Author: corey

Behold a fantastic soda vs pop infographic/map

When I was a kid in Southern California we called carbonated soft drinks “coke” in the generic sense. I wasn’t introduced to “soda” until I moved to Manhattan in 1985.

It looks like California has been slowly working in “soda” but not to the near 100% penetration of the North-East.

Does anyone know what they use in the “other” sections of Virginia and North Carolina?

[via MetaFilter]

Today I learned:

• There are more French restaurants in New York than in Paris [via Snapple bottle top]
  
• Tribeca stands for Triangle Below Canal Street [via some tourists looking at a map]

Note: I’ve already been told I’m an idiot for not knowing #2, but I’m betting I’m not the only one.

update: spelling

The NYT mentions inside that the military confirmed that a soldier ordered to play a prisoner at Gitmo was beaten by guards who didn’t know he was undercover. Here’s an interview with the soldier.

So I’m working on having batteries in every single bathroom product.

My latest addition: the Gillette M3 Power razor. Oh my this thing is incredible. AAA battery powered vibrating razor blades sounds scary, but fear not.

Also featured is my Oral-B hummingbird vibrating flosser and Sonicare (non-Elite version) which started it all.

Pretty soon I’ll reach a Jetsons ideal of just walking into the bathroom and letting the robots take it from there.

I do wonder what my neighbors make of all that vibrating noise.

   

Save $24.95; no need to buy Trump’s book.

John posted Trump’s rules… in summary:

1. You have to be born with enough brainpower.
2. Once you have that, you have to love what you’re doing. I’ve never seen anyone succeed who didn’t love what they were doing.
3. You cannot stop. If there is a concrete wall in front of you, you have to go through it. You can never, ever give up or even think in terms of giving up.
4. Confidence is a very important thing. But confidence isn’t something you just develop by saying “I’m going to do this or that.” You really have to believe it.
5. I love pitting people against each other. My whole life is based on that. It brings out the best in people and the worst in people. If the worst comes out, you don’t want them working for you.
6. You have to remain cool under fire and let criticism roll off you. Good leaders handle conflict easily and bad ones are eaten up by it.
7. You must work well with others and be loyal to your team. Disloyalty is the worst of all traits. I seldom use the words “You’re fired!” in business, unless somebody is really scum and stole from me.

[via SimpleGeek]

Mike Doughty will launch a full tour with a band in June for the first time since Soul Coughing broke up. Mike Doughty’s Band features Mike Doughty on guitar and vocals, Thomas Bartlett (aka The Doveman) on keyboards and Shahzad Ismaily on drums. After warmup dates in Hoboken, New Jersey (June 5) and Brooklyn (June 6), the trio will kick off a three-week tour in Cleveland on June 9. The run continues through two nights at Stubbs in Austin, Texas, on July 2 and 3, and includes a June 11 performance at the Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. Full list of dates below.
June
5 – Hoboken, NJ – Maxwell’s
6 – Brooklyn, NY – Southpaw

Soul Coughing is on my top 5 all time favorite band list. I also had the opportunity to see Mike Doughty solo, just him and a guitar, last year in Brooklyn and enjoyed it.

I’ll probably be going to the June 6 show if anyone is interested.

Veteran travellers to Hong Kong had recommended that we investigate custom tailored suits during our visit. Based on a recommendation for a specific tailor (there are hundreds) from a very senior executive at my company several of our team members had pants and jackets made for them. Since my trip was two weeks I decided to wait and use their goods as a baseline for my purchase.

After whitnessing the process and deciding that everything was on the up and up, I took the plunge. I knew I wanted a very dark blue suit and proceeded to hunt through the fabric book. The difficult part is making the conceptual leap from a 6″ x 5″ swatch to a finished suit. I certainly could have used a little more authoritiative advice from the shop owner, but I generally know what I like and don’t like garment-wise. Measurements are taken – mercifullily little crotch-grab. Next I am led through a series of design questions on flaps, lapels, buttons, pockets, everything. It is all juat a little stressful and very much like Mongolian BBQ – you really can’t blame the guy if it comes out shitty.

The thought also occurred that since we had all the design power, shouldn’t we use the opportunity to really make it “custom” and add like 30 pockets all over the thing. Channel the inner fashion designer. The added benefit of pretty much everyone constantly asking where you got the short-sleeved suit.

A couple days later I went back for the first fitting. They bring out what is essentially a half-finished suit, no zippers, no buttons, one arm only on the jacket. This is where the magic happens. They micro-adjust every seam and fit detail.

Back for the final fitting and payment another couple days later. The finished product looks quite good so far, but I’ll know better once I’ve worn it out. Total cost of all this is heavily dependent on material selection, but basically it is about half the cost of a standard Hugo Boss off-the-rack starter suit.

Out of curiosity and a surprising lack of properly fitting dress shirts in my wardrobe I decided to go for a custom shirt as well. These guys specialize so its off to Ascott Chang’s upstairs. This time there are many more exacting measurements (no separate fitting here) and a few more design choices.

Both these places keep your measurements on file so if I love them I can order up a few more colors as needed.

From Hollie’s Vonage bill:

(to Hong Kong)
International Minutes: 24
International Minutes Charge:  $0.48

From the Kowloon Shangri-La Hotel Bill:
IDD Call: ~15 minutes
Charge: HK$265.00 ~ US$34.00

Last week our team was invited out on a yacht owned by the MegaCorp that owns the software company we are out here to visit. Apparently the boat was built in 1957 and is one of only four left in the world. Good times had by all continued through cocktails and dinner.

The chairman had mentioned when we arrived that we should have brought our bathing suits for waterskiing and swimming and prodded me again at dinner on going swimming. At this point I’m seriously considering the logistics and the career damage potential. Then he throws in a “I’ll go if you go”. At this point I’m sold but am trying to figure out how to get him to make it seem like I’m less eager than I really am. When my VP comes to the rescue with a follow-up “I’ll go if you go”. Hosanna.

A quick are-you-sure’s exchanged and we drop trough and leap into the blackness. Now I’m not one to go into natural bodies of water due to my cold-water-tolerance being incredibly low, but uncharacteristically believed our host’s claims of “bathwater” like temps. Swam around the boat three times, hung out shark-bait style for a while and climbed back aboard.

We then were able to educate the Chinese on the meaning of “commando.” China, you’re welcome.

I know this is going to sicken a portion of my audience, but the pork challenge is still running at 100%. Here was a side dish for dinner last night in Lan Kwai Fong.

The closest call came after a sushi lunch I had to resort to some dried pork coated in sugar.