Butterflies of North America and Moths of North America are “works in progress” from the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center. There are detailed listings by state and even checklists by county. Photos and particulars about habitat and life cycle help you identify any flutter-bys you’ve seen in your travels. The extensive references list everything from the Peterson Field Guides to master’s theses.

The situation at the Sony Metreon in San Francisco continues to go downhill. Even Spiderman, currently crawling down the side of the building, can’t save the day because although the movie theatres are pulling in capacity crowds, that hasn’t translated into retail store sales. The customer-relations staff has been let go and Sony may hand over the reins to a mall management firm. The Discovery Channel store is looking bare with cutbacks on inventory, MicrosoftSF left in November, and Sony isn’t looking to duplicate this facility, once considered a model for future sites elsewhere.

(Administrative note: May archive not working yet because of a Blogger bug.)

This Japanese Sword Index has very detailed and thorough information about sword types, blades, tangs, even flaws. The interesting facts just keep going with details on swordsmiths and history. I was planning to link to this last week, but the ISPs data transfer quota had been exceeded, and I can understand why! Click early, but perhaps not too often.

American Airlines retired their last Boeing 727 Tuesday with a customary water cannon salute. Not knowing what that was, I dug up a page with photos of the water sendoff given to another 727 a couple years ago. It is similar to the effect done by fire boats. Passengers were also given commemorative plaques; perhaps airplane memorabilia collectors will be checking eBay in a few days?

MIT is still trying to get their paw back. You know that joke about the dog with a lame leg that walks into a bar? I think Tim the Beaver can relate.

Many SF Bay Area residents would agree that upon moving elsewhere, after getting over the shockingly lower housing costs, the main thing they would miss is the vast array of ethnic cuisines available in this global village. Sure, the weather may be right up there on the “hard to forget” list, but with three meals a day (and snacks!), the loss of food choices can easily come out on top. In many areas of the U.S. you get a choice of the typical selection of cuisines (Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Korean). But here you also end up with concentrated styles within the general cuisine (Szechuan, Hong Kong dim sum, Southern Indian, chaat houses, Japanese noodles, sushi of course, Korean barbecue and tofu houses). It’s not something to take for granted, though many of us do.

The SF Chronicle ran a special last week on “the new ethnic landscape” of Northern California. It goes into detail on subjects such as the Asian supermarket Ranch 99 and the enclave of Indian markets and restaurants that sit half a block away from my condo (they blend in almost seamlessly with a row of Korean restaurants and markets). It says a lot when you can not only pick from multiple ethnic restaurants, but also, with little effort, buy authentic ingredients and recreate the dishes at home.

I was trying to determine why mention of the automated dog & cat washing machine only now popped up on News of the Weird when I knew I read about it in December 2001 in Wired News. I discovered that News of the Weird lists its sources in its raw version. This information never makes it into my newspaper’s edited blurbs, and I’m happy to find that it is available. The item on the pet washer lists the following: National Post, 12-27-01, Irish Examiner, 3-30-02. I believe the latter is for the second mention of a Northern Ireland inventor who was awarded a grant to study mobile dog-washing equipment. So the pet washing news is indeed from December, but is making the official Weird News rounds now (kinda like that neato web site that your co-worker always emails out months after you first see it).

A NY Times article on the new Williams-Sonoma venture West Elm (note: link resizes window) hints at what happened to Crate & Barrel’s venture into the GenX market, CB2, which I mentioned here two years ago. The original concept, perhaps lacking in sophistication, didn’t take off as well as expected and was overhauled. Now CB2 may expand into other areas. We’ll see if the Elm Street catalog gives it a run for its money. Their target market is similar, but Elm Street is cultivating a New York apartment lifestyle. Senior VP Lisa Versacio pushed for it to be more than a cheaper version of Pottery Barn (a Williams-Sonoma brand). While it will be more affordable than its older sister, it will be decidedly more urban and scaled for small living quarters.

At the Milan Furniture Fair, the Swedish firm Snowcrash exhibited a portable room aptly named Cloud. It comes in a golf-bag sized case and inflates with a fan when you plug it in. The pillowy room it creates seems rather soothing.