Sex And The City (AKA Emotional Train Wrecks Of Self-Pity)

Anthony Lane's review over at the New Yorker is hilarious and spot-on. If you can't find the 7 minutes it takes to read it, his last line probably sums it up best:

All the film lacks is a subtitle: “The Lying, the Bitch, and the Wardrobe.”

Hallelujah

Everyone and their mothers love this song. The Jeff Buckley version, that is. As they should. It still ticks me off that people thought that dreadlocked kid from American Idol sang it well. I thought it was horrendous. (I know his name, but if college stoner kids who really can't sing and who can barely strum a guitar, can have a legitimate pop music career, I am certainly not to going to help it along).

This performance of the song is worth checking out. Simply gorgeous. Two of these guys are from the Norwegian Idol or Icelandic Idol or something like that, and the other two are... well, two other guys I don't know.



Oh, and here is a fantastic blog entry about the history of the song. I love when people put this much thought into something from pop culture that deserves to be seriously considered.

TED - My New Best Friend

TED now posts all their conference talks. If I didn't have to function in the world by working, eating and sleeping, I would watch these talks day and night. For now I watch one a day because I want to stretch them out like a great book you never want to end.

In case you don't know what TED is:

TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from those three worlds. Since then its scope has become ever broader.

The annual conference now brings together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).

Do yourself a HUGE favor and watch these fascinating, ingenious and bold ideas presented to the world.

Lifestraw (AKA Do something worthwhile with your life)

Danish water purification company Vestergaard Frandsen has developed the Lifestraw Personal, a small filter that requires no power and can be worn on a string around the neck. There are no moving parts and no maintenance is required. Sip water directly through the LifeStraw® and it removes 99% of waterborne bacteria and viruses. There are several layers inside to filter out increasingly smaller pathogens, then iodine to kill the smallest, and finally charcoal to remove the iodine taste. After use, you blow air back through the straw to clear the filters. A personal filter lasts for about a year’s use. It is not effective against the parasite Giardia lamblia, which is smaller than 5 microns, but the company is working on it.

The Lifestraw costs $3.

Which is less than what most people spend on their morning coffee.

More than one billion people in the world do not have access to safe drinking water - i.e. around 1/6th of the world's population.
(Source: Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council)

The average distance that women in Africa and Asia walk to collect water is 6 km.
(Source: Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council)

Via their link you can read more and donate a Lifestraw personal or a Lifestraw Family, which can be used to filter a household water supply.

I read about this on mental floss.