Me, Me, Meme

I love me a good meme and Sherri at The Claw was kind enough to include me with some pretty fab bloggers in her tag list, so here goes with her Eight Questions:

1. best news you've heard in a while? Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth was finally made into a movie. Well, a miniseries. A great book, I hope they don’t screw it up.

2. first concert you ever saw? Toto, 1982, at a theater (vs. an arena). At the time I knew only one of their songs but the French exchange student who was living with us that summer was mad for them, and she was cool, so they must be cool, so I happily tagged along. We sat right in front of the speakers and I was deaf for at least a day afterward.

3. who was your teenybopper crush? Young Patrick Dempsey was a fave. Current Patrick Dempsey also, but wasn't he so cute in Can't Buy Me Love? Also, the whole cast of The Outsiders. Except maybe Ralph Macchio. Not my type. Also: too Karate Kid.



4. favorite new blogs you'd recommend? These aren’t new per se, but they are new to me: La Maison Boheme, Small Place Style, From Me To You (really gorgeous photography and food styling and I love the Diary of a Brocavore series of recipes and photos).

5. would you be interested in a bloggy pal meetup, and if so where do you suggest? New York! Or Chicago. I'll go anywhere.

6. total eclipse of the heart - crank up or change the station? Crank it up once for old times sake and a loud sing-a-long. Definitely not on repeat though.

7. currently reading? Catching up on stacks of magazines before diving into a new book.

8. karaoke - yes or no? I love the idea of karaoke, but the few times I have gone it seems to be very cliquey and elitist, and that is no fun. So ‘no’ on principle. Maybe we could have a private Total Eclipse of The Heart karaoke party at the blogger meet-up?

Want to play along (and I hope you do)? Answer my Eight Questions in the Comments or on your blog (and put a link in the Comments):

1. Favorite non-John Hughes ‘80s movie?

2. Cake or pie? Discuss.

3. Here is $100 cash, what would you splurge on?

4. Here is another $100 cash, but you have to donate it. To whom and why?

5. First job you ever had.

6. Something that you collected and have since stopped but people keep giving you (and what do you do with it now?).

7. Describe your perfect Sunday.

8. Look! Time travel is now possible! Where would you go?

Hold the phone, Domino may be calling

That’s right fellow shelter mag junkies, I said Domino. The word in ad-land is that Conde Nast has a soon-to-be-released Gourmet app –- that may be followed by a Domino version.

The Gourmet app launches in November, and while it will include selections from Gourmet’s treasure-trove of classic food editorial, it will be a social experience “that will involve earning points, spending virtual currency and sharing recipes.” According to Ad Age, Conde Nast CEO Chuck Townsend said other shelved brands that failed as print publications during the recession could be brought back in different forms, such as the beloved shelter title Domino, "one of those brands we know has real legs."

I can see the attraction of a recipe and grocery-list app for a smartphone (I already have 3 for my iPhone). But when it comes to a potential Domino version, two things worry me: the impact of good decor photos will be completely lost on the small screen of a smartphone*, and the prospect of user-generated decor photos + virtual currency + social experience makes me think of Farmville decorated by Apartment Therapy. And that can’t be good.

That’s not to say I wouldn’t be one of the first to download once it becomes available, however. ;-)
*hmmm, would look great on an iPad…

Yes, DO cry over spilt oil

Here is a visualization of the Gulf oil spill on a Google map of the area:

Even with that map, it is hard to understand just how big the spill is, so here is the same visualization of it If It Was My Home* of Hartford, Connecticut -- pretty much wiping out the entire area between Boston and New York City:

Ironically, if it were a land-based spill, it would not have gotten this big, as it would have been more easily contained. It’s 48 days later, over 400 species of animals have been affected, and over 40 million gallons of oil have gushed forth. Tar is already washing up on beaches in Alabama, Florida and Louisiana. If you have never stepped in tar-sand, let me tell you it does not wash off easily, you basically have to scrape it off your skin with a paint scraper. Unless you are a duck, egret, or seal, then you have to hope someone catches you and gives you a bath in Dawn dish detergent. If you are a fish, tough luck, you will suffocate. Experts say it is only a matter of time before the slick gets caught in the Gulf current and works its way up the East Coast and then farther east to Bermuda and Europe.

I encourage you to put a map of the slick over your town on your blog, to help more people understand how big it is (you will have to do a screencap to get the picture).

*Grammatically speaking that should say “If It Were My Home” but let’s not get picky, the guy wrote a program that can put the spill on a map anywhere in the world, ‘k?