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The Italian cheese bail-out: The FT wheys in

Who knew that the Financial Times was, as a friend of mine describes in a Facebook comment, a "bastion of alternative comedy?" In a story about the Italian government stepping into save the parmagiano cheese industry, the FT lets rip with a pun fiesta including:

"The move has already grated producers of other cheese varieties. Makers of buffalo mozzarella, for instance, fear that without dipping into a fondue of government cash they too may fall by the whey-side. The blood of some economic observers has curdled at the thought of the Italian government rescuing any and every industry facing difficulty. Unlike the cheese itself, the case for protecting parmigiano has not been easy for some to digest."

Perhaps it's punch-drunk from all the bad financial news?

The enjoyment of winning the loser's bracket

Last season was a disaster for my home team. Leicester City Football Club (LCFC) was relegated* to the third flight of English football division for the first time in its 125 year history. I can assure you, when relegation was confirmed after the last match of the season, there was lots of weeping and gnashing of teeth. Sample quotes from the LCFC Facebook Supporters Group: "This is the worst moment of my life" and "I'm dead inside."

Well the new season is underway and things are off to a good start. After four games, LCFC is top of the table and the Facebook group's mood has changed: "Wat a gr8 day!" and "Finally got my love affair with Saturdays back." Supporters are much happier winning in this league of minnows than they were losing week after week in the higher league.

But none of these supporters want to stay in this league. All of them want LCFC to get promoted back to the higher level. Then the misery will, most likely, start all over again. It's the price of ambition, I suppose.

* There's nothing in U.S. major league sports similar to the European promotion and relegation model where, at the end of a season, the bottom two or three teams of a division are replaced by the top teams of the lower division. It would be like the San Diego Padres, if they finish last in the NL Division West, switching places next year with Sacramento from the Triple-A's Pacific Coast League.

Time for some campaignin'

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Real Estate: Now even more like pop tarts

In a sign of desperate times for property developers, a San Diegan developer is offering a BOGO deal. Buy one million dollar home and get a 2,000 sq ft home in Escondido for free.

Key quote: "We thought, 'Why does it just have to be on Pop Tarts and restaurants? Why not buy one home, get one free,'" Dawn Berry of Michael Crews Development told 10 News in San Diego.

Links:
1) In Escondido: Buy one (house), get one free: Los Angeles Times

Ups and downs

Seen stuck at the bottom of one of San Francisco's hills: A Guinness truck, hood up, mechanics scratching their heads. Poster on the side of the truck: "If only life were this smooth."

Note to boss: This is why I need an iPhone--I could have had the picture. Let's discuss.

Things'll be great when you're... Downtown

A question for myself this Monday morning. Is it worth being on a bus where the driver has to stop a police officer to ask for directions to get downtown (San Francisco), having just circled Golden Gate park and arrived back 20 minutes later at the same point, just to be able to talk about it afterwards?

Lost and Found

Back in 1999, Regis claimed he had single-handedly "saved the network" as host of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire." In 2008, perhaps "Lost" will be able to claim to have single-handedly saved network TV. It's certainly the first thing that I've felt compelled to watch this year.

Paper or plastic?

This is totally unfair because I like my local paper and all its stories about how the Novato Hornets almost won the state championship and how the citizens of uppity-town Tiburon won't allow Habitat for Humanity to build any houses in their neighborhood.

But, still, I thought it was funny that one lady in the local doggie park explained that she must renew her subscription to the paper (let's keep it nameless) so that she could ensure a continuous supply of poop-sized plastic bags that said paper is wrapped in every day.

All the scoop for all the poop!

MORE:

It seems Trent Lott is following a similar line of thinking. Here's a quote from him, as reported on NPR:

"Newspapers? Why is the FCC protecting newspapers? I don’t get why we’re crying crocodile tears over newspapers. . . It’s technology that’s affecting newspapers. Where I live [on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi], we use newspapers to wrap mullet."

Pumpkins - the last seasonal

There was a time when most fruit and vegetables really were seasonal. Back in the UK, strawberries were only around for a few weeks around Wimbledon, raspberries just for a few weeks after that. It was sort of exciting and special when they showed up.

Now, most things are available year round. I don't think there's every a time when I can't buy strawberries in my local supermarket, for example. It's not so special anymore - they've become a commodity and, like other commodities, something to be bought when the price is right.

But pumpkins are still seasonal. So strongly associated with Halloween and so not something you want to eat everyday they remain locked in their October slot. Special enough that we even spend a day going out to the fields to find the perfect one.

Spirit in the Sky

Somehow, for my 4-year old daughter, the Warner Bros logo has become an evil spirit called "Too Loud".

She can't sleep in her own bed anymore because "Too Loud" comes after her in her dreams.

"Too Loud" lives in the sky (as you can clearly see from the logo) and also introduces some of her favorite children's videos (which doesn't bother her at all)

We have started a gentle campaign to discredit "Too Loud". No success so far.