Best band name ever

For a klezmer band: Oy Division

Airport security farce

Gotta love the new article out in the Atlantic in which author Jeffrey Goldberg took everything incriminating he could think of through airport security: "al-Qaeda T-shirts, Islamic Jihad flags, Hezbollah videotapes, inflatable Yasir Arafat dolls (really), pocketknives, matches from hotels in Beirut and Peshawar, dust masks, lengths of rope, cigarette lighters, nail clippers, eight-ounce tubes of toothpaste (in my front pocket), bottles of Fiji Water (which is foreign), and, of course, box cutters" --and had almost nothing taken away from him. Not even the saline solution!

We took our shoes off and placed our laptops in bins. Schneider took from his bag a 12-ounce container labeled "saline solution."
"It's allowed," he said. Medical supplies, such as saline solution forcontact-lens cleaning, don't fall under the TSA's three-ounce rule.
"What's allowed?" I asked.
"Saline solution, or bottles labeled saline solution?"
"Bottles labeled saline solution. They won't check what's in it, trust me."
They did not check. As we gathered our belongings, Schneier held up the bottle and said to the nearest security officer, "This is okay, right?" "Yep," the officer said. "Just have to put it in the tray."
"Maybe if you lit it on fire, he'd pay attention," I said, risking arrest for making a joke at airport security. (Later, Schneier would carry two bottles labeled saline solution - 24 ounces in total -through security. An officer asked him why he needed two bottles. "Two eyes," he said. He was allowed to keep the bottles.)

More here: http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/print/200811/airport-security

Actually, the best thing about reading this article is now I know how I can bring honey and peanut butter with me when I travel. It's really been annoying to me that I've had to give up my breakfast, when anyone can see that very little actual 'security' is provided in exchange. Refillable saline bottles are now my new travel tip for fall!

And other websites for the enjoyment

Someone asked me what I'm doing on the Internet most of the time and I realized my use breaks down into two categories--either I'm looking for new music, or I'm looking for something that makes me laugh. This website falls pretty firmly into the latter category.

It posts signs, products, labels, and other examples from China and Japan with unusual use of English.

For example, the label above. . .

Here's another of my faves recently:

http://www.engrish.com/2008/09/still-tastes-like-chicken/

I don't know why, but I can look at these for hours.

A thing of beauty and a joy forever. . .

. . . is otherwise known as the truly fabulous music website AURGASM (I know, goofy name). The site posts complete tracks of music, is very well curated to showcase a wide range of styles and talents, never lists more than 2 tracks to an artist, and gives you the chance to read a short description, then listen to the whole track. Then, if you like it, you can download it for free! This is now my premier vehicle for finding new music I love. It's helped me discover all kinds of things, such as, . . . .bossa nova (Doesn't that sound like something an elderly uncle would like?) It's actually really cool. Very relaxing, kind of like I imagine a huge martini would be, if I drank huge martinis.



Take a listen!

http://aurgasm.us/

YouTube skit waiting to happen

My mother called and said that she had to take her car in to be fixed because the voice which reminded her to put on her seatbelt developed a problem. She didn't say anything more about it and after I hung up the phone I was enjoying imagining what type of problem it could have developed.

Did it develop a gravelly, Long Island accent? Did it start making smartass remarks? My husband and I were enjoying imagining what it could have been saying that would have irritated my usually frugal mother enough to get her to take it in for repairs:

--"That hairdo does nothin' for you."

--"Where are we goin' again, not just the grocery store, are ya kiddin' me?"

--"You're going out lookin' like THAT?"