b l o g o r e l l i

The Girl Effect

Give a girl a hamburger, and you have me at dinner tonight. Give a girl a cow and...well, see for yourself.

Or watch the larger version right here.

My Sigg, Your Sigg, No Sigg

Been waiting since the downfall of Nalgenes to jump on Sigg's train? Get to a computer or nearest "outdoor lifestyle" store stat -- apparently the lightweight, crack-resistant, reusable, and recyclable aluminum bottles are in such short supply that even the company's own online store has halted sales.

"Due to the incredible demand for SIGG bottles, we are forced to close down the MySIGG shop. We are also unable to supply any other Internet business for Sigg Brand. Our Swiss factory is working around the clock to produce and ship more bottles to us, but the demand has currently and for the near future - exceeded the supply."

REI, EMS, and LL Bean all seem to still have the bottles in stock (online and off)...I might just buy a few to auction at eBay!

Commuter Rail Connect: Initiate Contact

Perhaps to offset paying almost double the cost for a monthly pass and enduring the MBTA's Mussolini-esque "If you see something, say something" campaign, the T is throwing commuter rail riders a bone by testing a free Wi-Fi on the Worcester/Framingham line. Luckily, due to train car swaps (totally my assumption,) sometimes the Needham Heights line, which I ride, has WiFi.

I only found minor mentions of the program online in my research, so I thought I'd post a quick Q&A based on my experiences.

Do users have to sign in or click a service agreement?
I've seen both...sometimes the computer just connects to the network, other times an intermittent screen comes up when the browser is launched.

How is network performance?
The maybe five times I've used CRC (Commuter Rail Connect,) the stability of the network has varied. The main issue is that I have to quit my browser and restart so that the CRC (or my laptop?) realizes that I'm a user. A few times, the connection has dropped, and a few times I couldn't connect at all.

Does it totally rule to be able to surf the Inter-net during dull train time that might otherwise be used for reading or sleeping?
Yes, yes it does.

Aubergine Tuesday

Primary day is here -- so get out the vote!

(As per usual, CNN.com is the Blogorelli site of choice for following the races...that banner and chart below belong to them. The shirts, however, are pure Kitson.)

Happy Heart Day 2007: Love, Honor, and Serve

I nearly wept at my desk yesterday while reading the saga of US Marine Ty Ziegel and his high school sweetheart (now wife) Renee Kline. A suicide bomb attack seriously wounded Ziegel during his second tour of duty in Iraq.

"Renee felt sick with nerves before going up the aisle, but she had no second thoughts. She looked radiant in a white dress. 'You’re beautiful,' Ty told her. He wore his combat medals and a Purple Heart for being wounded in action."

Photographer Nina Berman, whose Purple Hearts project takes portraits and recollections from American soldier injured in Iraq, won the 2007 World Press Photo competition for her portrait of the couple. Some other captures from their wedding day here. (via kottke.)

Living a fairly normal life here in non-wartime Boston, I find it easy to not contemplate the day-to-day and sacrifices of those fighting in Iraq. Mine is a posh existence, both materially and mentally. The poor Professor can hardly blow his nose in public without me making "that face" at him, for chrissakes. But a story like that of the Ziegels should remind us all to be grateful...for, just, everything.

Hurricane Katrina: How to Help

Hi everyone,
I wanted to post a few links to various Katrina-related information in case anyone wanted to make a donation or just be up-to-date on the current situation along the Gulf Coast.

To make a donation, go here (Network of Good's resource page.)

To check if someone that you know living in the area has been reported "safe," here's a partial list.

To see extensive coverage and photos to date, browse around The New York Times feature site.

Katrina Lands

As Hurricane Katrina threatens to actually turn New Orleans into a giant toilet, check out photobloggers who are publishing their pics on FLikr with the tag HurricaneKatrina

For a more personal take, Brenda Loy lives in New Orleans and is real-time blogging throughout Katrina.

Innocence Lost...with an Albatross

Harrods' shoppers, London and the world in general uttered a collective "What...the...huh?" this week as Muhamed al Fayed unveiled the bronze statue of lovers Di&Dodi that he plans to place in his high-end department store.

Named, "Innocent Victims," the statue depicts Di in a low-cut nightie looking like a shipwreck survivor and, truth be told, a bit mannish. Her lov-ah Dodi is, uh, humbly dressed in an open button-down shirt that is open to show chest hair. He's also wearing some khackis or something.

In an awkward pose that reminds me of something out of the end of my last date, they are holding their joined hands up and releasing an albatross -- yes, that's right, an ALBATROSS (aside, WTF?!?) which is "a symbol of eternity and good fortune."

Even old Blogorelli is scratching her head on this one...
Check it out here at ABCNews and DO NOT miss the photo gallery ("Photos: Di and Dodi in Bronze")

Ok, I couldn't resist putting ONE photo in...hopefully I won't get sued. Photo ©ABC News

Planned Coincidence

There's a conspiracy theorist in every group. Luckily, The Gang has both myself and Bobby Crocker to throw out possibly-ridiculous-but-actually-genius musings about cause and effect. One cannot argue that, in this big world, things which seem "coincidental" are often the result of a complex plan.

The Crocker sent me examples of two such engimas recently.

Banksy is a UK graffiti artist. You might recognize him as the chap who managed to stick up his own pieces (info tags included) in museums around the world, including The British Museum, MOMA, The Brooklyn Museum, American Museum of Natural History and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Eventually someone caught on and they were removed, but you gotta give him snaps for having some big ones.

Even though their mantra, "We Cause Scenes", is the decription of my daily waking life, I am NOT a member of Improv Everywhere. They're a NYC-based group who "causes scenes of chaos and joy in public places...[and] has executed over 40 missions involving over 100 undercover agents." Although I generally hate improv and ESPECIALLY "Whose Line is It Anyway," I would readily become a member if it meant that I got to be called "Agent M-Gun."

See what I mean about "unplanned" chaos? It's being scheduled all around us.

So I Guess That Dog is Smarter Than You, Too?

The only photo I took this weekend, in the IKEA parking lot, of two stickers on the side of a pristine maroon mini-van...

Geez.