East Palo Alto may be fighting against an IKEA, but they did allow a Starbucks to slip in. What?? Well, turns out that the store resulted from a partnership with Earvin “Magic” Johnson’s company, Johnson Development, which has opened 32 Starbucks in under-served communities. Most of the employees are from East Palo Alto. OK, now I wonder if Magic can help create a taste for Swedish meatballs?

I have had many music lovers tell me how much they enjoy Boléro only to disappoint them when I reveal how uninteresting it is for me to perform. I appreciate its theme and build-up, especially as interpreted by ice dancers Torvill and Dean, but the repetition involves little creativity in the musical performance. Neurologists have analyzed Boléro as a product of Ravel’s deteriorating brain condition. They believe the weakened left hemisphere of his brain played a part in the timbre prevalent composition. Timbre is handled by the right brain. His piano concerto for the left hand also has characteristics different from earlier compositions. But, who can say if this was an evolutionary development in Ravel’s music or a result of disease? A music researcher points out that his interest in mechanization could easily account for the repetitiveness of Boléro. (via Follow Me Here)

Seeing the 555-LIST, a “directory” of movie and television phone numbers, reminded me of the stories surrounding the number used at the end of the movie Sneakers. The story I remember (I can not find a source for it now) was that they did want to ruin the moment in the film where the agent gives her phone number by using a fake sounding 555 number. So they asked the phone company for a 415 number (the film takes place in the San Francisco Bay area) that would not be in use for many years (that was pre cell phone, pager, etc. estimates!). However, Usenet postings tell of a rumor that the number was actually set up by the film’s producers to ring an answering machine for the fictional “Sneakers” security company. Then there were Usenet posters who tried the number and claim that it rang, clicked to another line, rang, and was answered by someone at the IRS. Nice. (555 via memepool)

Chocolate Ginger Ice Cream from Reed’s, the brewers of that fantastic Ginger Brew, was one of the new yummies at the Fancy Foods Show in San Francisco this week. Other notable foodstuffs and gadgets are listed in this Wired article which also reveals that electronics company Kyocera is the same company that makes the ceramic knives. Kyocera’s informative FAQ about their knives tells of the derivation of the company’s name, which was originally “Kyoto Ceramics”.

Life Magazine has a search feature for its covers from 1936-1972. I found a rather risque (for 1953) Audrey Hepburn, a very young Julie Andrews, and the opening of Disney World. (via Library Stuff)

The subject of synesthesia is making the media rounds again. 60 Minutes II did a story on it recently and an article appeared in the Washington Post this week. I was fascinated by The Man Who Tasted Shapes, mainly for its theory that synesthesia is a primitive limbic brain function, perhaps a clue or at least a vestige of man’s ascent into intelligence and emotional experience. After the NY Times Book Review printed a negative review of the book in 1993, its author, Richard E. Cytowic MD, posted a scathing response on Usenet. I had an email exchange with him following that, which consisted of me using big words to tell him how cool I thought his book was and how wrong the reviewer was, and him responding in a suitably nice manner. Since then, and it has been almost 10 years, scientists have not reached an agreement on what causes the phenomenon or even how many people have it, but they do agree that it exists and can be inherited. Perhaps more than one theory is correct, as I have heard that you can acquire and lose synesthesia as a result of brain disorders. I have always wondered how many people do not realize that they have some form of synesthesia until they learn about what it is, a situation the author of the Washington Post article finds herself in.

Library News Daily led me to the very useful Book Sale Finder which lists used booksales around the United States and Canada. The listings are mainly those of the non-profit organization variety, which are my favorite. Poking around “Friends of” or “Alumni of” or “Womens Club of” sales can yield much good fruit. I always enter hoping that someone has decided to unload their kiddie and cooking bookshelves. And there is always the chance that you’ll spot a first edition of something for $1 that a book seller would only let go of for $50. (thanks frykitty!)

Reading about the Lomo camera yesterday reminded me of Pixelvision, which I was introduced to when I saw Richard Linklater’s film Slacker. When the movie suddenly turned fuzzy and grey, the person I was with said “Hey, he’s using that Fisher-Price camera that recorded on audio cassettes! That was a super cool device.” It was a novel idea, but the camera bombed. Five minutes of very low quality black & white video on a 90 minute tape was not appealing enough to kids accustomed to their parents’ video cameras. But the camera’s surreal images held the perfect results for attracting a cult following. Where there is filtering of reality, there is art.

Amanda Hesser’s NY Times essay on braising reveals the reason for the different shape of the French and English pots used to slow cook meats. “French braising pots were often oval because butchers boned and tied meat in an oval shape, whereas in England, the meat was tied into a round button shape, so English cooks usually had round pots.” Many of the pots termed “braisers” nowadays are oval shaped, but I thought most meats fit best into an oval or rectangular pot. Knowing the way the English stick to their traditions, I’d venture a guess that they’re still getting plenty of rounded meats.

The SJ Mercury News has a detailed write-up of the history and current use of the Lomo camera. The small Russian camera, designed for the Soviet mass market, has developed a cult following. Two college students from Vienna sparked this phenomenon after buying a Lomo in a Czechoslovakian junk shop. They displayed the unusual results in large collages and friends demanded their own Lomos. A smuggling operation began. Now legitimized, the two former students have sold thousands of cameras. “Lomographers”, from professional photographers to celebrities, are participating in an art photography subculture where spontaneity and uniquely quirky results are treasured. Lomo embassies and ambassadors spread the word, though they recognize that part of the appeal of Lomo culture is its underground status.