Category: Misc.

“The Scales of Good and Evil”–one man’s list of the best and worst people of all time.

I attended a book signing by Dave Eggers yesterday. He autographed my copy of his new novel, “You Shall Know Our Velocity”–and, under my name, drew a picture of a small boat with the word “indeed” on it. He seemed like a nice guy.

O.J. Simpson says: “For years, I’ve been pretty sure that I did not murder my wife.”

If you enjoy Apple’s “Switch” campaign (which urges unhappy PC users to try Macs), you may also like the Japanese version of their ads. No clue what they’re saying, but the spots are funny.

Marissa Mayer, a Product Manager at Google, talks about how they keep the site so simple and user-friendly. (And on a side note, Mark Hurst, who runs GoodExperience.com, offers this intriguing photo of a Beijing cityscape. I like the juxtaposition of the modern buildings, the McDonald’s sign, the pagoda, and, on the building in the foreground, the Chinese flag.)

I saw the incredibly good WILCO at the 9:30 Club last night. And then I had a chili cheeseburger at Ben’s Chili Bowl. I am a happy man.

“WHY I WRITE: TC Boyle, Roger Ebert, Lawrence Block, Tod Goldberg, Will Leitch, Claire Zulkey, Rob Walker, James Norton, Jade Walker, John Scalzi, Bob Sassone and Marty Beckerman on why they put pen to paper, or fingers to keyboard.” Some great stuff here.

First, Frank Rich, writing in the New York Times Magazine, says that DC sucks–and that New York City is “The De Facto Capital.” Then Slate’s Timothy Noah says “New York Is Not the Nation’s Capital–Frank Rich has it wrong.” My thoughts, having lived in New York and now living in DC: this is much ado about nothing. Washington and Gotham are vastly different cities, and one isn’t better than the other. In Des Moines and Phoenix and Atlanta and Detroit, no one cares about this stuff.

SpongeBob SquarePants: the new Tinky Winky.

“Point-Counterpoint: Wines.”