Awww, man! Olden times had all the non-hygenic fun.

Old Tom Gin straddles the gin spectrum between genever and London Dry (it is sometimes called the missing link). It is slightly sweet, but still drier than London Dry and not as sweet as genever. It was popular in England in the 18th and 19th centuries but only a few distilleries still make it today. This was the original gin used in the Tom Collins. It got it's name from how it was dispensed in the 1700's. Gin houses would hang a plaque shaped like a tom cat on the outside wall. A patron or passerby would drop a penny in the cat's mouth and a bartender inside would dispense a shot of Old Tom Gin through a tube that led outside between the cat's paws. Due to hygienic reasons, I doubt we'll ever see anything like this again, though it does have a certain charm.

I used to have the best vintagey swimsuit ever, but I left it in my the trunk of my professor's car. I realize how skeevy that sounds but I swear it's not. My best friend was dating their son, so we hung out at their place and went to their swimming holes (this was Tennessee, you know) pretty much constantly that whole year.

Anyway. It was like the Esther Williams suit linked, but with a different neckline. It was gorgeous! And modest, but flattering.

I've been eyeing that Esther Williams swimsuit all evening. It's lovely. And it looks like they make them to order? I may need to own it. I'm thinking either navy or cherries delight blue.

Blah. I woke up early to move my car, because my town is cleaning the streets. (Yes, we have three days of alternate-side parking per year, it seems.)

Gin houses would hang a plaque shaped like a tom cat on the outside wall. A patron or passerby would drop a penny in the cat's mouth and a bartender inside would dispense a shot of Old Tom Gin through a tube that led outside between the cat's paws.

Front paws or back paws?

Yikes.

I thought the sugar thing in the NYT was interesting, but not really all that convincing.

It seemed emblematic of the kind of science journalism that assumes that because something contradicts the existing scientific consensus, it must be true, because an article on research confirming the existing scientific consensus would be boring. But in reality, this kind of thing where a theory pops up in every new generation of researchers but it's always just the one guy thinking he's a genius for proving everyone else wrong? It's almost never that easy.

(See also: 12 year-old math genius "overturning" Einstein's theories of relativity. It turns out this kid has some major gaps in his basic understanding of cosmology, which is totally understandable because he's 12 but it's not helping anyone to put him on the news and tell him over and over again that he's smarter than Einstein. Can't we acknowledge that this kid is a genius without forgetting that he's also a teenager and that teenagers are by definition stupid about the limits of their own knowledge?)

David: Onigiri - usual spelling of that lovely treat. Unless of course, your food vender was making up their own names.

This is due to that weird British dude who decided that the Japanese sound was more like an "r" than an "l". (Thus, my Aunt Reiko's name sounds more like "Leiko".)

My brother is aces at making onigiri - due to his decade of making the same for my niece. I still have issues making even the most basic shapes.

Completely forgot: Check out the pretty spotted lamb.

Onigiri - usual spelling of that lovely treat. Unless of course, your food vender was making up their own names.

He was, though I'm glad to know the proper name.