Poetic pragmatism, neo-transcendentalism, bikes, burritos, basketball.
Walking around the Maxwell Food Market near Singapore’s Chinatown reminded of Wong Kar Wai’s excellent movie about Hong Kong in the early 60’s In the Mood for Love. After I watched it last night, I couldn’t decide whether I wanted to actually travel back in time, or just walk inside an imagined version of the past.
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Question: Is there a better litmus test of 1980’s celebrity than a guest appearance on Love Boat? Wikipedia’s master list includes Corey Feldman, Pat Morita, Rich Little, Menudo, the Village People, and the Pointer Sisters. Also included: Lorne Greene, Shecky Green, Pam Grier, and Andy Warhol. Surprisingly omitted: The Harlem Globetrotters.
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Say what you will about the Soviets, but you can’t argue with this reasoning for sending dogs, rather than monkeys, into space. If there’s one universal truth of dogs, it is that they are “suited to endure long periods of inactivity.” Lynne brought the subject of these Soviet cosmonaut dog-heroes to my attention, including those [...]
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I love writing letters, but for some reason the only letter-to-the-editor I’ve ever written went something like this: Dear Mr. Remnick, If you publish one more story by John Updike, so help me God I will cancel my subscription immediately. Sincerely, Doug LeMoine The year was 1999. I had been driven to what I saw as [...]
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Last night, Mara and I were messing around with Google Maps, checking out giant Japanese buddhas from the air. [Check out this one in Kamakura, near Tokyo]. Then we decided to see what North Korea looked like, and we raced over the Pyongyang and suddenly found this crazy thing with a giant triangular shadow. What the? [...]
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It’s kinda strange (and thrilling) to browse through the many alleyways and avenues of Flickr and suddenly unearth a photo of ... yourself. Just now I came across this picture of myself and a shadowy figure, who I suspect is UX it-guy Jan Chipchase taken last summer during UX Week. My hazy recollection: We met [...]
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I stumbled upon a treasure trove of old outdoors books at Iconoclast Books in Ketchum, Idaho this weekend; this one’s from 1970. The cover ultimately doesn’t make much difference, but I like this one. If only hiking through sun cups like these was as serene and lovely as the photo implies. Also, the introductory text instructs Yosemite [...]
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Like lots of stuff, they really don’t make baseball cards like they used to. Halftone action thumbnail! Alternating colors in the player names! Don Drysdale’s coif!
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Fidel doing what he does best: Moving the crowd. I traveled to Cuba 10 years ago this summer, and I unearthed this 10-peso note when I moved earlier this summer. Coincidence, or a sign that I should return sometime soon? When I was there, the official exchange rate was one American dollar to one Cuban peso, [...]
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This weekend I got an incredible book about San Francisco called San Francisco in Maps & Views. I usually avoid glossy coffee-table historical books because they’re so often filled with disappointments — bad color, bad printing, messy layout, uninspired writing, PLUS they’re really expensive. But THIS ONE. This one is different. The maps are very well-reproduced, high-res [...]
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My name is Doug LeMoine. I work both on, and for, the Internet. You can find more about me in the About Me page that I wrote about me.
