Random Esquire

Here are two less than ideal reasons to buy something. 1) Because it doesn’t cost that much and 2) Because it’s cool.

But for those exact reasons, I seem to think I need one of these watches that has an electronic compass, tells me the temperature, and if the tide is in or out. I know this is ridiculous because 1) I live in Chicago, 2) I can really only go in three different directions since the lake all but completely blocks one way, and 3) the temperature is displayed on every bank-corner. But the watch ties into my nightmare (daydream) that while we are in Vietnam, we will somehow be left on the side of a mountain, be kidnapped by the montagnards and forced to escape - at which point, all of those episodes of Man Vs. Wild would become terribly important. Admittedly, probably more important if that cockney wanker hadn’t been sleeping overnight in the Motel 6.

This irrational fear (dream) has me considering a nice flint to go on my keychain. Field and Stream had a great article on cramming an entire survival kit into an Altoids tin. I wonder if I could strap a survival kit on Little Filthy. He should be able to carry an Altoid tin full of stuff. I think Boss may have similar dreams about managing to pack an entire week of clothing into a relatively compact Prada bag. Who am I kidding? I just realized what Boss’s survival kit would look like.

My wallet.

The New York Times has added a new blog: Freakonomics. Dubner and Levitt write some very interesting pieces, not the least of which was Levitt’s entry entitled “If You Were a Terrorist, How Would You Attack?” Levitt was the same guy who postulated that legalizing abortion decreased the crime rate.

Pictures of odd sea dwelling creatures. Hmm. I think my second grade teacher looked a little like this lumpfish.

This artist, Phil Hansen, is pretty interesting. The video is worth the watch. Fascinating to see all the layers of paint he peeled off his stomach.

Some interesting ice cream flavors. Can anyone debunk some of these? Is anyone actually eating Fried Pork Rind Ice Cream? (number 74) Err, okay, just checked it out…apparently they are.

Refer businesses to Google and make $$.

The Sneeze is asking which breakfast cereal mascot you’d take on a road trip.

Nerd fight at Comic Con.

People eat lampreys?? If one of those sucked its mouth to me, I’d lose it.

I am a little ashamed to say that I have never read The Woman in White but this article has me convinced I should.

A short list of some interesting items I’ve looked at today from the various sources:

Want to know where your presidential candidate stands on some issues? Look at a simple and organized chart here.

Not sure how del.icio.us works? This is a fantastic short video done by a company called Common Craft that makes it very easy to understand.

Common Craft has also done a video on RSS feeds.

Keith Richards really did snort his dad’s ashes. As if you doubted.