Yeah, yeah, we all know that you grill burgers'n'brats on the Fourth, but that only takes a few minutes and then yo have all those coals going great. What to do with that lovely fire? Here's a non-intuitive dish that will excite absolutely no one—until they taste it! Then you won't have made enough.
Chet Raymo has a nice essay rebutting Larry Dossey's screed about why science doesn't accept the wisdom of alternative medicine gurus such as Depak Chopra et al.
Lights out in Gloversville: Universal Music Group's record-pressing plant in Gloversville, NY will shut its doors on May 6, 2005. Founded in 1953 as part of the Brunswick Radio Corporation of America, the plant (and the parent corporation) were acquired in 1962 by Decca, which was itself merged into MCA—and later, UMG, now part of Vivendi Universal.
Yesterday was the anniversary of Frank Zappa's death in 1993. The good news is that the Zappa estate is releasing tapes of The Grand Wazoo tour and that Zappa Radio is back online. Wowie zowie.
Thanks for the kind birthday messages, everybody. I had a great day. Joan & I went to the Frick Collection to gaze at our favorite Vermeers, Franz Hals, and J.M.W. Turners, not to mention checking out a comprehensive display of the New Testament drawings of Domenico Tiepolo, which were completely new to me.