This is a really cool optical illusion. You’ll see how your brain misinterprets perspective about 35 seconds in. Via Exler.
When I first settled in New York City, the single public transportation fare was $1.10. Today, it’s $2.25. More than 100% increase over the course of nearly 20 years. Adjusting for inflation, however, it comes to only about 32% over that time. At the beginning of this month, New Jersey…
I think I’d do really well as a blogger if all I did was borrow content from Exler. So here it is, two appropriations in a row. This is Axis of Awesome with an awesome demonstration that a huge number of modern hits are written with only the same four…
I’m far from being prolific in my blogging these days, for a great number of reasons. Instead of recounting those reasons, I’ll just borrow content elsewhere on this occasion. This clip is nothing short of brilliant. Via Exler.
I wonder how many Parisians visit Louvre more than once in their adult lives, if ever. Or Londoners National Gallery. Or Madrileños Prado. Outside of a small group of art students and fanatical art lovers, I doubt that the majority of local population ever finds time in their busy daily…
It has been almost a year and a half since I performed my review of three photo-book services (MyPublisher, Picaboo and Blurb). Since then, I did not have much time to engage in projects that would either involve any of the aforementioned services or bring me in contact with something…
One of the things that we always liked the least in Europe is the intent of people in the service sector to have lives outside of their shops. What do you mean, you are closed for three hours in the middle of the day? Are you so dumb as to…
A friend was buying event tickets online. She typed in her credit card number and all of the required information and received the following response on the screen: Your transaction could not be completed because of Reason #2. Who designs these things, anyway?
This German firm sells photo-tarpaulins that are meant to turn your grey and ugly garage doors into something fun and exciting, causing “neighbours, friends and passers-by to stop and stare”. They have dozens of designs. I am torn between these: Tip of the hat to Anya…
It’s been a long time since our resident chef made a guest appearance on the blog. It was not that we did not have culinary experiments during that time, it is simply that we did not bother to take pictures and write up recipes. Correcting that oversight, here is rather…
It occurred to me that my girls now possess skates signed not only by the Olympic silver medalists, but an Olympic champion as well. Becky participated in a 2004 edition of Stars Stripes and Skates gala with Nancy Kerrigan. Next year, she attended a skating clinic in NYC’s Central Park…
It turns out that even in this age of DIY web-enabled travel planning, a good old travel agent has its uses. Case in point. Natasha is planning a half-week getaway for the two of us and, as always, she has spent considerable time online figuring out the most enticing place…
I love stepping out into the bright sunlight at the end of a long workday. I love even more getting off the bus at the end of my lengthy trip home and still having daylight to enjoy. I am a big fan of Daylight Savings for that, if nothing else.
Russian language has a vast trove of colorful gems that remain on the fringes of literary norms. On different levels of obscurity even in the street vernacular, these nouns and adjectives often sound out-of-place in a refined discourse among educated adults. Yet, they often provide the most eloquent and brilliant…
The children and I went to see Alice in Wonderland on Sunday. We are all big aficionados of Lewis Carroll’s masterpiece, and anything coming out in 3D these days has a strong attraction for us anyway. We weren’t disappointed. The 3D experience is quite rewarding, special effects and amalgamation of…
NBC pissed me off with their atrocious Olympics coverage. ABC then decided to get on my bad side by making me miss Oscars. Almost. I was almost expecting the looping “important message from Cablevision” that blamed all ills on ABC throughout the day on Sunday to be replaced by live…
I am getting into a car to go pick up my teenage daughter and a couple of her friends from a trip to the mall. Because I’ve been volunteered to deliver those kids to their homes, and because one of them lives as far as is geographically possible from us…
My kids love to ski. I don’t. So, on our weekend skiing trip, I had ample opportunities to use my new reading gadget, whiling the time away at the lodge. Overall, I am happy with my choice. I like the design and the feel of the reader, the user interface…
What a joke NBC’s Olympic coverage is! A single Olympiad occurred during my time in Europe and, having watched it in two different countries, I was impressed with the coverage both on BBC and also on Italian TV. It was much closer to what I remember from my Soviet days,…
I did not decide to look for an electronic book reader solely after perusing information about iPad. An e-reader was on my to-buy list for quite some time. But the iPad announcement gave me a push and I finally spent money on a gadget that I long wanted. My procrastination…