Australia seems to be leading the way in SMS barcode ticketing. Tickets for concerts and, later this year, the cinema, are being offered to patrons as barcodes sent to their mobile phones. Retailers are also considering the technology as a new kind of “coupon” to lure shoppers into their stores with special offers sent to phones. This tactic has been used in conjunction with a concert ticket, as the same bar code was good for 2 for 1 drinks at the bar.

Sign posted on the sandwich counter in the cafeteria yesterday:

Due to extreme bitterness, cucumbers are unavailable.

Another nifty visual design trip from designboom: Writing Lamps History. Inside the counterweight balance section is the almost too classic Tizio lamp that I used to see ads for every day in the paper. (via Antenna)

Since Aaron Sorkin left West Wing I’ve been curious about his next creative endeavor. New Line Cinema recently announced their purchase of his movie script “The Farnsworth Invention,” the story of the inventor of the television. Thomas Schlamme, longtime Sorkin collaborator, will direct. Philo Farnsworth faded into obscurity after RCA, headed by David Sarnoff, successfully launched television as their baby.

What happens when Frank Gehry designs an organ? Perhaps it comes as no shock that the pipes end up curved. The organ in the Walt Disney Concert Hall, a collaboration between architect Gehry and organ builder Manuel J. Rosales, is being prepared for its debut. The instrument, with its uniquely curved wooden facade (but functional) pipes, was installed last year in time for the opening of the hall, however voicing and tuning on all 6,134 pipes has been taking place since then. The pipes and other parts were made by the Glatter-Götz Orgelbau company of Germany. Now Rosales and his associate are spending many hours tweaking the sounds to perfection.

My latest ultimate dream television show would be Alton Brown as a guest on Mythbusters debunking food myths — or any myths would be fine actually.

A couple cats crossed the country in confined quarters. Pip, from Connecticut, was sealed into a FedEx box (you know how much cats love to sit in boxes), and rescued in Indianapolis after his owner realized he had hopped inside while she was packing it up. He was inside for two days. Lilly, a Siamese from Tarrytown, N.Y., survived a two-week trip inside a drawer in a moving van to Reno. I think Pip got the better deal.

We happened to have a book of the first Peanuts strips when I was growing up, so I knew how different Charlie Brown and the gang had been when they started out. Strips always evolve, so it’s no surprise that the early ones have a slightly different tone and characters. But as with all visual things they lose something in description, so now I can point people at the first volume of Complete Peanuts which Charles Schultz’s widow has authorized despite her husband’s misgivings. The kids started out much younger, including the puppy Snoopy. And once in a while an adult actually had something to say. Also available is a book of Schultz’s earlier work, including the Li’l Folks strip.

Newsweek has a tidy little interview online with Madeleine L’Engle. In other articles she’s declined to comment on the movie version of “A Wrinkle in Time,” airing tonight, but she speaks her witty mind here on her low expectations and other topics such as the Harry Potter books and faith.

We’ve all heard that Mother’s Day is the busiest “calling holiday” of the year for phone companies. This article on the call volume clears up the actual numbers, based on Verizon’s data. On a regular workday, 1.5 billion calls are made at Verizon and on a regular Sunday it’s 870 million calls. Mother’s Day is expected to bring 1 billion calls at Verizon, which serves 29 states. And Mother’s Day is the second highest day for collect calls. Number one? Father’s Day.