Hay hotels! Seriously! "Travellers across Europe are seeking out accomodations similar to those of barnyard animals. Rebecca Willis describes the allure of hay hotels ... " - Jennie Lin via Bookmarklet
Really? Kind of surprised, having lived in both cities. I guess Staten Island and parts of Queens really brings the NYC average down... - Jennie Lin via Bookmarklet
Reading comments on the site, love when New Yorkers get pissy about San Francisco. - Hutch Carpenter
I currently work in SF and lived in NYC for a year. NYC has much better mass transit which conversely makes the walking easier. Some parts of SF proper are cut off from the Bart (only thing comparable to the NYC subway) and the MUNI is a joke. Then there's the hills. SF is walkable but I'd put both NYC and Portland Oregon above it, personally - Jason Kaneshiro
True Jason. If you commute from the city down the Peninsula, driving is really the only option. Takes so long to get to BART/Caltrain otherwise. - Hutch Carpenter
Depends on the criteria. NYC (and it should really just be Manhattan) has much better mass transit, but that's not really what this article is about. Although I like NYC, I think San Francisco is prettier and has milder weather, so from an aesthetic point-of-view, I agree. Also, people can be super intense in NYC, which sometimes makes walking unpleasant, even though I do enjoy a pedestrian vs taxi driver fight once in a while. MUNI does kill a lot of pedestrians though. :( - Chris White
having worked in both this seems wrong - nyc much more walkable than sf imho - mike "glemak" dunn
Part of the difference of opinion might be based on whether you are visiting or living/working in the cities. NYC is probably a far easier walking place to live/work, but just because of the sheer size, it's harder to get around just by walking as a visitor. Also, in the Bay Area, so much work is in Silicon Valley, that it's not really a fair comparison. This is about SF, not the Bay Area. - Chris White
So what I don't understand, is why the website considered Brooklyn, and other outer boroughs in with Manhattan? Did they include Marin, Oakland, and Daly City in with SF? That would drag SF down considerably. - Jason Kaneshiro
Jason, Oakland and San Jose are like adding in Boston and Newark. You have to draw the line, and since NYC is basically one city, that's probably the criteria. I think Boston has won these contests in the past. The core of the city is pretty walkable, although nothing's that walkable on the east coast in the dead of winter. - Chris White
This conversation reminds me of Rome vs Paris walkability discussions. Paris has great mass transit, but the core of Rome is more walkable, with sites closer together, and more to see between sites. - Chris White
I didn't add San Jose, Oakland is across one bridge (or BART) and is equivalent to crossing the Brooklyn Bridge. Oakland isn't as far away from SF as NYC is Boston, by any means. - Jason Kaneshiro
City comparisons - walkability, density, size, income - are always screwed up by the way some cities draw their city limits much more tightly than others. So whenever there's a list of cities sorted by any attribute that's going to vary depending on how many suburbs you include, the precise ranking is pretty much always bogus. Walk Score ratings are also arbitrary in about 10 other ways that make arguing about the scores of NYC vs. SF kind of pointless. - ⓞnor
@Nor yep, I agree, and I think a more fair comparison would be: Manhattan Island proper to SF proper. And in that comparison, IMHO SF loses. - Jason Kaneshiro
I think everyone should sell their SF places and move to Manhattan soon. :) - Chris White
New York's weather and crowds keep it from being enjoyable to walk. SF is a lot more walkable most days of the year. - Robert Scoble
SF weather and the crowds keep it from being enjoyable to walk. NYC is a lot more walkable most days of the year. :P - Andrew Baron
I wish I lived in a walkable city. Dallas is distinctly not walkable :-( - JP Landry
@ Hutch: its' true, NYCers do get pissy about SF. I am a NYC-transplant in SF that sometimes gets pissy about SF ;) Anecdotally, I feel safer walking on most streets in Manhattan at night by myself than I do in SF. Maybe it's something to do with the number of people, or that I get a little creeped out by the quiet SF streets. - Jennie Lin
I've lived in NY and Boston. In NYC I walked some but mostly to the subway but In Boston I walked everywhere. It's just a prettier city to walk around in. I imagine SF is the same way. One neat thing about Manhattan: 20 city blocks = 1 mile. - Peter Simard
the nice thing about this thread is that the focus is on walking in a city, which in this gas price crazy time is a very positive thing - another very walkable city is chicago - probably the least walkable city i've ever lived in is la - no one walks in la ;) - mike "glemak" dunn
NYC and SF are very walkable, thats why they got #1 and #2. I find though that SF is dirtier than NYC. - Sam Pullara
I lived in SF for 8+ years, and find NYC, Boston, and Seattle more walkable. - Adam Lasnik
It is hard in this world to do well. It is hard to do good. When I hear a claim that an institution is going to do both, I reach for my wallet. You should too. - Jennie Lin
Maybe I interpreted "reach for my wallet" the wrong way, as "pulling out my wallet to give them money" rather than "checking whether my money's still there." - Jim Norris
There's Dr Pepper in Mountain View too... atleast in Building 45 where I sit :) - Jennie Lin
Awe, don't rub it in my face. I haven't been to Mountain View in almost 4 months!!! I'll be back on Monday, I can't wait for the unlimited Diet DP :) - Roshan Vyas
"Their conclusion: fancy people with lots of training can tell cheap wine from expensive wine, but regular people cannot. What lesson should we take from this? No matter what, do not let yourself become a wine expert who can tell the difference between cheap and expensive wines. When it comes to your pocketbook and wine, ignorance is bliss." Vindication! - Jennie Lin via Bookmarklet
Good wines don't taste better because they're expensive, but on average, cheap wines are nasty. - Chris White
Chris, I think there is more variablity with cheap wines: even if you find a decent one, every bottle won't necessarily be good and the nex year might be crap. Part of what you are paying for is consistency. - Clare Dibble
Claire, I was just making that point earlier tonight about Dom Perignon. It's not that Dom is *necessarily* ten times better than a $12 prosecco or $30 bottle of another champagne, but it is very, very consistently good, from vintage to vintage, and you're (at least in part) paying for a known, predictable quality. - Karim
Also, many wines get better with age, which seems obvious, but most stores don't carry well-aged wines. For a while, I was able to find really old Ridge Paso Robles Zinfandels for less than $30 because they weren't well known for that area, but they tasted as good as $250 wines. Below a certain level of quality though (Turning Stomach, Two-buck Upchucks), I'd rather just drink beer. :) - Chris White
Um... where were you buying old Ridge Paso Robles Zins for < $30?? gimme gimme gimme. - Dylan Parker
K&L Wine in Menlo Park: http://www.klwines.com :) But it's been a couple of years since I bought them. Sometimes they buy a bunch of wine from private collectors, and they might come from an estate sale or something. These particular bottles were from 1972 thru 1986, which is pretty old for zin, but turned out to be really good. - Chris White
I'm with felix. Rushmore is a damn fine film. I've watched it dozens of times and it hasn't gotten old. Bill Murray gives an amazing performance. - Kevin D. White
I've seen it twice and it's never clicked for me the way The Royal Tannenbaums did. I figure I'll keep trying it until it takes; I'm sure it will eventually because it feels like it's supposed to. - Akiva Moskovitz
yes, bill murray should have been nominated for an oscar. i love this movie. - edythe
While we're all here talking about the love :) I'll post my top three Wes movies are Rushmore, Darjeeling Ltd and then Bottle Rocket. Liked but didn't love the other two. How about y'alls? - felix
Of the three I've seen, I like them descendingly: Royal Tannenbaums, Rushmore, Life Aquatic. - Akiva Moskovitz
I loved this movie, esp the music. Oh Yoko! - Dave Winer
Good shout Dave the usage of music in Rushmore made it an instant classic. - Toby Graham
oh, so true -- not only is the film a small masterpiece but so is the soundtrack - edythe
Life Aquatic is my fave - I seem to be in the minority - Brian Newman
Playing Ooh La La at the end of the film? Perfect. This is Wes Anderson's tour de force. - Mark Wilson
I have watched this movie so many times, it's a little scary. It's amazing to see how young Jason Schwartzman was in this movie. Finest Wes Anderson movie in my opinion: he doesn't "try" as hard as some of his other films (RT) and it shows. "So, this is where it all happens." "Where what happens?" "I wouldn't know." - Jennie Lin
to me, this is still wa's best. although i really do love Bottle Rocket. Then perhaps Life Aquatic. It isn't so much that Life Aquatic is a fantastic movie, but I think it suffers less from "cuteness." I prefer Darjeeling Limited to Tenenbaums. Tenenbaums is last for me, i think. - edythe
@edythe And yet they're all great films - Kevin D. White
Great film. The DVD package on the Criterion Collection is not to be missed. I am still so in love with Olivia Williams who played the character of Rosemary Cross. - James
DK much about "Heartbreaking Work...", but "Curious Incident..." was a good and fast-paced read. Excellent for travel. - Aprille
AHWSG was a huge book for me when I read it in early college; it may read slightly differently now that time has passed and the meta-memoir is a bit more common. They're two different books - what are you in the mood for? "Curious Incident" is, as Aprille said, a fun read :) - Jennie Lin
I forgot that we have the new David Sedaris; I'll be reading that instead - Benjamin Golub
"First they replace the support pillars at ground level with computer-controlled metal columns. Then, a crew carefully demolishes by hand the entire floor, leaving the structure resting on the mechanic pillars, which then go down slowly until the next floor is at ground level. They replace again the support pillars with the mechanic ones, destroy that floor, and repeat the operation until they get rid of all the floors. This makes it look as if the building is shrinking in front of you, or being swallowed by the street." - Jennie Lin via Bookmarklet
"Finally, for all the Francoise Hardy fans out there, this morning, i dedicated my entire radio show to her music throughout the years. Two hours of pure talent and aural beauty. It's only fitting to give you a little eye candy of the undeniable style icon that Francoise is..." - edythe via Bookmarklet
Edythe, how did you know that I've been listening to "The Vogue Years" double-disc set lately? ;) Awesome post. - Jennie Lin
Tous les garçons et les filles de mon âges savent ce que c'est qu'être heureux! :) - directeur via NoiseRiver
i have been listening to her today, Jennie, after reading this blog post. I am liking her a lot. - edythe
4th missle FAIL. but srsly, this is bad news. - Hao Chen
To be clear, I am not celebrating a missile launch. Not sure I expected people to gather that from this post. Rather, I am entertained by the desperation of political regimes to show infallibility and their use of very modern tools like Photoshop to do so. Imagine who they got to doctor this image. Was it a pro in their intelligence services already? Or maybe it was some official's geeky kid? - Sacca
Nice post - one always suspects a level of deception but to see it as clearly as this is unique... - Kevin Cearns
do you think they got their Photoshop from (a) one of the many spam messages offering to sell you Photoshop, (b) www.piratebay.org, or (c) Best Buy in Palo Alto? - peter
Three missiles? Bah. Four missiles?Global domination! - Ken Norton
aesthetically the 4 missile photo looks better. do you think they did a UI review before releasing this? - peter
@peter I agree, that missile does look strong. I would have liked to have seen the comments. "More plume. How about a touch more burnt umber?" - Sacca
Now 25% less scary! Or, as Iran may want us to think: 33% more powerful! - Jennie Lin
i wonder if they tried to launch 4 but only 3 fired. and for pride reasons they wanted to show 4 launches. - peter
a possible US reply to this is a photoshopped image of our lasers from outer space firing down and evaporating these missiles. Lets win with better JPEGs!!!!! - peter
They need to hire a better photoshop guy/gal. It's so obvious, it's not even funny. - AJ Batac
why didn't they go for broke and paste in another 50? - nathan
If it was me, I would have erased the misfiring 4th missile rather than trying to clone in another missile. "The 4th missile was INVISIBLE - be afraid!" - David Worrell
One of my favorite "little" things in life is catching a kitchen/restaurant's staff in a meal before/after regular service. An article about the "family meal" at some of the poshest spots in NYC; at Per Se, the front-of-house staff each make up a plate for the kitchen. - Jennie Lin via Bookmarklet
"3. Kale
This dark, leafy green is loaded with vitamin C, carotenoids, and calcium. Like most greens, it is usually a dollar a bunch." - - I am thinking about augmenting MAP's chili with Kale - RAPatton
rap: I don't know. kale has a strong taste. but, who knows, maybe it will be yummy. it also takes up more room than other greens, even when cooked down. i guess you could chop it up really fine... - edythe
the Whole Foods sesame kale is wonderful. alas a little more than $1 :-) - Karim
I wouldn't put a lot, and it would be very fine - RAPatton
Kale is my favorite superfood. Chop it up, saute with olive oil and garlic - I could eat it all day (except my jaw will get tired.) Also very easy to make soup with: kale, can of white white beans, chicken broth (sauteed garlic, thyme, and red pepper flakes if you're feeling it) - Jennie Lin
yes, i used to make a sort of tofu stew with kale. the kale gave the broth a lot of flavor. - edythe
Couture shows wrapping up in France. The more impractical and outrageous the clothes, the skinner the models! Still, there is a fantastical nature about high fashion couture. - Jennie Lin via Bookmarklet
Alex, I think you and Pippa are the sort that know how to manage their lives and expectations in Reality, which means you two will be just fine :D - Jennie Lin
Been busy all day so I only just saw this. Bad day for VMware today, what's up with them? CEO out today, rather unexpectedly it seems. Didn't see any FF posts about it... - Jennie Lin via Bookmarklet
"Think you've got enough game to volley with one of the world's best tennis players? Well, Page 2 is giving you the chance to trade shots with Andy Roddick. And we're even going to level the playing field a bit by making Roddick play ... with a frying pan." - Jennie Lin via Bookmarklet
Is there a good twitter feed with TdF coverage? - Jeremy Brooks
Ana and I have been going to the gym next to FriendFeed at 8 am for the past two days, and the last leg of the Tour de France is always on TV when I am on the stationary bike. I can't tell if it is depressing or inspiring :) - Bret Taylor
I follow tdfblog on Twitter, which is run by the excellent Frank Steele. Also, can we please have one TdF Friendfeed room to rule them all? :( - Jennie Lin
He did it! NYT web journalist Rob Mackey made it through the L'Etape du Tour after only a few weeks of preparation. Totally awesome. - Jennie Lin via Bookmarklet
"In the end, you can't change your body chemistry. But you can wear one of four Centers for Disease Control approved repellents. Sprays and lotions including DEET, Picaridin, Oil of Lemon Eucalyptus or IR3535 (which has made Avon's Skin-so-Soft lotion a popular choice) have all been deemed effective and safe to keep the bugs at bay." - edythe via Bookmarklet
Mosquitos love me :( I'll wake up in the morning with four bites; my boyfriend next to me will have zero. I can't think of a single redeeming quality about skeeters. Grr. - Jennie Lin via fftogo
they love you two because you are both so sweet - RAPatton
When i was a kid (maybe 4) i used to think that the mosquito gets under your skin (because of the bumps). I used to hammer the mosquito bites with my fists screaming "Die! Die!" - Parth Awasthi
see now, that's the sort of thing my mom would say to try and make it better. because I was so sweet. she also told me I had so many freckles because really, they were angel kisses...and the angels just loved me :D - Erin Kotecki Vest
awww. that is so corny, but it's really cute. - edythe
A friend of mine just started keeping bees. He reckons they like some people okay, but will attack others for no particular reason. Pheromones or something. - john conroy
Stay away from DEET as there is too much mixed research. Skin so Soft is a good choice (the scent can get to me, though). In Haiti, I learned the value of a good sleeping net. Luckily, the skeeters haven't hatched enmass yet here in Mich, giving the festivities of the day a better outlook. Do skeeter eaters actually eat skeeters? - Michael W. May
I've always been the mosquito magnet of whoever I'm with - which sucks because I'm also mildly allergic, even w/out any scratching they blow up on me. Fortunately my wife seems to have slightly sweeter blood and she tends to take the hits for me now. That's why I married her. ;) - felix
Yup. I'm the magnet, and the hubby is not. Even if I don't scratch the bug bites they swell up. **sigh** I stay inside a lot. :P - Cheryl Jones
I've always wondered if it was "regional." For instance, when I first moved to Dallas, it was months before mosquitos would bite me. They would drain other people dry before they even touched me. Sadly, that faded over time. - Harvey Simmons
Oh, and garlic... eat more garlic in summertime. Give and take ;) - Michael W. May via twhirl
Thanks for posting this edythe. I've always wondered about this. My wife will get eaten alive outside, while I often get no bites. Wasn't sure if it was strange luck. - Hutch Carpenter
Two natural repellents - lots of vinegar in the diet, and a few drops of lavender oil behind the ears and on ankles. I hike and kayak a lot, and refuse to use chemical repellents. - Jody Carbone
MWM: you may have something there. I moved here from Louisiana, and I eat a lot less garlic than I used to. This calls for an experiment! - Harvey Simmons
Jody, I've read that vinegar (acetic acid) is actually an alkalizing agent... the article says that mosquitoes are attracted to lactic acid produced as a result of exertion. So increasing your pH makes sense! Now, I'm off to patent my mosquito-repelling, anti-fatigue sports drink... :-D - Karim
my body temp seems to be a little higher than the average bear, but my blood must taste like piss because i hardly get bitten or stung by anything - Cee Bee
edythe, thanks :-) slightly confused now because I'm reading citric acid can substitute for vinegar. citric acid is used mostly in soda pop, which is likewise acid. i hope i just didn't invent the soft drink... lol - Karim
I bought some Cutter bug repellent with the lemon eucalyptus oil as the active ingredient, but I'm kind of afraid to use it. When I read the back label, it had all of these warnings to thoroughly wash your hands if you get any on them before eating. Wash exposed skin after being outside, don't use on children, etc... I read the back of the bottle of Off spray that we had, and there weren't such strong warnings. ! - Cheryl Jones
Post mosquito bite treatment (old trick from camping in the '70's): apply/soak a bit of Bonne Bell 10-0-6 lotion (basically a brownish liquid facial cleanser) to the bite. It takes the itch away almost instantly and within about an hour or so you won't be able to find the swelling/bite. [prob no help for those allergic, sorry] - Casey
Most joyous photo you will see all day. Can you imagine the explosion of emotion of seeing your mother for the first time in six years while she was a hostage in the jungle, wondering if she'd ever come home? - Jennie Lin via Bookmarklet
@ Noah : I can't tell if you're being sarcastic...? Politics aside, I just think that it must be an incredible feeling to finally be able to hug and kiss your mom after such a long time. - Jennie Lin
FARC long ago ceased to be about politics, Left or Right. They're just thugs. Ballsy rescue, and a wonderful thing. I'm sure someone started on a movie script this morning. - Chris Baskind
Jennie and Chris: You think Chávez’s pronouncements in January 2008 that the FARC have “a political and Bolivarian project that is respected here [in Venezuela],” and Chávez’s call for a moment of silence to observe the death of Raul Reyes in March aren't clues of a leftist tyranny? this is harder to understand then a Palestinian power structure I admit, but let's call a spade a spade. - Noah David Simon
Do they have a new album out?? I had their first album on constant rotation for a few months in 2006. They put on a rousing live show. - Jennie Lin via fftogo
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