Friday, October 28, 2005

MISCELLANY

• Among the surprising number of festivities planned for this holiday weekend is the New Orleans Bookfair, a seriously boffo literary free-for-all featuring scads of indie publishers, readings from indie stars, and other indie-type events. So, you know, if you're into the whole "indie" thing, you should head on up to Barrister's Gallery and check it out. [Note: the Bookfair's website is screwy at the moment, so you can't see a full listing of events, so you'll just have to trust me on this one. But c'mon, would I lie to you?]





• New Orleans' citywide curfew starts at 2am, right? But this is the weekend that Daylight Savings Time comes to an end, meaning that at on Sunday at 2am, we wind our clocks back an hour. I wonder how many curfew-breakers are gonna try to use that one as an excuse.





• I saw it on The Daily Show the other day, but I didn't really believe it. Now, however, I see that Beirut's Daily Star is reporting it, too, so it must be true:

  
  
  

  
  
  

  As with any family moving to the Arab world from the West, "The Simpsons" quickly discovered they'd need to make some adaptations to their lives if they were to connect with the natives. First, they would change their names - the family now called Al-Shamshoons; the father, once Homer, now goes by Omar; his mischievous son Bart, now Badr.

  
  
  

  There would be fundamental changes to their lifestyles as well. Omar, once a fan of tossing back a few beers with friends, now goes to the club or the ahwa (coffee shop) and sips on sodas and juice. The list goes on. Donuts have been replaced by kakh (Arabic cookies); bacon is done away with altogether as it is against Islam; and the kids, once a rowdy bunch of conniving delinquents, are still just as cunning but mind their manners with their parents a bit more.

  
  
  

  -- The Daily Star

  
  
  

  
  




• You'd think with all the hurricane mishegas and Harriet Miers' withdrawal and the impending indictment of Scooter Libby, CNN might have its hands full. You'd think so, but you'd be wrong:

  
  
  

  
  
  

  George Takei, 'Trek's' Sulu: I'm gay!

  
  
  

  Body hanging from tree mistaken for Halloween decoration!

  
  
  

  Missing U.S. cat found--in France!

  
  
  

  
  
  

  [NB: creative punctuation, mine]

  
  
  

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