Bleating about the Bleat
It's hard to fathom, but some people seem to like James Lileks, though they also claim to have named the blogosphere.

Roy, on the other hand, has never liked the work of the most pedestrian of pedestrian writers.

What will become of the Gnat? Will the St. Paul Target store have to lay off staff now?

The funniest thing you'll read all day: "And although Lileks is one of the most talented writers on the web, I’m pretty sure he won’t be able to replace his newspaper income with his blog/website."

Stop it, my sides, ow, my sides!

Artistic Synergy
In the course of researching a review of Faking It-- The Quest for Authenticity in Popular Music, a great book for starting arguments among musicians and music geeks, but one I had some problems with (the review will come out Saturday, wait for it) I checked out the authors' blog and found this gem of an MP3. I don't know who the mimic is or whether it could actually be Mr. Zimmerman, but you ain't heard nothing until you've heard Bob Dylan sing the Dr. Seuss classic, Green Eggs and Ham

Journalism is hard work
The New York Times' Eric Asimov tackles a gruelling assignment. He suffers, oh how he suffers, but Asimov valiantly soldiers on to get at one of the most troubling issues confronting society today:

"It’s come to my attention that some people believe martinis are made with vodka. I hate to get snobbish about it, but a martini should be made with gin or it’s not a martini. Call it a vodkatini if you must, but not a martini. Gin and vodka have as much in common hierarchically as a president and a vice president. Vodka can fill in for gin from time to time and might even be given certain ceremonial duties of its own, but at important moments you need the real thing. Vodka generally makes a poor substitute for gin in a martini or any other gin cocktail."

'nuff said?

Spy Coins -- the penny drops

Remember all the fuss earlier in the year when the U.S. government warned U.S. defense contractors that someone was using Canadian coins to spy on them? Apparently, it was the poppies that baffled them.