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.

News on new Wallace and Gromit coming soon to a computer near you. While the next Wallace and Gromit film, called “The Great Vegetable Plot”, won’t be out for a couple years, twelve one minute shorts will be released on the Internet later this year. These bits will feature inventions from Wallace’s Workshop. Much hilarity will ensue, I’m sure. (thanks Steve!)

You probably know someone who is tone deaf, or perhaps you are tone deaf yourself. The official term for people who have difficulty recognizing the difference between tones is amusia. NPR’s All Things Considered had a report a couple days ago on research into “musical disabilities”. It focuses on a woman named Monica who may have congenital amusia, as she has no physical defects or damage that would cause her to be tone deaf. Monica can not distinguish the differences between changes in tone unless they are significantly different. There are sample recordings on the page so you can give this a try yourself. Researcher Isabelle Peretz’s work in creating tests like these for detecting amusia will help geneticists track down the genes that cause this trait. Some people who can’t sing just can’t sing, but some people can’t truly hear what they are trying to duplicate with their voices. (thanks Renee!)

While searching for something completely different, I stumbled upon a site selling Lord of the Rings Swords. Sting, Glamdring, and The Sword of the Witchking are available. The manufacturer, United Cutlery, has the license to reproduce swords from all the films in the trilogy. For more background information on the hardware of LotR, take a stroll through this essay on The Arms and Armour in JRR Tolkien’s Middle Earth. It’s more than you ever wanted to know about all the weapons and armor. And, since I’ve already been asked this, no I don’t think the United Cutlery swords glow when orcs are present. No “Folk of the Noldor” are involved in the manufacturing of the reproductions.