Snooki vs. Kate Middleton

Snooki's bedroom in Jersey City

Duchess Middleton's future bedroom

The role models for young women in America and Britain are different. The symbolic leader for Americans  is Snooki while Britain's major role model for young women is Kate Middleton, Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge. The places of residence for the two idols are quite different, yet somehow similar in tone.

Snooki's digs in Jersey City lean heavily towards lion prints, recalling "Treetops", the royal enclave in Kenya. The soon to be refurbished digs for Prince William and Kate Middleton, Her Royal Highness the Dutchess of Cambridge, is  Kensington Palace. Looking at pictures of both residences one is struck by the fact that both places are somewhat ostentatious. Soon we will hear that the Dutchess of Cambridge is expecting, joining her American equivalent in that special time in their lives.

Editor's note: Here they are together in print. To think, for the next year we are going to be inundated with stories about the royal cake in the royal oven. I can't wait.

The new turntable

Recently I acquired a family heirloom, a turntable. It is pontificated upon in my sixties blog.

Will it be a donut or an apple

Today I went to the Trenton Farmer's Market and it is always a treat. There is a great selection of foods and stores there. There's Polish places, Italian places, Amish places and fruit and vegetable stands, crowded together in a building that looks like it hasn't been remodeled since D Day.  It's kitschy but that's part of the charm of the place. 

Unexpectedly I learned about my true self. I had a couple of bags from the other farm stand I went to so I told the merchant he could put my apples and green onions in the bags I already had. "Well," I was told, "if you bring your own bag you get a choice of an apple or a donut."  Perhaps I was unwittingly part of a graduate student's case study. My mettle was being tested. At any rate I chose the donut over the apple. Mayor Bloomberg is right. Given the choice, most of us will choose something bad for us over something nutritious. 

An Internet treasure

Now I know why we have the Internet. So everyday we can watch this. Just think, for the rest of our lives we are going to watch Yahoo's Broken News Daily. Every single day.

Public radio in New Jersey

When NJN radio was divided up, New York's WNYC radio got the northern stations and Trenton and WHYY Philadelphia got the South Jersey stations. I listen to the Trenton station.  Although I enjoy listening to Brian Lehrer and Leonard Lopate on a local station without the crackle associated with listening to 820 AM,  the pitching is rather confusing to dear me. This morning I was pitched to by the New Jersey station saying I should give money to them. Later I was pitched to by Brian Lehrer, saying I should be giving money to WNYC. Being subject to fundraising by two different radio stations on the same station is rather confusing. Now that WNYC is a network and not just a station I wish it would start acting like one.

Should I buy Facebook

Many of us remember when we had a chance to buy Google stock at it's IPO of $85 (now it's in the 600's) and think,"I am not going to miss out on another opportunity" and are tempted to buy Facebook. It's true, lots of people use Facebook but I for one think it has peeked in popularity and that it will be replaced by a new social networking site in a few years. The reason for this is the hipness factor.

When Atlantic City first got gambling, young hip type people were drawn to it (see above photo) then over time Atlantic City looked more like the other photograph. Facebook started out like the above photo but today  is becoming more like the other photo. Most people don't want to hang out with their grandmothers. Hence, there will soon be a new social networking site that attracts the young, hip set. This site will eventually attract the more desirable demographic and Facebook will look like the Taj Mahal on a Wednesday morning. Yes, we will see use Facebook to share our new boat with our aunts, but the attractive co-worker at work will be at a different on-line location. There probably already is a hip Facebook out there but I don't know about it. If you know what it is please share.

I graduated from kindergarten

Yesterday I had lunch in a restaurant and noticed a board next to the cash register with posters. One said "Tim Lee graduated from kindergarten".  Another said "Simon graduated from the third grade".  A third said "perfect attendance in the second grade".   

It made me think of what things were like in my day. If you failed kindergarten you got a pop on the head. If you cut school you got a pop on the head. No awards for graduating from anything, but if you failed you got a pop on the head. 

I can see Tim Lee at work. "Mr. Hamerfuffer, I didn't call in sick last month, where is my party and cake?"  "Mr. Kantenfauchnen, I didn't screw up my assignment, where is my poster?"  

Sorry, guess I had too many pops on the head as a kid.