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Four or five years back, this guy was flyering on 5th Avenue around 37th Street. At the time, he must have been working for a juice bar or something. I surmised this solely on the carrot getup he wore. For all I know, he might have been the marketing division of a major vegetable cart.

He was there for a couple weeks, then he was gone. Most people plying the inhabitants of New York with handbills don’t leave such a lasting impression. This carrot, however, was memorable not only for being a carrot, but the whole schtick. Clearly, he is well versed in the art and science of flyering. He even added his own special twist by doing a subtle, rhythmic dance while he distributed his flyers. Plus, as you can tell from the photo, he is a huge hit with the ladies–even sans carrot outfit.

This afternoon, he was handing out flyers for a local health club on the corner of 34th and 3rd. The sombrero doesn’t have quite as much visual impact as the old carrot suit, but it is a nice touch. If you are in need of a good flyer distributor, I strongly suggest you track this guy down.

This hat is interests me primarily because a good friend of my father had one just like it. Granted, it was circa 1974 when he wore his, so it was more in line with the style at the time. But really, this chapeau is timeless, isn’t it?

If you’re interested, this modern version can be purchased from Supreme.

I wonder if someone can put their hands on a picture of Pete wearing his Bud Hat?

via Thrillist

Dave Cook created a great map of gastronomic highlights in Red Hook. The map includes, among other things, a comprehensive description of what is on offer at the Red Hook ball fields. Whether you are heading to Ikea to shop for low-cost goods, or just want to explore the neighborhood, this is a great map to have in your back pocket when hunger strikes.

The first set of weekly reports are up on www.recovery.gov. These reports are in the form of Excel spreadsheets. No huge surprise there, after all, the world runs on Excel doesn’t it? What is surprising is that they didn’t seem to redact anything. The report submitter’s contact information, including phone number in many cases, is included at the top of each report. This seems just a little too transparent. Isn’t this inviting the general public to call that person with random questions?

Hypothetical Caller: “Hey, yeah, is this Lana? I noticed that you have this $27,460,000,000 appropriation that you haven’t used yet, can you fix the pothole on my street?”

Lana over at the DOT does not have time to field phone calls like this, she has reports to prepare.

via The Takeaway

Harvest now has an iPhone application (built and distributed by Y Factorial). It’s really slick, and a welcome alternative to the browser based iPhone solution that came previously. I tested it out last week, and it worked great. Today, however, is a different story.

Note the 4 entries that need to be synced in the screenshot. No matter how much I shake my poor iPhone, those items just won’t sync with the server. Y Factorial notes that some users experience syncing problems, so maybe that is the case here. But, the comments in the iTunes store referring to the sync problem also talk about crashing, which hasn’t happened to me. The newness of this app doesn’t help matters as it seems there is little or no troubleshooting information available. At minimum, it would be nice if one could reset the app’s data file–just to ensure that a manually corrected timesheet doesn’t get hosed if the application successfully syncs in the future.

Update 2009-03-03: Y Factorial was super responsive, on this (see comment below). The log files from my phone may have been helpful, but I had been impatient and reinstalled the application. Anyway, reinstalling made it work, but I have not been able to replicate the sync problem again.

And so, to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more.

–President Barack Obama
  Inaugural Address
  January 20, 2009

Read the full transcript of President Obama’s inaugural address at The New York Times.

Gary Chang should start a business that remakes small spaces into really functional spaces. His transformation of his own tiny apartment in Hong Kong is downright impressive (slideshow).

This week’s special inauguration issue of the Sunday Magazine is without an Ethicist column. Instead, Randy Cohen has a podcast-only feature where he explores the ethics of driving a private automobile in Manhattan (mp3).

Cohen discusses the same subject in this Streetfilm. It’s a little dusty (from those days when we thought we might actually get congestion pricing in New York City) but still very relevant.

If you don’t see the embedded video above, check it out on the Streetfilms site.

It looks like Old Devil Moon has closed its doors. I will need to find another location to satisfy my occasional biscuit and gravy cravings. All suggestions are welcome.

Update: There is a massive NYC biscuits and gravy thread going on over at Blondie and Brownie. A bunch of those restaurants just went on my wish list.

Lately, squirrel is all the rage on the British food scene. Those craving the little, gray critters no longer need to trek to the gastopub (or grab the shotgun) since Walkers is introducing a Cajun Squirrel flavor.

Cajun Squirrel was submitted by chip fan Martyn Wright (pictured) as part of Walkers’ Do us a Flavour competition. The unusual flavor is one of six finalists up for permanent shelf placement across the UK. The other flavors include Builder’s Breakfast (egg, bacon, sausage and bean for those not in the know), Crispy Duck & Hoisin and Chilli & Chocolate.

These chip flavors make those available here in the US seem just a bit tired. Is it time for a similar contest here?

Photo: Dan Charity/The Sun

via Gawker