July 2009
29 posts
Steve Spurrier didn't vote for Tim Tebow for... →
In my dad’s words: “I always cherish dissenting opinions.” Oh, and Tim Tebow sux.
I read some article earlier today that considered whether Tim Tebow was the greatest college football player of all time. That blew my mind because, one, Tebow isn’t in the same universe as the greatest I’ve seen, Vince Young, and two, Tim Tebow seriously sux.
I went with Jose to a Japanese restaurant in NYC five months ago where they served our sake inside of a glass cube that was inside of a ceramic bowl with the cube filled to the brim. Neither of us had any idea how to consume it, so we ended up drinking out of the cube, spilling it into the bowl, and then picking up the bowl and drinking it. Drinking sake out of a cube became an idiom between us...
For awhile now, I’ve flushed before I’ve finished peeing, ya know, to make the most efficient use of my time. But I still don’t have it timed right to where I’m done before the flush finishes. I always flush too soon. Thousands of practice attempts. What can I say? I’m an optimist.
In something of a typical immigrant story, my parents came to the U.S. and named their son after the guy they saw on TV every day, Smalter Cronkite. I asked my dad about it today, and he said that for awhile, they were thinking of naming me Cronkite Chen. I dodged a bullet there.
I got this not long after writing a diss review of Yelp on Yelp. I don’t think it’s retaliation but I suspect what i wrote drew people’s attention to my reviews. I wonder if it would make a difference to them if I were clearly Chinese from my profile (I write pseudonymously).
We’re writing to let you know about our decision to remove your review of Great Lake Chinese...
I tuned in to some of the Sotomayor confirmation hearings. Being over here in Taiwan, I have no idea what other people think in real time, so I headed over to Twitter for some now web action.
I opened a dialogue with @mossinterest who wrote, “an ARSON has more experience than most fire fighters but I wouldnt elect him FIRE CHIEF #Sotomayor #tcot.”
“you’re an idiot,”...
Top Chef - Bios - Eve Aronoff - Bravo TV Official... →
deepalc:
smalter:
The first time I went, with a girl, I ordered a bottle of wine. Usually I pass this task off to someone else I’m eating with who’s more eager/knowledgable, and I accept the consequences when he/she picks something absurdly expensive. Well this girl had no interest in choosing the wine, so I picked a cheap wine off the menu. Later the waiter brought out the wine to do the...
Top Chef - Bios - Eve Aronoff - Bravo TV Official... →
sequentialist:
smalter:
The first time I went, with a girl, I ordered a bottle of wine. Usually I pass this task off to someone else I’m eating with who’s more eager/knowledgable, and I accept the consequences when he/she picks something absurdly expensive. Well this girl had no interest in choosing the wine, so I picked a cheap wine off the menu. Later the waiter brought out the wine to do...
Top Chef - Bios - Eve Aronoff - Bravo TV Official... →
Mihir pointed out to me that Eve of Eve Restaurant in Ann Arbor is going to be on the next Top Chef. I went with Mihir to Eve back in 2007, and I’ve been one other time, that time, with a girl.
I think most people agree that Eve is pretty good with common complaints being that it’s expensive and the service isn’t good. Both times I’ve been, I’ve had good service so...
Nathan Bedford Forrest Has Beautiful Eyes -... →
I think, when you’re in your intellectual infancy, myth keeps your sane. When I was young I believed, like a lot of us at that time, that my people had been kidnapped out of Africa by malicious racist whites. Said whites then turned and subjugated and colonized the cradle of all men. It was a comforting thought which placed me and mine at the center of a grand heroic odyssey. We were...
Exit Strategy NYC →
Cute (iPhone, etc) app which tells you where to stand on the subway to arrive at the right exit.
Taking the 1 train uptown to 28th street? Get on right behind the middle conductor. Need to transfer to the L at Union Square from the N downtown? Ride in the 1st car. Detailed diagrams eliminate the guesswork and frustration from your ride, making your subway trip easier and faster.
The developers...
screwing around with Deepal, I think from 2003.
themattsmith:
Squarepusher : My Red Hot...
“These trend-followers are just that. It doesn’t make them anyone. It’s like me...”
– Alan (via youcankeepthechange)
You like Neutral Milk Hotel for some exalted reason. I say I like them without having heard Aeroplane just to fit in. You are sad because in some past, liking Neutral Milk Hotel actually meant something and if someone told you they liked the band, you deduced they...
I watched Federer-Roddick up to like 12-12 in the 5th set (1am here) and then went to sleep. It’s probably the most boring close sporting event I’ve ever seen. I think up to when I stopped watching, there wasn’t one match point. They were just killing each other when they were on serve. It’s like in the NBA playoffs when each team destroys the other on their home court....
Asia Pacific Arts: The Game-Changer: An Interview... →
APA: Wait — there’s a real Harold Lee?
JC: Yeah, [the screenwriters] met him through school. He’s an attorney.
APA: Have you ever met him?
JC: Yeah, he was at my kid’s birthday party a few days ago. We’re friends. I decided to take him on the world tour for Star Trek for my +1. It was really fun going around with Harold. [laughs] He really is my doppelganger. He...
I was wrong
A couple of months ago, I got in a conversation with some people, mostly James and Mihir, about the meaning of the world “kowtow.” I argued that the word had a pejorative aspect of obsequiousness based in part on my personal prejudices about the nature of supplication and also because the sound of the word evoked in me the idiom of “toeing the line” which has to do with...
