Miscellany

In case you hadn’t heard, and I didn’t until someone pointed it out to me, M&M has announced that the new color will be purple! That’s a much better choice than the aqua and pink which, frankly, clashed with the existing primary colored M&Ms. Even the shade of purple they are using is a bit off, and should be less pastel. This article slipped in the fact that the purple candies will only be included for a limited time, though, starting in August. That’s disappointing.

There’s nothing so satisfying as being handy around the house, and there’s nothing that makes you feel quite so handy with so little actual skill as a power drill. Sure, I just put some holes in a dowel to hang a quilt, but I got to test bit sizes and produce sawdust and fiddle in my toolbox. It was a lovely little power tool experience.

If you enjoy snarky commentary on odd pop culture artifacts, make your way over to Culture Freak. Advertisements, trademarks, and Americana all get their own photo gallery section. And if you actually go into the essays and archives, there’s some more contentful, though still entertaining, analysis of modern culture. A good “between problems” browsing site. [via PCJM]

In my neverending quest to keep y’all up to date on the absurdity in the world, I must point out the Wal-Mart Ham Trial in which a woman is claiming that a 13-pound ham fell on her head in a Wal-Mart and caused her to develop epilepsy. Wal-Mart responds: “The ham could not have struck Mrs. Vasquez, … Even in Wal-Mart, Isaac Newton’s law of gravity still exists.” [via Bad Hair Days]

Yes, I certainly owe you all a review of Star Wars: Attack of the Clones after the aborted theme-week attempt. In three words: I liked it. And, to close off the Star Wars link-of-the-day theme, you can now buy your own custom made light saber at this site [via #!/usr/bin/girl]. Cool!

If you don’t get their catalog allow me to point out that Land’s End women’s tank tops are currently on sale for $8. These are absolutely great tank tops, with high enough arm holes and wide enough straps you can wear any bra under them, and they’re out of a really good cotton knit fabric that lasts forever. I have two that are only just starting to wear out now after ten years. Even at the $9 each that shipping and tax add on, this is a great price for these and I’d recommend them to anyone.

In another reason to love Amazon, I was shipped a DVD by them last week which, this week, was lowered in price by $4. How do I know the price dropped? I just got e-mail from them letting me know that they’re crediting my credit card with $4. Of course, one could also see this as a reason to dislike Amazon since I’m sure they dropped their price to stay competative with other stores and keep people from returning the movie and buying it locally at a lower price. But from the selfish consumer point of view, it was great.