IMPORTANT NOTICE

I'll be blogging on WordPress from now on at lonelymanofcake.wordpress.com.

See you there!

Kosher is Halal Too

Here is an intriguing article about a Jewish school in England where half of the students are Muslims, by choice! One convenient selling point for Muslim parents (read the article for the rest): Kosher is considered Halal.
(Via Jewschool)

Different Persona; Different Uniforms

Incoming Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defense Forces Gabi Ashkenazi received six boxes filled with uniforms in preparation for his assumption of duty.
Underscored in this article is the fact that unlike Ashkenazi's predecessor, Dan Halutz, who preferred to parade around in formal dress uniforms, Ashkenazi will wear mostly BDU's (מדי ב) because of his background as infantry commander and his proclivity for spending time in the field with the combat troops.
I hope to see some major changes undertaken for the good of restoring the image and honor of the IDF.

Do Chinese People Eat Chinese Food?

Here is an interesting article on the evolution of Hunan Cuisine in general, and the dish "General Tso's" in particular. Regarding the latter, the article's author says the following, thus answering somewhat the question which I posed in the title:

Despite its international reputation... the dish is virtually unknown in the Chinese province of Hunan itself.

The dish apparently rose to prominence in the USA because its inventor was affiliated with the defeated Chinese Nationalist Party, created the dish in the 50s while exiled in Taiwan, and ultimately popularized the dish in America in the 70s in his New York restaurant. It is now, much to the embarrassment of the Chinese, the most popular dish associated with Hunan Cuisine, even though the dish has no actual roots in the Hunan province of China.

Something to think about next time you come down with that MSG headache.

It's a House in a Box!

If you're looking for that ultra-modern, sleek, minimalist European dwelling, instead of buying the entire IKEA catalog, you might want to buy this.

Shabbat Tresspassing

I'm not sure what to make of this article. It is essentially a diatribe by Uri Orbach, a noted religious commentator and radio host, regarding his experiences and resultant fears of hosting his irreligious friends for Shabbat.
Maybe I'm missing something here, but as much as I usually enjoy Orbach, I find the article incredibly offensive. Let me know if you agree.

Olmert Gets Google Bombed

It seems that now Ehud Olmert has been "Google bombed." A search on the Israeli Google page for the phrase "כשלון חרוץ" (utter failure) links directly to PM Olmert's biography on the Israeli government's official site for the Prime Minister's Office.

The Israelis, ingenious as they are, are not the sole foreigner's to Google bomb their national leaders. Wikipedia has compiled an impressive list of other international Google bombs.

Just Schrute It

Best. Clip. Ever.

YouTube Blues

Viacom, the parent company of MTV, Comedy Central, and others, has succeeded in coercing YouTube to remove what are approximated as 100,000 unauthorized clips, the LonelyManofCake has learned. (Source)

This blog has not been spared. The hilarious video of Jim Breuer which I posted last week is no longer accessible over YouTube. It is, however, available here.

iPhone Trademark Issues

A little while back, the LonelyManofCake conjectured that Apple collaborated with Linksys, "letting" them register the trademark for an innocuous VoIP product called the iPhone in order to create more buzz about their forthcoming revolutionary product. I concluded, prematurely, that Linksys would quietly, and with a wink, hand over to Apple the rights to the name iPhone.

I couldn't have been more wrong. Linksys is not giving up easily, and has even gone so far as to publish a full-page ad in the New York Times touting the virtues of their iPhone product (pictured below; click here for full size). I can't read the fine print at the bottom, but I wonder whether they have a line about their product being unrelated to Apple's.

Al Franken for Senate!

The man who was a voice of sanity and reason during Bush's first term (I consider his current candidacy his first term, as he did not really win in 2000) has announced that he will be running to represent Minnesota in the US Senate. (Story, here.)

Go Al!

Freedom Kissing

I was doing some research on Wikipedia to see if anyone had updated the entry on French Kissing in light of the conviction of Haim Ramon, and the court's decision to classify a coerced kiss, with tongue, as constituting the prosecutable offense of indecent behavior. (In fact, I updated the entry to include this information, but I ended up messing up the whole page, and my edit was removed.)

Anyway, I was reminded of how some "patriotic" Americans decided to excise the word "French" from any proper name in American English. Thus French Fries became Freedom Fries, French Kissing became Freedom Kissing, etc. Here is a collection of "historical parallels" to this phenomenon, whereby other countries did renaming of their own, usually due to diplomatic strain. Apparently, New Zealand went through something similar with French Fries in 1998.

An Irreverant Look at Drinking

The subtitle of this blog promises, among other things, an irreverent look at food. Here is a hilarious bit on drinking:

Sorry, Stanley

Jameel over @ the Muqata takes note of the Jerusalem Post's shameless attempt to promote their Hebrew-language business magazine by taking a jab at the language aptitude of the Governor of the Bank of Israel, Stanley Fisher.

Anyone who has read the Jerusalem Post daily might want to reinterpret the ad: "Sorry, Stanley" is an apology to intelligent Anglo professionals living and working in Israel--Stanley Fisher being the most prominent among them--for the shabby journalism, lack of original content, and pathetic (if at all extant) copy-editing.

Tasting Beer

Some basic tips, here.

Blasphemy Challenge

'Nuff said.


For recent media attention, see this Nightline piece, and the wonderful FoxNews polemic.

The Cult of Originality

Please have a look at this fascinating review of Richard Posner's newest work: The Little Book of Plagiarism.
Posner essentially takes issue with the idea that a work "cannot be 'creative' unless it is 'original.'" He draws on historical precedent for furthering his contention: Shakespeare, T.S. Eliot, MLK Jr., are known to have unabashedly plagiarized. He also notes that "Jonathan Swift and Laurence Sterne 'denounced plagiarism in words plagiarized from earlier writers.'"

I'll let you know if I ever get a chance to read the book.

On the Idolatry of Materialism

You look:



Deep and profoundly disturbing. Now that I've figured out how to embed YouTube videos, we're gonna spice things up here a little bit.

Good News; Bad News

The good news is that 18 volunteers put themselves through the same dieting regimen as the producer of Super Size Me, though none of them experienced any the radical physical or psychological symptoms documented by Morgan Spurlock in the film.
The bad news is that bananas might go extinct in the next 10 years.

WaWaWeeWa

One of Borat's most notorious ejaculations, "WaWaWeeWa," has invited potential legal action. Israeli actor Dov Glickman apparently decided to pursue legal action after seeing Sacha Baron-Cohen use the expression as he began his remarks accepting his Golden Globe award the other week. Glickman claims--and most Israelis who remember will confirm this--that he came up with the expression 16 years ago, and he considers it to be both his trademark, and apparently, intellectual property, as well.

The accusation and potential legal battle invite some interesting questions:
1. Can anyone sue to protect a line/word/phrase which they feel is their own? Can Arnold Schwarzenegger sue anyone who says "I'll be back" or "Hasta la vista, baby"?
2. Supposing that the suit is brought to court, under whose jurisdiction is it tried? American, British, Israeli, The Hague?
3. Assuming that Glickman is victorious, what ramifications will the suit have for the entertainment industry? How will the court decide on an appropriate sum for compensation?

(via NRG)

Recent Plagiarism

Microsoft's much touted Vista operating system is widely considered a straight up rip-off of Apple's OS X. See this entertaining and sardonic video by the New York Times's David Pogue, who illustrates why this is so. See also this review of Vista, in which the author concludes:

Get a Mac with OS X unless your home-computer needs are Windows-specific, or if the fine Media Center is a must for you. You likely won't regret a Vista-PC purchase, but I'm betting you'll enjoy a Mac much more.