you replace your phone, hit a button and all the info comes back. You’d have an incentive to stay with that company.

I got a mass email today saying to watch out for UPS drivers because lots of uniforms were recently bought through eBay. I did a quick Google and found this great resource for finding out if an email is a hoax:
Trend Micro Hoax Encyclopedia
UPS Uniforms Email Hoax
So check out those chain letters before you pass them on!