Aside

Go read this article about asshole extraordinaire and scum of the earth Joe Francis, the founder of the “Girls Gone Wild” empire. Bravo to Claire Hoffman of the L.A. Times for doing such a fantastic piece of journalism. L.A. Times: Eventually, Szyszka [an 18-year-old girl recruited at a Chicago night club for a GGW video] says, Francis told the cameraman to leave and pushed her back on the bed, undid his jeans and climbed on top of her. “I told…

This past weekend, my grandparents moved out of their home in the Berkeley Hills of nearly half a century. As many of you know, that house is very near and dear to my heart. As I told them, if they were selling it (they’re not), I would sell everything that I owned to be able to keep that house in our family. On Monday evening, I took a tour of the house, in its empty and soon-to-be-rented state, and went…

After being inspired by my buddy Alan Wiig‘s razor, I wanted to go old-school. (Not as old-school as I went once in 2002, but old-school nonetheless.) A few weeks ago, I acquired one of these, a Merkur Classic Razor. I’ve decided to completely ditch my crappy and expensive Mach 3 in favor of the Merkur. I like the metallic and heavier body that it has versus the Mach 3, and I like its double-edged awesomeness. It cuts better, it’s easier…

Before you head out to buy your next tank of gas, go read this incredible series of articles from two-time Pulitzer-winning Chicago Tribune reporter Paul Salopek: Oil Safari What does it take to quench America’s mighty thirst for gasoline? Pulitzer-winning correspondent Paul Salopek traced gas pumped at a suburban Chicago station to the fuel’s sources around the globe. In doing so, he reveals how our oil addiction binds us to some of the most hostile corners of the planet—and to…

LA Times: Roughly once a month, the NBA cuts 31 checks to NBA teams as revenue from its multibillion-dollar national television contract. There are only 30 NBA franchises, so who gets the extra check? The money goes to brothers Ozzie and Dan Silna, co-owners of the long-forgotten ABA team, the Spirits of St. Louis. Thirty years ago, Ozzie Silna, with attorney Donald Schupak, negotiated a deal that cleared the way for the ABA to merge with the NBA. It ranks…

I discovered a blog devoted to Condolezza Rice’s hair. Really. Tagline: “I keep track of Condoleezza’s hairdo so you don’t have to.” Brilliant. [via MeFi]

“From what little i’ve experienced of euro travel, i want nothing to do with it. no matter how you cut it, that kind of trip is extreme tourism. people show up in a foreign place for a few days, stay with other foreigners, see the sights, carry on the universal practices of drinking to reaffirm their youth, and move on to the next country with a handful of adventure stories but no real life experience. this isn’t to hate on…

LA Weekly: Another day, and what sounds like another arrest on the Arizona border. Naco is a city where “The Border” is no abstraction. It is the painfully real corrugated-steel barrier — rusted in spots, barbed in others — that slices the town neatly in two. One half for the United States, one half for Mexico. In Naco, the border is where illegal immigrants and the Border Patrol come to perform their intricate ballet of catch-and-release. But Helen is no…

GET YOUR OWN ENTRY IN AN ENCYCLOPEDIA. In the media age, everybody was famous for 15 minutes. In the Wikipedia age, everybody can be an expert in five minutes. Special bonus: You can edit your own entry to make yourself seem even smarter. USE THE WORD ZEITGEIST AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE. Ideally, you want to find words that sound familiar but people don’t really know their definitions: zeitgeist, bildungsroman, doppelgänger – better yet, anything Latin. But avoid paradigm. It’s so…

The bulk of Wikipedia’s content originates not in the stacks but on the Web, which offers up everything from breaking news, spin, and gossip to proof that the moon landings never took place. Glaring errors jostle quiet omissions. Wales, in his public speeches, cites the Google test: “If it isn’t on Google, it doesn’t exist.” This position poses another difficulty: on Wikipedia, the present takes precedent over the past. The (generally good) entry on St. Augustine is shorter than the…