Newmark's Door

Take it from Norman Mailer: acting is fun, but writing is hard work.

Andrew Sullivan relays an amazing e-mail from a reader about a recent NY Times story and says, ". . . at the NYT these days, you get to pick between frauds and ideologues. Cohen's the latter. That's now what passes for good news at the Times."

Another Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee is history. Crowd favorite, Samir Patel, 9, wails, "Is it just my luck or am I getting all French words?" Sai Gunturi, 13, knocks out "pococurante" and wins.

It's World War II vintage and only does 25 knots. But just $4.5 million for your own aircraft carrier? C'mon, it's a steal. (Link via Boing Boing.)

Couple of British Columbians run a small full-service restaurant named Haidabucks. Double-latte intoxicated lawyers at Starbucks threaten to sue. (Also from Boing Boing.)

Scientific American's 50 best science Web sites, 2003. Includes, for example, Greatest Engineering Achievements of the 20th Century. (Interesting, but computers 8th? The Net 13th? I don't think so.)

Ann Coulter, a bit over the top--as usual--on global warming. But there is this great line, "According to the U.N., there was not enough evidence to determine if Saddam Hussein was a threat, but the evidence is in on global warming."

Economic historian at UVa argues that salaries for history Ph.D.s need to be lowered tout suite.

The "mid-size luxury SUV market" is so crowded, sales of the Lincoln Aviator are weak. Awww . . . [sarcasm] too bad! [/sarcasm off]

Two for one: why record reviews stink and who'll allegedly be the Next Big Thing in pop.