Think Hard™

New Englanders like to think they know how to barbeque but since I'm a transplant here I am often sorely disappointed at the culinary offerings in the name of pilgrim barbeque [ exceptions being East Coast Grill in Inman Sq. and Blue Ribbon BBQ in Arlington ]. I am already salivating at the thought of being back home for YAPC so I can go out and have a beer and pile of real barbequed meat and then have breakfast at Uncle Bill's Pancake House at 4am for a good home cooked heart attack on a platter since it will probably be the last time I'll see such food for a long, long time.

It could have been the subconscious longing for grilled meat smothered in sauce that prompted me to look at a book with a bottle of BBQ sauce on the cover, Secrets of the Wholly Grill: A Novel about cravings, barbecue, and software. The publisher Carroll & Graf have one of the most ecclectic catalogues I've ever seen so after reading the flap I took a risk and bought it. It was an excellent purchase :) It's an amazingly well crafted satire on the current shady practices of the computer/software industry. It's hilarious and sharp, an unexpected find in a sea of rather boring fiction these days. The author is an IP lawyer in the valley so he's got the whole scene pegged and possibly a bit cliche in parts. The first chapter is online which may convince you to go get a copy :)

The February Issue of Harper's this month contains a fun list of new trademark applications since 9-11 on page 25...a few of the funnier ones:

• Bin Laden to Rest™
• Bin There Bombed That™
• Bum Laden™
• Fight Terrorism: Go Shopping™
• High on America™
• Hero Hanky™
• Osama, Yo Mama!™
• Terrorists Suck™
• Trash bin Laden™
• T.U.R.D. Terrorist Under Restrained Discipline™
• We're Our Own Enemy™

and the best one is....God Bless America!™.

I guess it's time I applied for use Perl; get laid();™.

n.b. - I decided to go hunting for who might be trying to register "God Bless America™" and was rewarded with several including GBA Fireworks and America Bless God!™ Ephemera and did you know that Perl& has been trademarked by Perl, Inc.? TESS is sure to give hours of umitigated horror and delight. :)