Timely report on the Irish ban on smoking in the workplace (timely because Patanoia is heading back to Ireland for a holiday).

It's funny that Rarb loves MSN so much, considering how beastly they were to the Opera had the last laugh. (Thanks to Robb for this item.)



Congrats to Eric - the first (and only?) person to solve the cryptograms.

TV: Lara Logan

Saw Lara Logan on Craig Kilborn's show. She's the CBS News correspondent in Afghanistan. And she's quite toothsome.

Music: My Morning Jacket

Noticed that Best Buy has "It Still Moves" by My Morning Jacket on sale for $7.99. Worth a flyer. (One of their tunes is being used in a beer ad, for Aspen Edge.)

Cryptogram

Another cryptogram:

RBTH XFTN DEFINEZ DCTONE:
DUH FZT'I IUNEN BTH
ZHTCTHR XCE IUN
DCEO "ZHTCTHR" ?

There's something odd about the Nick Berg case - what exactly was he doing in Iraq? And then there's his "chance encounter" with Zacarias Moussaoui. This was bound to attract the attention of the conspiracy nuts, and sure enough: 15 Anomalies Surrounding Death Of Nick Berg. This site ups the ante: Nick Berg's Killing: 50 Fishy Circumstances, Contradictory Claims, and Videotape Anomalies.

Here's a nice painting.

Book recommendation: "The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America". The Chicago World's Fair of 1893, a serial killer, Buffalo Bill, landscape architecture, Shredded Wheat, Walt Disney's father, the Titanic, and a stag party featuring a naked woman in a whipped-cream pie.

Just when I got over my Tetris addiction - Collapse.

Cryptogram

Cryptogram:

AROOAZ FK TZZT BRHUB OK MAKIP:
"R PZZT IKDSORSH BUZZT FDO
R INS'O MNAA NBAZZT."

TV: "Survivor"

CBS promised that the Survivor All-Stars finale would have "a surprise so big it will stun everyone. We guarantee it."
Sorry, I wasn't stunned. Now, about this guarantee...

Music: Novelty

April Winchell: Multimedia - a cornucopia of strange audio files. Abba in Hindi, Johnny Cash singing "I Walk The Line" in German, "Kinky Boots' by Patrick MacNee and Honor Blackman.

I hope this is a joke - Ryan Adams has temporarily closed his website.

Internet: Fiveletterword.com

fiveletterword.com - it's like "Lingo", as seen on the Game Show Network. Or the boardgame Mastermind, with letters instead of colours. Very addictive.

Internet: Anagram Server

Using the Internet Anagram Server:

The Olsen Twins = Thin, slow teens

Donald Trump = Damp old runt

Final epidode of Friends = I define ordeal: Spinoffs

Cyber-Stalking

Have you seen this girl before? The Dallas Morning News was using a photo of a very similar model recently. Anyone got her phone number?

Music: Album Cover Art

God forgive me for saying this, but wouldn't the most famous picture of Iraqi prisoner-abuse make a great album cover? Maybe for a band like Tool or Nine Inch Nails. It's highly iconic.

Quotations

Quotations collected by Gabe Robins, including: "'Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing.' Wernher Von Braun (1912-1977) "

Blogs: Rarb's Rants

I'm confused. Why are Rarb's Rants on Jiggle Fest and not on Rarb's Rants ? And why is he so angry? I proclaim this "Let's Be Nice To Rarb Week". Rarb, I too have suffered from Acute Tetchiness Syndrome. I just want to tell you that there is hope, and that your friends are here to help.

"Is Kerry Blowing It?" - an even-handed view.

One version of the Cockney Alphabet. Here's another version, this time called the Cab Driver's Alphabet.