Linkwad.

1. I missed last night’s Treme season two premiere (HBO’s marketing budget seems to have been $.36), but here are the Anthony Bourdain-scripted kitchen scenes.
2. Shocking development in Iowa: Flavor Flav’s fried chicken joint is done.

It’s gorgeous here, so go enjoy Tennis’s “Baltimore” outside (I am doing work next to an open window).

Linkwad.

1. A neat NYT preview of Next, via Kottke.
2. How to find fresh bread, via Caroline.
3. Obama administration decides to stop barring gay marriage, despite Obama’s personal beliefs.
4. Recycling gadgets at ecoATMs, via Andrew Sullivan.

Linkwad.

“Capitalism: God’s way of determining who is smart, and who is poor.”

1. I want a print-quality version of the Swanson Pyramid of Greatness [Update: The Internet provides!]. NBC, get on it–you owe us for Outsourced. I only saw the pilot, but it was one of the worst half-hours of my life. So naturally, the show’s a hit.
2. I also loved An Idiot Abroad, Ricky Gervais’ “travelogue” re-airing on the Science Channel (From the article’s comments: apparently, the Science version is sanitized. I’d suggest finding the original Sky1 version.). The show sends The Ricky Gervais Show‘s Karl Pilkington to the New Seven Wonders of the World, taking Gervaisian care to make him miserable. The deleted scenes are also worth checking out.
3. I also want one of these Zzz records tees.
4. Flava Flav: still fucking retarded, via @bengmark.
5. The story of the Soloflex exercise machine involves time in a Colombian prison, assassins, and “the largest load of pot in history.”
6. The largest camera obscura ever (probably), via Giz.

“A Whore’s Market.”

That’s what New Glarus Brewing co-owner Deb Carey calls Chicago, before explaining:

New Glarus pulled out, Ms. Carey says, because it didn’t want to participate in illegal business practices such as giving away beer to get bars to carry its products.

Ms. Carey says Illinoisans constantly are urging her to sell her Spotted Cow ale here again, but she’s not interested. “Everyone has a hand out and everyone wants some cash, (free) beer or a discount,” she says. “As far as I’m concerned, it’s not worth the graft and hassle.”

Ha ha, whores and pulling out. More seriously, the article’s a good look at pay-to-play corruption in the Chicago bar scene, where giants like Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors (an affiliate of SABMiller PLC!) pay “$10,000 per handle for only six months.”

Also, read the article’s comments, which clarify some things chopped due to space constraints.

Via Beer in Baltimore.

Linkwad.

1. Technology is cyclical update: military to go back to using blimps to collect intelligence.
2. Ezra Klein got to go to El Bulli. That’s pretty awesome.
3. Farhad Manjoo reminds those of us who don’t live in Washington, Kentucky, Kansas, and North Dakota that Amazon’s lack of sales tax makes a big difference for large purchases. I  saved around $250 buying my Macbook Pro on AMZ.
4. I’m pretty stoked for True Grit, but here’s a tidbit on actress Hailee Steinfeld: her second-most-notable credit is a K-Mart “blingatude” ad.