Wonderful sarcasm disguised as an article about absinthe

The New York Times: The Diluted Mystery of Absinthe starts out with a headline of “Care for an Absinthe? Ptooey!” which made me giggle.  But the best stuff I must quote:

If absinthe were a band, it would be Interpol, third-hand piffle masquerading as transgressive pop culture. If absinthe were sneakers, it would be a pair of laceless Chuck Taylors designed by John Varvatos for Converse. If it were facial hair, it would be the soul patch. If absinthe were a finish on kitchen and bath fixtures, it would be brushed nickel.

and then later on:

You could say that absinthe is a kindred spirit of so many falsely subversive things: ear piercing for men, tattoos on women, those cigar bars, pole-dancing-aerobics classes, mind erasers, blogging about one’s bikini grooming, naming one’s bong after a cartoon character.

and tops it off with:

“It was lots of people who knew each other through the online absinthe community,” he added. (Like Chuck Norris ephemera and role-play games, absinthe has a big Internet presence.)…”

I hope it wasn’t just me who was ROTFL

Naughty Words in Google Maps – Brunswick, Maine

Naughty words in Google Maps here.

Which is funny, especially since is is my understanding that the satellite images are 6+ years old…

(click image to enlarge)

Naughty Words in Google Maps, Brunswick, Maine
Naughty Words in Google Maps, Brunswick, Maine

Follow-up:

 

…so I did  a little more digging, and it turns out that the Google Maps are indeed old.

The Town of Brunswick has a GIS site (for tax maps, I believe).

It shows the property (23 Hillside Rd.) to have the graffiti on the roof in their Aerial Photo from April 2001.

(click image to enlarge)

23 Hillside Rd. graffiti on the roof - Aerial Photo, April 2001
Graffiti on the roof - April 2001

The graffiti on the roof is gone in the Aerial Photo of April 21, 2006 (or has been digitally removed).

23 Hillside Rd. graffiti on the roof - Aerial Photo, April 21, 2006
Graffiti removed - April 21, 2006

you call this clean?

Though Consumer Reports had remarked about the Wolf dual-fuel ovens’ lackluster self-cleaning (model number DF304 – 30″). I took that as requiring just a little more effort on my part. I should have listened.

The images tell the story. There is just lots of stuff that will not come out if run throught the self-cleaning cycle. On page 42 of my manual it states: “Never use oven cleaners. They are not necessary with the SELF-CLEAN mode.” What am I supposed to do, live with huge black stains?
Dirty Wolf Oven Interior

Dirty Wolf Oven Interior