Buying the New Yorker 1986 - page 69

Remember what I was saying in the last post about about the time of the year? Looks like they have a bit more backstock at this point than they anticipated.

Buying the New Yorker 1986 - page 68

One of the things that I've started to consider while doing this is the way that the time of year the issue comes out has an effect on the advertising. Because, these are all mid-January issues, we see quite a number of travel ads, both for spontaneous getaways to escape the winter and huge trips in the summertime that require a few months of planning. Because the holidays have just ended, we see few ads for drinks. Valentine's Day is on the horizon, so there's a few ads for jewelry. But here's something that I hadn't thought of yet: the New Yorker readership have to start planning to get their seeds in. Harris Seeds can give you such delights as the "Ghostbuster Eggplant" (it's sheet white!), the "Purple Haze Carrot" (it's appropriately psychedelic!) and something called the "Tidal Wave Petunia."

So, as I was saying: here's a vacation to St Croix. The Buccaneer's website says that it was "Founded in the 17th century and family-run for generations." It also says that 2007 will be its 60th Anniversary. A glance at the history page gives us the answer: It's only been a hotel for the last 60 years. Before that it was an estate, a sugar factory, a cotton plantation and a cattle ranch. Check out this page of vintage photos. If that's the best in their archive, then I feel really sorry for them.

It's called the Ambassador Grill because it's next door to the United Nations. Not because they serve grilled ambassadors. And look, it's in the agelessly named Millennium UN Plaza Hotel New York! Here's the description of their Champagne Brunch:

Start off with a complimentary Bottomless Glass of Champagne, enjoy our signature Ambassador Grill Lobster, Shrimp and Crab Cocktail, then wander through our lavish buffet, resplendent delectables, such as Eggs Benedict with Black Truffle Hollandaise, Beef Stroganoff with homemade Spaetzle, Austrian Cider Braised Chicken and Hibachi Salmon with Sake-soy Baby Bok Choi. These delicacies will be nestled between our Chefs hard at work carving Roast Prime Rib au Jus with Horseradish Cream, filling steamed Chinese Buns with Peking Duck and preparing Omelets and Mini Waffles to order and an array of desserts including a full selection of Pastries, Cakes, Cookies surrounding our renowned Bananas Foster and a Make Your Own Sundae Bar.

That should hit the spot after a long week across the street arguing about Darfur.

And another thing.

The At Last the 1948 Show DVD includes the most ungainly, complicated and unhelpful chart of British comedy I've ever seen in my life.

Imagine a bowl of multi-colored spaghetti that is trying to tell you that somebody appeared in 102 Dalmations. This is that.

A sentence from Wikipedia that begs for elaboration (and how I came to find it)

One of the new additions to the library from the Christmas season is the DVD of At Last the 1948 Show (US,UK). After a couple of episodes, a question arose - "Whatever became of 'The Lovely' Aimi MacDonald?" The answer: not much. The IMDB has her appearing in Rentaghost, which is one of those things that I've heard about for years but have never actually known about.

Learn about Rentaghost on Wikipedia.

At the bottom of of the page is the category for "BBC children's television programmes."

This led me to Blue Peter, as it is close to the top.

And then to this: "Other well-remembered and much-repeated items include the Girl Guides' bonfire that got out of hand on the 1970 Christmas edition."

This I want to see.

Perhaps my dog has joined the Air Force!

Among the many rituals of the ending of one year and the beginning of the next is the renewal of the city dog license. On the form is an area to fill out if you are not going to be renewing the license for the coming year. The section reads like this:

This dog, formerly owned by me, (please check one):

__ Has died.

__ Has a new owner.

__ Other - ____________________

I've spent the last week wondering what could possibly be a legitimate response for "Other."

Buying the New Yorker 1986 - page 67

The Knickerbocker Chicago recently changed its name, as the ownership seems to have felt that the word "knickerbocker" might not have aged as well as they might have liked. The new name that will hopefully remain timeless for decades to come?

The Millennium Knickerbocker Hotel

The Knickerbocker was built in 1927, which was an exciting time to have been in Chicago. The photo there, vague as it might be, certainly gives a sense of the atmosphere.

Now for the important bit. "Knickerbocker" was early New York City slang for the variety of button-legged pants that the Dutch residents wore. After a while, the name came to be used as a term of synonymity with the city itself (particularly in the sense of its history). Beers, clubs, sports teams, and even a hotel (which the Chicago hotel that we're ostensibly talking about is named after) were given the name. As an example, Washington Irving's satirical History of New York is narrated by a character named Diedrich Knickerbocker. When this book was printed in London, the illustrations (by George Cruikshank) made the button-legged pants look so similar to contemporary ladies underwear that they came to be called "knickers."

The answer to the other question that I just had to look up for this ad: So far as I can tell, nobody has ever been tommy-gunned by the mob in the Knickerbocker's parking garage. So much for atmosphere.

Winter Silks is no longer selling the Scandinavian Ski hat. I think that's wise of them. They do offer silk balaclavas and toe socks. There doesn't seem to be anything champagne colored, which is a pity as nothing says "special gift" like a pair of champagne colored toe socks.

There's lots of interesting stuff on Ladatco's website, but nothing about the mystery I was hoping to explore - what does "Ladatco" mean? The "Ancient Mystery" angle is being downplayed in favor of what they call "Pampered Adventure." Unlike most of these companies, the "Adventure" seems to actually take precedence over the "Pampered." Here's a couple of days out of the week-long "Offbeat Adventure in Nicaragua and El Salvador" package:

Monday - San Salvador Full day visit to the newly discovered (and currently under excavation) Joya de Ceren, a Maya village dating back to 1400 B.C. that was covered by volcanic ash and is the only Maya site found to date that reflects "village" daily life. Continue to Santa Ana for a visit to the San Andres ruins, once a Maya religious settlement. Lunch included today.
Thursday - Managua Another full day excursion; first, visit the impressive Masaya Volcano where you can stand right on the edge of the active crater. Then continue to the town of Masaya and its famed arts and crafts market, of special note are the hammocks and wood cravings. On to the colonial capital of Granada on the shores of Lake Nicaragua. Founded in 1524, you will see many churches and convents that still preserve the historic legacy. Lunch included in Granada prior to a boat ride through some of the 365 "isletas" on Lake Nicaragua.

You can also go to the Falklands and see the penguins, but you'd best have a fondness for small aircraft and Land Rovers.

Let's just call it a new tradition and be done with it.

This year's UK Christmas number one is the first single from Leona Lewis, "A Moment like This." Lewis is the winner of the most recent series of X Factor, and like with last year's winner, the song made its debut at number one.

A little bit of digging reveals that this release is a cover of the song that was the debut single for Kelly Clarkson, the 2002 American Idol winner.

At some point I will have a comment prepared that makes fun of this whole grim scenario, but right now I just feel empty inside.

Another ticket

I think that this is for the streetcar system in Budapest. Beyond that, I'm in the dark.

I had to share.

A post on my Doctor Who blog went so tangental that I felt that it was good enough to be reposted here.

From icWales:

THE nation's obsession with Doctor Who and a love of 10-pin bowling and films has established the Red Dragon Centre in Cardiff Bay among the nation's pre-eminent beacons of tourism and entertainment.

Here's the link to the Doctor Who Exhibition. And here's one to the bowling alley.

I think the person who is in charge of the publicity for the bowling alley deserves a large cash award.

A unique Numeracy Trail ties learning in with the family fun of bowling - who said maths couldn't be a laugh!

They are operated by a group called Hollywood Bowl. Hollywood bowl seems to be running some sort of contest/event called "The Pirates of Pinzance" where (if I am understanding this correctly) they dress the bowling pins up as pirates and instead of rolling the ball at them, you get to fire it down the lane from some sort of cannon. Or it's a scratch-off game. I am certain that I am not alone in hoping for the former.

Put my money on PKD.

Ed from the dizzies offers a challenge. I hope I'm right!

Purely for the spiders.

Technorati Profile

Scratch one from the list.

I was brainstorming about what sort of interesting things I might be able to see from the satellite view when I thought of this:


This ought to be interesting to see from space!

So first I had to figure out where this is. Turns out it was filmed at West Malling Airfield, and those big cement things are "blast screens for protection from the outwash of military jet engines."

Trouble is, the whole place is gone. It's a subdivision now. From the website, I see that it is an excellent place for folks of all ethnic backgrounds to live and wear grey business suits. There's also golf!

My annual Christmastime music fun

Last year I had a look at the UK pop chart to see what the annual Christmas single might be, so I decided to have a look again to see what was in contention.

Down at number 40 is Red Hot Chili Peppers with "Snow ((Hey Oh))." (The double parenthesis seems to be deliberate. I don't know why.) I suspect that this is not really a Christmas song, but really. Snow for Christmas. I think that counts.

Likewise at number 39 Jay-Z's "Show Me What You Got" obviously has something to do with the fun of opening up Christmas presents with the family.

Snow Patrol has a song at number 35. Snow again. That counts.

At 31 we have Fratellis - "Whistle For The Choir" a reference to wassailing, I have to presume.

Coming in at number 26 is Emma Bunton with "Downtown." As with most of these songs, I haven't actually heard this, but I think she was a Spice Girl and I hope to God that she isn't doing the Petula Clark song. Anyway, "downtown" is where you go shopping for Christmas presents.

The BBC 1 Singles Chart lists Ricky Tomlinson's entry (which is at number 25) as "Christmas My A*se." I have to point out that when Americans want to make get that word past the censors, they add the "r" to where the asterisk is, which makes it seem posh to us. I love these subtleties.

At 23 - Slade! My God! Are they still alive? They're doing "Merry Xmas Everybody." Merry Xmas Slade!

Andy Abraham and Michael Underwood are at number 18 with "December Brings Me Back To You." Close enough.

Debuting at 16 is Crazy Frog with "Last Christmas" which is when I said "I have to say that The Crazy Frog just flat out gives me the creeps." Still does.

An article in the latest Uncut gives me the impression that The Pogues' "Fairytale Of New York" is much more well known in the UK than here. It's at number 10. Today is the 22nd and I haven't heard it yet this year. Don't worry, I'll dig the CD out.

Roughly a third of my readership is from the UK (thank you Comic Strip Presents) so for that contingent I have to apologise. But for family and friends and sundry Americans I have to explain who Cliff Richard is. We know him as the guy Rik makes fun of on The Young Ones, and if someone plays "Devil Woman," folks of a certain age will sort of blink and go "oh, that."

In England this man is like Elvis. Elvis without the barbs and the carbos, but nevertheless. He has hit the Number One on the UK pop charts at least once every decade from the fifties to the nineties. He has yet to get a number one in the current decade. Currently he is at number 2, with something called "21st Century Christmas." I get the impression that this is what some might call the sentimental favorite.

At number one is Take That. Americans don't know them either. They were a boy band once. I was certain they'd broken up. Good for them persevering and all.

a laundry list

At least I'm presuming that's what this is:





It was too long for the scanner and folded in half anyway, so instead of trying to fiddle about with joining the two images I just put them both up as they were.

The bottom of the second is a perforated line, I'm not sure what it's for.

Handy Hint

In the upper left corner of this blog is a search field. You can use it to search for things on this blog. And only this blog. I recall the old Blogger gave you a choice. Now it doesn't.

And now a quick aside for the person who has been visiting for the last few days and attempting to use the search function: There is a small chance that you might be looking for this post. Otherwise I am afraid you are looking for information that I really can't provide you.

I do admire your persistence, however, and wish you the best of luck in your quest.

if you can't get enough old magazine ads

Here's a selection of ads from a 1963 issue of Playboy.

Breaking Down the Nervous Detectives - But first: a question for the police

While getting ready for my next semi-intermittent project I had a little question pop into my head.

How common is it for British police officers who find themselves in some sort of bother to get transferred to the other end of the country?

The usual Google and Wikipedia venues offered little joy, other than to find that regional police do seem to independent of each other. So to pursue, I had a look at the website for the Northumbria Police. The FAQ tells me that the three most common questions that they have are:

1. "I am the System Manager for my company's CCTV system. How do I comply with the Data Protection Act?"
2. "I have been asked to give evidence at court and am worried about what to expect. What will I have to do?"
3. "Where can I find information about how Northumbria Police has performed?"

I get the impression that they aren't in the frame of mind to put a lot of effort into deconstructing pop culture. Which is their right.

And congratulations to Chief Superintendent Kevin Lambert for becoming the "voice of festive talking road signs" in South Tyneside. That sounds like a fun gig.

I prepare for the coming year of blogging

My new job is now beginning to get some form of normal attached to it. My position had been vacant for a while, so I started with a two and a half month backlog. I also was told only a couple of days ago that I am getting over the busiest time of the year.

So, I hope to have a bit more time and energy to be adding value to the internet in the future. I have a few more ideas lined up (because I think that the New Yorker ads are starting to tire some folks).

Stay tuned.

Archie comics is getting a new look

It's sort of scary.

Sorry, World!

It turns out that Pandora can currently only stream music to listeners in the United States.

I'll make a note when this has changed.

A few more tools for the box

Off to the side you will find a new link to my Pandora Account. Pandora is an offshoot of "The Music Genome Project," which is one of those deals where you can enter a song and get a list of other songs that are sort of similar. Pandora is a jukebox thingy, that plays what it thinks you like based on what you say you think you like. If you click on the link, you can find your way to what it thinks my likes and dislikes are. They are really my attempt to game the system which seems to have its own ideas. I went through a big Country phase, followed by lots of women with husky voices. Currently, it is trending into lounge prog - which I like, but in smaller doses (It has been playing an awful lot of Cousteau for example). Still, when it went from Stereolab to Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich and then a cut from Joe Strummer's soundtrack to Walker, I knew that I had something set up right.

I've had a lot of fun with satellite photos, but I've been a little frustrated with the competing services. Now I've found FlashEarth, which pulls images from GoogleMaps, Microsoft VE, Yahoo, and others that I've not bothered with. You can toggle back and forth from service to service, which is handy, and if it goes belly up tomorrow the links have the latitude and longitude in them, so I can see where I was.

So here is a picture that I took, in the general direction of the satellite,



and here is the link to see from the satellite where I was when I took the picture.

Speaking of pictures I took, I've also set up a flickr account. I'll be using it for some of my scans and photos, so some of my posts are going to start to look sort of wonky as I work out how all the coding works and move some of the old photos over.

One of the added features of the Blogger Beta is that it has its own rss feed. But I already set one up with Feedburner. That link is restored to the side. I'm still trying to work out which one I like better.

Finally, Amazon has added a lot of functionality to their a-Store system. I can have more than nine items, and I can put things in sections - I can even ghettoize my Doctor Who section. It's sort of ugly and unorganized at the moment, but I thought I might mention it because it's live, and it's Christmastime. Go shopping.

The things you learn

I am informed that the young lady in the photo is carrying an "Ash Basket."

You can purchase some nice ones for yourself here.

Ash baskets were intended for the sorts of folks who like to go out into the woods and collect pinecones and whatnot for home decor. This particular ash basket seems to be filled with that tall grass that people gather to stick in dry vases. The grass then disintegrates and falls all over the room until it is all ground into the carpet.

Or perhaps she has indeed gathered some wheat to grind, boil down to wort, ferment and then distill. But I'm just a romantic that way.

Buying the New Yorker 1986 - page 66

One of the bands that I was really into in 1986 was The Three O'Clock. The liner notes on their album "Arrive Without Travelling" ended with the words "have some wheat."

This became a catchphrase amongst my friends, partly for the enigma of it, and also because of the number of beverages that we enjoyed that were derived from wheat.

I am reminded of that because I have no idea what she has slung over her shoulder - some sort of quiver for gathering wheat is my best guess.

It looks like The Slickerworks has gone out of business. Pity. I'd liked to have asked them.

I was thinking that "Young Island" was a slogan. Nope. That's the name. And go have a look at the place. It's so little and cute!

Vacances en Campagne seems to have been run by a fellow named Carl I. Stewart. At least he wrote some letters to The New York Times about the business. There is now an attorney in New York named Carl I. Stewart. Same guy? Stranger things have happened.

I can't tell for certain if the cunningly named "Bed and Breakfast Inn" is still operation. If it is, they're not making it particularly easy to find them. Of course, I could just try calling their phone number, but where's the fun in that?

Buying the New Yorker 1986 - page 65

You'll pardon me for not being silly for this one. Here's the link.

Buying the New Yorker 1986 - page 63

Let's go to the events calendar:

Complimentary Christmas Maple Sugar Exfoliations.
December 22: 10:00am-2:00pm
As a taster of one of Topnotch Spa's Signature Services, The Maple Sugar Body Scrub, join massage therapy manger, Margo Hanson and her team, for sumptuous lower leg and foot scrubs. Our therapists will exfoliate, moisturize and massage to bring you a sweet holiday treat for feet.

I don't think that this sounds particularly soothing. But it does sound Christmassy, in that you will come out smelling like a holiday breakfast.


Oh please just stop.

What not to buy

Tired of all of those sites that look at what you like and extrapolate other things that you will like?

Here's something different: A site that tells you what you will probably not like.

Just go tell The Unsuggester what books you like and it will give you suggestions for things that you should avoid.

For example: If you like "Critique of Pure Reason" by Immanuel Kant you are likely to dislike "Confessions of a Shopaholic" by Sophie Kinsella. If you like "All-American Girl" by Meg Cabot you are likely to dislike "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick.

Buying the New Yorker 1986 - page 62

Woo! A cruise you can "Handel!" Get it! Handel! IT'S A PUN! Ha ha ha!

I know! we can stop by the Handel and Haydn Society and share this joke with them. If we can find them ... 'cause they'll be "Haydn" from us! Har har har.


I can't find this particular model being made anymore, but there's a couple on eBay. They seem to be averaging $15. You can go to the actual Orient-Express train line website and purchase a lamp exactly like the one that is on the train now. List price: £550.00.

Haverhills seems to have gone out of business. I'm not sure if this is the reason for them closing up shop, but I see that they were in some trouble with the Federal Trade Commission for "making false and unsubstantiated advertising claims about suntanning and fuel-economy devices."

Buying the New Yorker 1986 - page 61

According to wikipedia:

Tricot is a special case of warp knitting, in which the yarn zigzags vertically, following a single column ("wale") of knitting, rather than a single row ("course"), as is customary. Tricot and its relatives are very resistant to runs, and are commonly used in lingerie.

Is Tricot any good? Let's see... All the pyjamas that Cable Car Clothiers currently has for sale are made of cotton.

Back in the early days of museums, it was common for plaster casts to be made of, well, just about everything. Then they all swapped. Result: tons of casts. Then the fashion changed. Museum-goers only wanted to see the real artefacts and thousands of plaster cast replicas went off to storage. There are a few galleries here and there. The Victoria And Albert has one, and you "Oxford Scholars" that I was yelling at in the last post can sneak off to a back alley and visit the Ashmolean's cast gallery. Some of these cool old casts seemed to have found their way to the Giust Gallery. Zeus there now goes for $200, in case you're interested.

The Cinnamon Reef Beach Club is now called "The Enclave at Cinnamon Reef." Looks like they've done the place up a bit.

Buying the New Yorker 1986 - page 60

The Oxford/Berkeley exchange is still going on. Here is their site. The info that is up currently is still for 2006 Summer session, so some of the info I've gathered might have changed by the time you get to it.

I am a big fan of continuing education programs. I take them myself and I always encourage others to do so as well. People who want to learn for nothing more than a love of learning are the best people on this planet, and there needs to be more of them. Having said that I have to say that I have a few reservations about this program.

There is no application process, barring the ability to pay the 5+ g's to go. Four of the courses look like fine excuses to take in a nice bunch of country houses. A course on "The Scientific Imagination" includes a boat ride to Greenwich. I'll put money down that the "Winston Churchill and the Liberal World" course included at least one nip up the road to Blenheim. The faq says that "the average participant is 50 to 60."

Frequent visitors to this site will have long ago inferred that I work in academia. I'm going to put that hat on for just a moment. If you, dear reader, are currently an undergraduate who thinks that this program is an excellent opportunity for study, I heartily recommend that you request a syllabus from the course that you wish to take from this program and bring a copy to your course advisor NOW. There is a very small chance that you might be allowed to earn one or two semester hours from this.

If you, dear reader, are someone who would like to drop a Madison for the opportunity to go to Oxford and "pursue independent study in one of the university's many libraries or perhaps under a tree in a beautiful garden," then all power to you. Just a word of perspective for you. If you are going because you have time and money to burn, then go. You will have fun, it will be interesting. If you are sincere about your desire to learn and travel and experience life, then you will better yourself.

If you are going so that you can earn the opportunity to drop the phrase "Well, when I was studying at Oxford" at cocktail parties then you are a jackass. Sooner or later you will bump into someone who actually was a student, who worked long and hard and earned an actual degree for their efforts, and they will call you on it and make you look to everyone present like the shallow poseur tourist that you are. I hope I'm there to see it.

So anyway. India.

It's Incomparable! If I had much more free time, I think that an interesting thing to study would be the way India is depicted in travel literature throughout the years. I suspect that in contemporary ads you find a bigger trend towards actual contemporary Indian culture. Of course, were I to take up that challenge, I would most likely not even use this ad at all because it tells me next to nothing. Interestingly, Journeyworld seems to have maintained their passion for the destination: They've moved to Bhutan!

The Assembly Steakhouse has also moved. But just across the river to New Jersey. But it's more than a great steakhouse, it's a truly comprehensive and utterly freaky set of links for steak and steak related items. I suspect that it might be compiled by searchbots, which might explain why when you click on Kobe Beef, you get a subsection on Kobe Bryant. You also get another subsection on Semen. Told you it was weird.

About six years before this ad appeared, everybody in my family got one of these nightcaps from Santa. Looking back on it, I start to wonder if the parents decided to start turning the heat down to save a bit of money. What I know for sure: while it might be possible to wear one of these babies in a suave and fashionable way, it is far too difficult to bother. Also watch out for static and the most amazing hat-hair you'll ever see, that is if it doesn't fall off in the middle of the night.

I suspect Putnam Antiques went out of business, by the way. Pity, I'd have wanted to find out if the hats themselves were antiques. That might be more suave.