6/14/03

How sophisticated have video game consoles become? Researchers have linked 70 or so Playstation 2s in series and created a supercomputer.

No, really. Check out the CNet story for the details.

Meme stolen from


If I were a month I would be: October
If I were a day of the week I would be: Thursday
If I were a time of day I would be: Right after waking up
If I were a planet I would be: Neptune
If I were a sea animal I would be: A starfish
If I were a direction I would be: Thataway
If I were a piece of furniture I would be: a fainting couch
If I were a sin I would be: Sloth
If I were a historical figure I would be: Iron Monkey
If I were a liquid I would be: the cleaning fluid of a moist towelette
If I were a stone, I would be: Granite
If I were a tree, I would be: Mangrove
If I were a bird, I would be: A pelican
If I were a tool, I would be: A trowel
If I were a flower/plant, I would be: lavender
If I were a kind of weather, I would be: a soft rain with distant thunder
If I were a mythical creature, I would be: A yeti
If I were a musical instrument, I would be: Tuba
If I were an animal, I would be: A bear
If I were a color, I would be: Forest Green
If I were a vegetable, I would be: Sweet corn
If I were a sound, I would be: a gasp of surprise
If I were an element, I would be: beryllium
If I were a car, I would be: A station wagon
If I were a song, I would be: What I am, by Edie Brikell and the New Bohemians
If I were a movie, I would be directed by: Terry Gilliam
If I were a book, I would be written by: Robert Anton Wilson
If I were a food, I would be: Delicious Tofu
If I were a place, I would be: a broad park with lots of soft grass and trees, with a small brook
If I were a material, I would be: Teflon
If I were a taste, I would be: Bittersweet
If I were a scent, I would be: Baking Bread
If I were a religion, I would be: Unitarianism
If I were a word, I would be: Zoinks!
If I were an object, I would be: an axe handle
If I were a body part I would be: islets of langerhans, or the whole pancreas
If I were a facial expression I would be: Smiling
If I were a subject in school I would be: Mythology of the Modern World
If I were a cartoon character I would be: Norb (of the Angry Beavers)
If I were a shape I would be: recursive
If I were a number I would be: 5


Travel hint for those in Miami, via the hidden city - Coco's

There's a little Cuban restaurant, Coco's Coffee Shop. It's an institution, having been in the same hole in the wall location for over 20 years. As in common in Miami there's a sidewalk window, where you can walk up and get a quick shot of Cuban coffee for 50¢ (including the tip). Inside it's cramped and utilitarian, with cheap plastic tablecloths and silk flowers on the two-person tables, and the ubiquitous Formica counter where the regulars sit and gossip and sip their cortaditos. One wall is dominated by a gigantic painted menu, but I don't think it's been updated in the last ten years. You can always tell when someone new comes in, because they'll spend time looking at the wall for inspiration, and wondering why there aren't any prices listed. It's the only menu in the place.

Coco and her husband will try to help you out if you look confused, but it really isn't a place for tourists. There's a small chalkboard with today's specials listed (en Español, of course), and they'll translate it for you if needed, but beyond that, you're on your own. You can get all the usual Cuban coffee shop fare, so just ask for something you've had before and odds are good you'll be fine.

In exchange for this no-frills dining experience, you get deals it's hard to beat: a large Cuban sandwich—roast pork, ham, cheese, and pickles on crusty Cuban bread, pressed flat and heated through— and a tiny cup of extremely strong, extremely sweet Cuban coffee, for $5 including tax and tip. (Vegetarians my have trouble. vegans even more so. It is Cuban fare, after all... I think that they'd make the napkins of pork, if it were possible and sanitary.)

I love places like Coco's, which will never end up in Zagat's or reviewed in the Miami Herald, but which have character, local flavor, and great food and at really great price.

Any place like that in your neighborhood?