pinchy dot org.

A friend of mine emailed Jack Bishop, the executive editor of Cook’s Illustrated and author of several excellent cookbooks, to tell Bishop about a ravioli-making tool he had discovered. Bishop, who apparently reads his own email, sent a very nice reply. This prompted my friend to forward the reply to his wife and me; add the acronym “OMFG” to the subject line; refer to himself as “JUST ANOTHER GIBBERING JACK BISHOP FAN BOY”; and use more exclamation points than I’ve ever seen outside of an eBay seller review.

I have pretty awesome friends.

The House of Chicken ‘n Waffles is awesome. It sounds like a weird combination, I know, but a fried chicken breast with a waffle on the side is in fact brilliant.

The new videogame Half-Life 2 has by far the most realistic simulation of a city that’s ever been created. It would be great if city planners could take advantage of this technology. Imagine, for example, if San Francisco hired a game company to create an ultra-realistic digital version of its downtown. The city could produce simulations of how its plans would change neighborhoods, making the plans more intelligible to residents; meanwhile, the game company could earn millions on its hit new title, Lombard Street Funny Cars, or whatever.

The problems, of course, are myriad. Models would take time to produce and go out of date before they were finished, and it would cost a fortune to keep them current. (This problem could be mitigated by drawing from GIS data, such as the locations of fire hydrants and street trees, to build and update models.) Advances in technology would make even the most advanced models look antiquated in five years. Also, small cities couldn’t afford this technology—a model of, say, Des Moines wouldn’t make any money for game companies, and Des Moines wouldn’t be able to pay the entire cost of the model by itself.

But it would all be worth it if someone made a real game called Lombard Street Funny Cars. I would totally play that.

Now that I’m an Oaktown resident, I feel a certain responsibility to bling up my bicycle. I can’t decide, though, whether to start with spinner wheels or neon lights. (Don’t miss the video of the wheels!)

If you’re looking to get snockered, but you’re on a budget, I highly recommend the Anchor Brewing tour. For the low, low price of nothing at all, not only do you get to see how they make Anchor Steam, you also get some very generous samples of each of their six beers. Perhaps too generous. Three pints of beer is rather a lot to consume in 45 minutes, especially at 2:00 in the afternoon.

This paragraph, from an article about Koko the gorilla’s recent dental work, made me giggle:

Doctors gathered in Koko’s “apartment” and crowded around the gorilla, who asked a woman wearing red to come closer. The woman politely offered Koko a business card, which the gorilla ate.

The move went as well as could possibly be expected. I still need more furniture, particularly a dining table and chairs, so that guests will have somewhere to sit.

I have an Internet connection again, plus a few hundred emails to read. Ah, Nigerian spam, how I have missed you. Yes, Mr. Allan K. Daramy, I would like to help you get your $66.5 million into the US. Thanks for asking!