Neat 3-d painted rooms

Woah. That would weird me right out to walk into one.

And in other news, New York soon to have its own brand of condoms:

The corporate branding of stadiums and sporting events has become routine. When the Bloomberg administration took office, it applied that corporate mentality to the city itself. To begin with, hats and shirts were emblazoned with the logos of the Police and Fire Departments. Now, taking the concept of branding to a new and quite intimate level, a New York City condom will soon be available.

In a statement released yesterday, the health department said it was "currently developing the first NYC-branded condom, to be released in coming months."

Sandra Mullin, a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, explained that the effort was more about packaging than about branding, providing the department with a better way to measure the effectiveness of its free condom distribution.

But, in the end, whatever the design of the package for the condom, it would be uniquely identified with the city, although exactly how — whether it would include a logo or an iconic city image — has yet to be determined.

Empire State Building, anyone?

Chrysler Building!

Sometimes I love Bloomberg. Branded condoms! What is more NYC?

We had a cat who was a regular church-goer. No, seriously, the church was across the street and in the summer they'd leave the doors open for ventilation and he'd hang out there all the time.

I remember the scene in the final Little House book, when Laura and Mary are at church one summer Sunday and Laura sees a kitten walking around, rubbing up against the lecturn while the preacher is giving his sermon. But then a puppy also enters the church, sees the kitten, and gives chase down the aisle. The cat disappears, leaving Laura to wonder where it went to, when all of the sudden she feels her hoops start to sway under her dress--the kitten has taken shelter under her skirt and is crawling up the hoop. That's when Laura loses it, because all she could think about was what would happen if the dog found the cat. Mary is poking her in the ribs, telling her not to laugh in church, Laura's turning purple from repressing her giggles, and the dog is sniffing around for the cat. Finally, it leaves, disappointed, the cat climbs down, peeks out, and bolts out of the church, and Mary is left asking Laura what got into her after service was over.

One of the funnier moments in those books, and now I want to reread some of them!

I enjoyed this quote about the NYC condoms from gawker:

Naturally, the branding will only discourage New Yorkers from having protected sex — but at least we can keep the tourists from spreading their diseases.

Also, those 3D painted rooms are so cool! But seem like possibly more trouble than they're worth.

In those 3-D rooms the illusions appear at night ... imagine getting up in the middle of the night and seeing that!

Leif sometimes will run up the lobster tank and yell "Hi Monsters!"

I introduced Casper the Amazing Wonder Niece to the lobster tank in a seafood place this past August. She was totally mesmerized, staring at them (from above).

I am pretty sure, based on her enjoyment of the New England Aquarium this winter, that she did not know the lobsters in the Net Worth tank were going to be dinner rather than exhibits.

I hope the NYC condoms are aggresively marketed at tourists and made piles of money for the city.

I am pretty sure, based on her enjoyment of the New England Aquarium this winter, that she did not know the lobsters in the Net Worth tank were going to be dinner rather than exhibits.

I was convinced until I was 6-ish that the lobster tank at the store was a stray part of the pets section.