Apparently the real chef that was the basis for the "Soup Nazi" character on Seinfield is launching a nation-wide chain. I hope one opens in Madison, so I can either buy some delicious soup or get rejected trying to buy some delicious soup.
The brusque New York chef who was lampooned on "Seinfeld" as the "Soup Nazi" plans to open a chain of takeout soup stands across North America. But don't expect the authentically rude New York treatment.
Signs will be posted in each of "The Original Soup Man" franchises bearing chef Al Yeganeh's strict rules for ordering, such as "Have your money ready!" and "Move to the extreme left after ordering!" But a company spokesman said workers will be prohibited from shouting, "No soup for you!" at customers who disobey
"He is a typical high-strung chef," [operations manager Linda Gavin] said, and his manner was portrayed "pretty accurately" on "Seinfeld."
(So high-strung, in fact, Yeganeh hung up on an Associated Press reporter who had lined up an interview before a single question was asked then refused all further requests for an interview.)
It's the same thing I do every every April 29th. I am watching Roger Clemens strike out a major league record 20 batters on ESPN Classic. The game is shown every April 29th, on the anniversary of Clemens accomplishing the feat in 1986.
I am not a particularly huge Roger Clemens fan, nor am I a Boston Red Sox fan. Nor am I particular fan of this record. No, it has just been coincidence that every year, on April 29, I turn on the TV and end up watching this game. And once I start watching, I can't stop.
It is sort of like watching a Christmas special. It is the same special every year, and every year Christmas is in peril, and every year some elf/deer/snowman/Ernest saves Christmas. I know how it will end, but I watch anyway.
Right now Roger has 12 strikeouts through five innings. I wonder if he will break the record again this year? I guess I will have to watch and see.
Thursday, April 28, 2005 at 11:36 AM by A.J. Romens
Fox News released an article today reporting on a poll they conducted about social security. Here is a snip:
[T]he poll shows most Americans favor giving individuals the "right to choose" between keeping their Social Security contributions in the current system and putting a portion in an investment account, and just over half say they personally would want the choice to invest some of their contributions...
Overall, fully 79 percent of the public think people under age 55 should have the right to choose between keeping all of their Social Security contributions in the current system and investing a portion of their funds. That support goes up to 84 percent among respondents under age 55.
Could this 79% figure be true? Well, it probably is, but it is based on a poorly written question:
Thinking about Social Security contributions, do you think people under age 55 should have the right to choose between keeping all of their contributions in the current system and investing a portion of their contributions?
Seventy nine percent said yes. The problem is, the question asks about the "right to choose" and not what one should, or would, choose. It very well could be that many people fear that Bush's private account proposal will be passed, and they would merely like the right to choose not to invest some of their money privately.
They ask another question the same way:
Based on what you know about the Social Security personal investment proposal, would you want the choice to invest a portion of your Social Security contributions in stocks or mutual funds?
Over 50 percent said yes to this question as well. Yet, notice once again that it asks if "you want the choice" not "would you choose to." This figure is again merely reflecting some of those who would like to "opt out" of Bush's privatization plan.
It should be noted that this poll is wildly different from the other polls about social security, which ask different questions and show that a majority disapprove priviate account proposals.
Is this an example of an Fox News simply trying to extract some higher numbers from a poll in an effort to help Bush's plan? Maybe. As for myself, I can't help notice how the article uses the term "personal investment" proposal, instead of private account proposal, which is also Bush's new strategy.
Wednesday, April 27, 2005 at 6:02 PM by A.J. Romens
I can't think of a more hilarious scenario than what played out at the University of Connecticut earlier this month. Brian at Jake's Mom has the scoop:
That speaker? None other than The Ultimate Warrior - who now legally goes by just "Warrior."
"Warrior," is a wrestler who apparently moonlights as a guest-speaker-type-person. He has some interesting things to say. Here are some quotes from his speech:
[Liberal thinking has created an] 'abyss of moral relativity where everything is as legitimate as everything else.'
'the bum is as legitimate as the businessman ... , that queers are as legitimate as heterosexuals..., that Kwanzaa is just as legitimate as Santa Claus and Christmas.'
'queering doesn't make the world work.'
College Republicans had to later apologize. There is more good stuff here; you need to check it out.
More than 1,000 toads have puffed up and exploded in a Hamburg pond in recent weeks, and scientists still have no explanation for what's causing the combustion, an official said Wednesday.
Yes, that is right. Toads are spontaneously combusting in Germany. Scientists have been unable to determine why the little Kermits are blowing up, but my guess is that it has something to do with this guy.
This very serious news report, was, of course, brought to you by this individual.
April 24th was Hubble's 15th birthday. The telescope has had two major impacts on our lives. First, it has allowed us to see things like these (From NASA via CNN):
More importantly, the telescope gave us this amazing the discovery:
Among Hubble's greatest achievements is an ongoing set of observations of supernovas that shows the universe is not just expanding, but doing so at an ever-increasing pace. The blockbuster finding means something called dark energy, which scientists know almost nothing about, is working against gravity -- and winning.
There are reports that NASA has no plans to continue upgrading the telescope, meaning that it will stop taking pictures in two to three years.
These guys held nothing back. They rocked hard, featuring everything you can think of in an 80's show. The concert featured extensive guitar solos, power ballads, confetti cannons, a drum solo and more strutting than a chicken coop. There was also no shortage of tight leather on stage, though probably a shortage of hairspray back stage after the guys went through 6 cans of AquaNet.
Check out cherrypie.org for more information about the band. (Note, make sure you type cherrypie.ORG, and not .com. Trust me on this one.)
Saturday, April 23, 2005 at 5:02 PM by A.J. Romens
Cal QB Aaron Rodgers, a possible number one pick, fell to number 24 at the NFL draft. He fell right into the Packers' lap.
I listened to a little of his over the phone press conference. Rodgers is from Chico, California and said that the coldest games he's ever played in were in high school , when temps would drop into the lower 40s on Friday nights.
Still, he said he is excited to be a Packer and Brett Favre's understudy, and is prepared to not play for a year or two. He is a strong and athletic quarterback with a good arm and a history of winning. I think it was a great steal to get him this late in the draft.
Yes, the century is still young, but I think it is safe to say that this summer's scheduled concert by all-star rock band Labeled should be the venue for generations to come.
Who is this "Labeled," you ask? Are they some sort of Metallica wannabe, you ask? Do they spend every night praying to the Arena-Rock gods that they, some day, will ascend on that fame-and-fortune escalator to that top floor mall department store we call rock-and roll heaven, you ask?
You ask good questions. And yes, they have these dreams. They have these prayers. They have these Metallica wannabe aspirations. And now, they finally have a venue: a college house party. This will be their first, to use a term popular in the biz, "gig."
At this "gig," Labeled will unleash their hard rockin' sound. A sound so unique, so bold, that the band itself doesn't even know what it is, as the band technically hasn't practiced or played together yet.
The truth is that, though this band doesn't have an album, or even original material, they are admirably focused on performing said non-existent material from said non-existent album this summer, in what is sure to be the hardest rocking concert, at that particular house party, of the century!
While college students at a house party may yearn to hear danceable, sing-a-alongable, upbeat rock cover songs, Labeled is already renowned for bravely giving their audiences exactly what they don't want. Their loud, hard, unfamiliar, original music will be created (someday) to specifically crush any partygoers spirit, forcing them to succumb to sitting and staring at each other in a classic party phenomenon known as rock-awkwardness or "rockwardness." This is something you do not want to miss.
For these reasons, I highly suggest that you check out Labeled (when there is actually something to check out.) You can visit their website at www.thereisnowebsiteforthisband.com
James Burgess, former publisher of the Wisconsin State Journal and executive vice president of Lee Enterprises, has made a $1 million gift to the UW-Madison School of Journalism to establish an endowed professorship in ethics.
The James E. Burgess Ethics in Journalism Chair will be part of an envisioned center devoted to issues of fairness, accuracy and integrity in the media. A nationwide search is planned to award the chair.
I am very excited about this for two reasons. First, I am a 2003 graduate of the UW School of Journalism. It is a great school with little funding, mostly because there are no rich journalists to give endowments. So it makes me happy to see my alma mater get both funding and attention.
Second, in light of recent journalism issues, there is a severe need in academia for a distinct center to study ethics in journalism. Having it here in Madison is simply icing on the cake.
Thursday, April 21, 2005 at 1:18 PM by A.J. Romens
In today's column, George Will explains he is tired of hearing how Jane Fonda's feelings were hurt because her husband liked sexual threesomes. Aren't we all?
Actually, George is complaining about the fact that everybody cares about everybody else's feelings too much. He thinks this is killing the spirit of self-reliance. This is also the topic of a new book by Christina Hoff Sommers and Sally Satel.
From his column:
From childhood on, Americans are told by "experts" -- therapists, self-esteem educators, grief counselors, traumatologists -- that it is healthy for them to continuously take their emotional temperature, inventory their feelings and vent them. Never mind research indicating that reticence and suppression of feelings can be healthy.
Also, George sees a problem with youngsters getting all sorts of self-esteem when they don't really deserve it. He also likes dodgeball better than tag:
Because children are considered terribly vulnerable and fragile, playground games such as dodgeball are being replaced by anxiety-reducing and self-esteem-enhancing games of tag in which nobody is ever "out." But abundant research indicates no connection between high self-esteem and high achievement or virtue. Is not unearned self-esteem a more pressing problem?
What George doesn't understand is that self-esteem is its own reward. Having high self-esteem makes kids feel better than having low self-esteem. What is wrong with letting kids feel good about themselves? What's so pressing about this problem?
That brings us to the heart of George's problem, which is his problem, not ours. He doesn't like the fact that, in today's society, he is expected to be considerate, sensitive and care about other peoples feelings. He would rather be insensitive, selfish and lazy.
I wouldn't normally call anyone those names, but I am making an exception for George, because I want to make sure he doesn't receive any unearned self-esteem.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005 at 4:57 PM by A.J. Romens
A friend of mine, who goes by the name Cooler Brian, emailed me an... um... email (sorry for the redundancy). He apparently is taking bets (not cash bets, of course; we do nothing illegal here at phonograph) in a contest to see who can guess next year's college basketball NIT final four.
This, of course, is nearly impossible to predict, because one would have to consider who are the best teams that won't get in the NCAA tournament, and do it nearly a year in advance. That is also what makes it so much fun.
Cooler Brian and I have made some interesting bets in the past, like who will be the Super Bowl's MVP (Dexter Jackson?) or whether or not Mariah Carey will have a number one album (she may have one now; too bad the two year statute of limitations ran out on that one).
So, if you have any good predictions, let me know!
Do you know who is paying the experts you are supposed to be believing? From today's Wall Street Journal:
In November, Child magazine's Technology Editor James Oppenheim appeared on a local television show in Austin, Texas, and reviewed educational gadgets and toys. He praised "My ABC's Picture Book," a personalized photo album from Eastman Kodak Co.
"Considering what you showed me, kids' games really don't have to be violent," said the anchor for KVUE, an ABC affiliate and the No. 1-rated television station in its market.
"If...you're not careful, they will be," Mr. Oppenheim replied. "That's why I've shown you some of the best."
There was one detail the audience didn't know: Kodak paid Mr. Oppenheim to mention the photo album, according to the company and Mr. Oppenheim. Neither Mr. Oppenheim nor KVUE disclosed the relationship to viewers. During the segment, Mr. Oppenheim praised products from other companies, including: Atari Inc., Microsoft Corp., Mattel Inc., Leapfrog Enterprises Inc. and RadioShack Corp. All paid for the privilege, Mr. Oppenheim says.
According to the article, this is a pretty widespread practice, especially on local news broadcasts. I don't expect much from TV news, but I still expect something less than rampant conflictsofinterest.
UPDATE: Here is another example of an "expert" who is taking money, in this case to promote GM. Of course she is not necessarily promoting GM in a news program, but rather appearing in commercials.
So, it is official, Monday Night Football is moving to ESPN, and Sunday Night Football will be on NBC. To me, this means that Sunday Night Football is the new Monday Night Football, and vice versa. It also means that my whole TV viewing plans for next fall are now ruined (yes, I plan my TV viewing seasonally and at least two years in advance).
What if I don't have cable, does that mean no MNF? What will I watch on Monday? And how does this Sunday Night Game interfere with my normal Foxlineup? And which game will be more important , the Sunday game, which will be nationally televised, or the Monday game, which still has its own day?
All I can suggest is buy or rent the DVDs. DVD sales may be enough to keep the show afloat (DVD sales brought back Family Guy). Then watch them over and over again, because the show is hilarious.
Today, the Wisconsin State Journal opines on its editorial page that it wants a minimum wage compromise for Wisconsin. Basically, they support a statewide minimum wage increase and a law not letting municipalities have a minimum wage that differs from the state, as is the case in Madison. Their reasoning is as follows:
The pursuit of local minimum wages creates a hodgepodge of differing regulations that produce confusing and unfair results for businesses, workers and consumers. Why should a business on one side of a road be subject to a higher minimum wage, and the consequent higher costs, than a competing business on the other side of the road?
This argument assumes that a municipal hodgepodge doesn't already exist. Municipalities already have hundreds of ordinances and regulations different from each other. Why would this law be the only confusing or unfair one?
Second, and more important, what is wrong with a municipal hodgepodge? Isn't local control a wonderful product of our multi-layered democracy? Every community has different people in them, with different views of their community and the world, and it seems only natural and beneficial that their local governments represent those views.
Tomorrow morning I will arrive at Law School at 7:30 a.m. with coffee in hand. For me, going to class that early without coffee would be downright suicidal (ok, while I might not be technically dead, I bet at least my heartbeat would be too faint to detect.) Yet, with some Panamanian bean juice in my system, I am a different person: a noticeably alive person. That's right, I am a caffeine addict. I am so bad, at least once a week I head out to an area coffee shop for another cup at 10 a.m. Anyway, it looks like I am not the only one, as, according to the Washington Post, millions of people are adding on to their morning commute just to get their morning fix.
...One researcher says [there] is evidence that the national craving for gourmet coffee may be adding mileage to the morning rush hour. And the numbers might be significant enough to complicate efforts to reduce traffic congestion, save fuel and reduce air pollution.
So what is the alternative? Why not have your premium coffee delivered? Brian over at jake's mom (man, he has all the sweet hook-ups) emailed me this article about what I think is a pretty interesting service based here in Madison.
Anyway, it is only the night before, and I am already dreaming about my morning coffee. I think I may have a problem.
Brian over at jake's mom yesterday authored a post about the new Pontiac Solstice:
I'd have to say this is the first car Pontiac has made in my lifetime that doesn't completely blow chunks.
In response, I must remind poor, misguided Brian about the 1989 Pontiac Grand Prix, a car which I had the pleasure of owning from 2001-2004. It has been my experience that, like a fine wine, Grand Prixs must be properly aged before they truly blossom. When I owned mine, it was definitely in full bloom. It had an elegant canopy ceiling (courtesy of failed upholstery glue), some classic 80s style seat upholstery rips (it was the style to rip everything back then; jeans, t-shirts, car seats, etc.), and an amazing sound system featuring three (3) speakers (the fourth was just for show).
Sad to say that I eventually had to sell it (for 700 smackeroos, baby) as I needed to get a new, boring car that was less about class and style and more about being able to get me to work without overheating.
Saturday, April 16, 2005 at 6:49 PM by A.J. Romens
The State Department stopped publishing a terrorism report after the terrorism center concluded there were more attacks in 2004 than in any year since the report began in 1985... Officials charged that Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's office ordered the report eliminated several weeks ago because the 2004 statistics raised disturbing questions about the Bush's administration's frequent claims of progress in the war against terrorism. 'Instead of dealing with the facts and dealing with them in an intelligent fashion, they try to hide their facts from the American public,' said Larry C. Johnson, a former CIA analyst and State Department terrorism expert who first disclosed the decision to eliminate the report in The Counterterrorism Blog, an online journal.
(Note: a subscription free version of this article can be seen here.)
Bottom line: according to the government's National Counter-Terrorism Center's report, there were 625 terrorist attacks in 2004, while only 175 in 2003. How are we going to beat terrorism if our elected officials don't want to talk about the numbers?
If you like alternative rock/punk/emo with the occasional power ballad, I would suggest checking out A Day In Life, which played a pretty rockin' show in Der Rathskeller last night. They had the emo's emotin' and the punks punkin'. Think Jimmy Eat World with a great female lead singer.
Earlier today I received an email from a friend about an area office hot dog eating contest. He asked me to name my favorite hot dog eating contestant.I had three: One: The fat man who everybody thought would win, except he already ate lunch, so he could only achieve second. Two: The modestly hot and skinny girl who shocks the office by eating a surprising amount of hot dogs. Three: The extremely low-motivated employee that would place his hot dog eating contest win first on his list of work accomplishments on his resume. He later reported that there was actually an individual that fulfilled each of these stereotypes at the contest. The skinny girl ate 11 hot dogs, way more than the hefty guy who was snacking before the contest. Apparently, my love of watching competitive eating is finally paying off.
Everybody is heralding how great a job Gary Sheffield did in "restraining himself" from getting into a fight with a fan in Fenway last night. I don't think he did that great of a job. He did take a swipe at the fan and stood there and jawed at him until a security guard broke it up. Why didn't Sheffield just walk away? Why did he have to participate in the altercation at all? While this altercation could have been a lot worse, there could have also been no altercation whatsoever. Since when do we honor an athlete for not beating a guy down?
Today is tax day, which is the day my mother (an accountant) actually gets her life back. Happy Tax Day mom! While it is our complicated tax system that helped keep food on my family's table while I was growing up, others in the country seem to wonder why it has to be so complicated (including my constitutional law professor) and others ask why the government can't just do our taxes for us. Our complicated tax system is most like the fault of our elected officials who like pass new tax law on top of tax law. And while it is understood that the government doing our taxes for us would make us pay even more for that extra bureaucratic work, it seems to me that the lost productivity of everybody having to stop and do their taxes is expensive enough. So why does the government make us do our own taxes? Probably because it is in our best interest. Think about this: If the government did our taxes for us, who among us would actually believe our tax bill would be right?
Wednesday, April 13, 2005 at 6:26 PM by A.J. Romens
This is my first post for this blog. There are a lot of kinks to work out yet, but hopefully this blog will soon be stable enough for semi-frequent postings for semi-semi-frequent readers.
