Thought for Food

May 12

David Byrne Makes Sweet Music with a Building

The “Playing the Building” installation will include devices attached to ceiling beams, plumbing, electrical conduits and other parts of the structure. Sound will be produced through vibration, making the building function as an instrument.

Via Examiner.

“I was walking to the copier and he was walking to the copier and I knew he was and he looked back at me and smiled and I grabbed a bunch of copies and they started to fall and we started laughing and he asked me if I got some sun on Sunday and I said, ‘No I’m just blushing.’” A friend describes office romance. I LOVE LOVE.

Go East, Young Taco

In which I take a 1940s recipe for Fried Scallion Cake and make … Chinese Tacos!

OMFTerrible

Worst Gossip Girl ever. Reminded me of a bad episode of Scooby Doo mixed with, I don’t know, One Tree Freaking Hill. (Cut from inexplicable confession scene to shot of mildly famous person singing.)

The writers are coasting.

"We're urban. Our style is urban."

Heard on 5th Ave in Park Slope. Didn’t know people actually use that very record-company-executive term. And yes, the woman speaking did appear “urban.”

“… the President hit the dance floor again when the band played “Sugar, Sugar.” Said [singer Tyrone] Smith: “He got down!”

Jenna Bush’s Wedding Album, People.com

Oh I am sure he did.

“Whales turn out to be masters of bubble management, comparable to the proper serving of fizzy drinks, such as soda and beer.”

“Whales Evolved Separate Ways to Avoid the Bends” — Discovery News

I love whales! The elephants of the sea.

Getting my fix

I found a way to consume caffeine without drinking coffee, Diet Coke, etc:

Excedrin. Four of ‘em.

Yesssss.

NPR: Hear Us Experience the Earthquake

Melissa Block was doing an interview 50 miles from epicenter when the quake hit. In the audio clip, she remains startilingly calm, and remembers to describe what is happening (“the ground is swaying beneath my feet … there is a naked person….”).

A consumate professional, though she seemed quite shooken up as she was being interviewed by Michelle Norris about her experience and a school that suffered grave casualties.

“

While under torture in 1964, I learned to make a distinction in the case of a particularly brutal torturer. I learned to respect him for the way in which he conducted his torture. He was trying to understand me and he was trying to be one step ahead of my thinking.

And I realized then you may hate your enemy but do not be trapped by that hatred, because then you are in danger of underestimating their capacity. You need to respect their technical skills while you hate and totally disagree with their philosophy, their political outlook, and their political program.

”

South African ANC leader Satyandranath Ragunanan “Mac” Maharaj, once charged with terrorism by his country’s apartheid-era government.

Nelson Mandela describes him as “legendary” for several things, including his ability to withstand torture. He is now a peace negotiator in Iraq. Via Fresh Air.