Wild Wild Web

I’ve often wondered what a top-side view of the evolution of Internet/information technology over the past 15 years would look like (well, not often, but sometimes I think about it). A Very Short list clued me into this handy chart, made by a motley crew of tech junkies at places like Google and GOOD, which tackles that very topic. To paraphrase the lovely ladies of En Vogue, it’s time for a (web browser/application/search engine) breakdown.

Thursday Funny

From Vanity Fair, August 2011

So true, so true.

Razzle Dazzle Camo

A propos of nothing, a canoe camouflaged in the Razzle Dazzle paint scheme employed on naval ships during World War I. Just because it’s Monday, and the ziggy-zaggy design civilianized on an un-battleship is pretty rad.

A Bit of Advice

From an artist whose name I don't know.

“One final paragraph of advice: do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am – a reluctant enthusiast….a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this; You will outlive the bastards.” 

-Ed Abbey

Cheerwine’s Last Stand

Photo: James Mann

If you haven’t already voted in Garden & Gun‘s Southern soda poll, this is your chance to ensure soft drink supremacy for your favorite regional pop once and for all. Though I admit to being partial to Cheerwine (so boringly mainstream, I know), I learned enough about Kentucky’s Ale-8 One (pronounce “A Late One”) while researching the article to carve out a little corner of my drinking heart for this under-the-radar soft drink. Ordinarily, we Southerners call everything “Coke” and then get more specific from there, as in: “What kind of Coke do you want?” “Mountain Dew. Thanks.” But given the recent fascination with our made-in-the-South sodas, it’s only right we start showing some respect and calling these beverages by their given names.

Fry-Fry Chicky-Chick

If you haven’t seen self-described fried chicken obsessive Aziz Ansari break down his unique food lingo on Parks and Recreation, please break away from the coverage of Osama bin Laden’s death for 30 seconds to watch this clip. You’ll never look at eggs or rice the same way again.

Kate to Wills: WINNING!

Photo: AP/Getty Images

Photo: David Levenson/Getty Images

Sum, Sum, Summertime

I found this old Smirnoff ad in a magazine from the late 1970′s, and it seemed to mirror how I’m feeling today. It’s close to 80 degrees here in New York City, and folks are slowly emerging from the long mental hibernation of winter. Steps are lighter, smiles come easier, and sunglasses can be worn without any trace of irony. Sunshine and Warmth, we’ve missed you so.

Green with Envy

Remember last year when Phil Mickelson wore his freshly won green Masters jacket on a morning-after donut run? Because that was awesome.

Somewhere Don Draper is Getting Drunk

From a barn to the 27th floor to that sweet skyscraper in the sky.

There’s good news and bad news circulating in TV Land today. First, let’s rip the Band-Aid off with the Youvegottabeforgettingkiddingme–inducing announcement that AMC is postponing Season 5 of Mad Men amid contract negotiations. The new tentative air date: early 2012. EARLY 2012?! So just as the world is preparing to end in an apocalyptic Mayan blaze, we may (or may not) find comfort in one last hoorah with Don Draper, Betty (well, not Betty but maybe Megan…or at least Sally), and the liquor-swilling employees of Sterling Cooper Draper Pryce? If that’s the case, then please, Matthew Weiner, for the love of all saints, bring back Sal Romano and the ghost of Ida “Neil Armstrong” Blankenship!

And now the good news (which, I admit, is more new-ish than new): Season 3 of Eastbound & Down will bring Kenny Powers to Myrtle Beach. Though Kenny worked hard to get “clean and soebs” in Season 2, something tells me he might be getting Myrtle Beach drunk in the not too distant future. What’s Myrtle Beach drunk, you say? Well, I’m glad you asked…