Jenny's Noodle

Photo ©Jenny's Noodle, 2010

Ruh-roh! Scooby-Doo Google logo, where are you? The Scooby-Doo gang is hot on the trail of the inconspicuous Google logo. Shown in five panels, can you solve this Halloween Google Doodle mystery before those meddling kids?

Image credit: Google

Image credit: Flowing Data

Or—in my case—just eliminate the orange section.

I feel that it's mandatory to have a generous supply of candy options available in the event that trick-or-treaters ring the doorbell this Halloween (nevermind that not one child has ever done so in previous years). And I can't let all that candy go to waste afterwards, now can I.

Paris vs. New York: A Tally of Two Cities is a new blog that uses lovely minimalist illustrations to compare two of my favorite cities in the world. The author describes the site as: "A friendly visual match between those two cities, as seen by a Parisian-based and lover of New York: details, cliches and contradictions. This way, please." Baguettes vs. bagels, metro card vs. subway card, Quasimodo vs. King Kong, Roland Garros (French Open) vs. U.S. Open...see them all here.

In case you missed it during the week (and until it gets pulled down from the internet)...

Presenting the original 1966 version of It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

(Bonus: This way, you can fast forward through the Sopwith Camel scenes. I will never understand.)

Here's the solution to last week's NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct. 24):

Answer: Seoul, (anagram of louse, which sounds like) Laos 

NPR Sunday Puzzle for October 31: Name a creature in six letters. Move the first three letters to the end and read the result backward to name another creature. Clue: If you break either six-letter word in half, each pair of three letters will themselves spell a word.

Submit your answer to NPR for a chance to be on next week's broadcast and be sure to visit Jenny's Noodle next Sunday to see the correct answer!

How do you make pizza even more appealing than it already is? Put it on a stick!

> Get the recipe at The Decorated Cookie

Image credit: Fright Catalog

> Click here to view full size

It's slightly unsettling that Nintendo's video montage tribute to itself features 749 games. They couldn't just throw in one more? Otherwise, it's a very entertaining video, in a nostalgic, OMG-I-totally-forgot-about-that-game, I-used-to-stay-up-all-night-long-and-play-that-until-I-won sort of way.

P.S. Best NES game ever at 1:49.8-1:50.9.

This video was created in celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Nintendo Entertainment System's release in the United States: October 18, 1985. The 749 games included in this video are in alphabetical order and represent a small piece of every UNIQUE title produced for the NES in North America, including the unlicensed titles. Each game was allotted 1.1 seconds, and all clips were captured from genuine NES hardware.

Please consult the following before you agree to any trades this Halloween.

Image credit: Ben Cohen/Boing Boing



Toilet paper — it's white, it comes on a roll, it does it's job and I wouldn't want to live without it (hence my refusal to ever go camping in the middle of nowhere, or anywhere else for that matter). Not much has changed in the TP industry over the last hundred years, until now...

On Monday, Kimberly-Clark, one of the world's biggest makers of household paper products, will begin testing Scott Naturals Tube-Free toilet paper at Walmart and Sam's Club stores throughout the Northeast. If sales take off, it may introduce the line nationally and globally — and even consider adapting the technology into its paper towel brands. (USA Today)

Do you realize what this means?! No more trying to peel the last insufficiently absorbent square off of the tube because you're too lazy to replace the roll! Why was this not invented sooner?! Think I'll renew my Sam's membership this weekend.

Photo credit: in.gov

Have you carved a Halloween pumpkin yet? If not, today might be a good day, because...

October 26 is National Pumpkin Day!

Some fun facts about pumpkins:


So whether or not you choose today to carve your Halloween pumpkins, after you've removed all of the mushy insides, sift through and pick out the seeds. Roasted pumpkin seeds are a tasty snack and so simple to make. Here's an easy recipe:

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

Ingredients
A pumpkin
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt

Directions
1. Cut a fresh, well-ripened pumpkin in half. Remove the membrane and seeds. Remove most of the pulp from the seeds (leaving some pulp on is okay because it adds to the flavor; for the same reason, do not rinse the seeds).
2. Heat oven to 300°F. Spread 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a shallow pan. Sprinkle seeds over oil in single layer. Sprinkle 1 teaspoon salt over seeds.
3. Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly browned; cool.

(Thanks Betty Crocker!)

October 25 is World Pasta Day — like I needed an excuse to cook noodles for dinner, puh-lease!

"The objective of World Pasta Day is to draw the attention of the media and consumers to pasta. Communication should underline the fact that pasta is a global food, consumed in all five continents, having unquestionable merits, appropriate for a dynamic and healthy life style capable of meeting both primary food requirements and those of high-level gastronomy."

My celebration will consist of generous portion of bow tie pasta tossed with a drizzle of olive oil and an excessive amount of parmesan cheese. How will you honor this most wonderful occasion?

Here's the solution to last week's NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct. 17):

Answer: Period and cent sign.

NPR Sunday Puzzle for October 24: Name the capital of a country. Rearrange the letters to spell a word that sounds the same as the name of another country. To approach the puzzle backward, name a country that has a homophone that is an anagram of a different country's capital. What country and what capital city are they?

Hint: Here's a list of countries and their capitals to help you brainstorm.

Submit your answer to NPR for a chance to be on next week's broadcast and be sure to visit Jenny's Noodle next Sunday to see the correct answer!

Photo credit: Sanrio

I'm due for a new car in just a few months. Please be at the dealership, Hello Kitty Smart Car!

A haunted meeting room at card company American Greetings. Photo credit: American Greetings

The conference room at work can be a creepy place, depending on who's attending the meeting. Card company American Greetings has purposely transformed its conference rooms into very scary workplaces. The company has temporarily decked out four meeting rooms with full Halloween decor — now that's certainly going to raise some spirits!

Gee, and I sort of thought I was decorating the office by putting the big Halloween candy bowl out on my desk.

> More photos of the American Greetings Haunted Meeting Rooms

The original Sony Walkman. Photo credit: Gearlog

Nowadays everyone owns an iPod, or at the very least a Discman. But if you were a kid in the 80s or 90s, you had a Sony Walkman.

Since hitting stores in 1979, Sony has sold 220 million of the portable audio cassette players. But the company announced Friday that it will stop selling the once-popular Walkman in Japan. Feeling old yet?

Someday you'll find that box of old cassettes stashed away in the back of a closet. Cassettes filled with recordings of favorite songs you taped from the radio, some you may have even gotten commercial-free. And while you won't be able to play them back, other creative options will emerge.

Photo credit: MarthaStewart.com

Grab a fork and pour yourself a cold glass of milk — October 23 is National Boston Cream Pie Day!

This classic American dessert was created back in 1856 by French chef M. Sanzian at Boston's Parker House Hotel. But Boston Cream Pie is not actually a pie. Rather, it's a round sponge cake that is split and filled with a custard or cream filling, and frosted with a chocolate glaze (such as ganache) or topped with confectioner's sugar. The cake is then cut into wedges and served like pie. I have never actually tasted Boston Cream Pie, but it looks delicious!

In the following video segment, you'll visit the kitchen at the famous Parker House Hotel, where Food Network's Bobby Flay gets a demo of how to make Boston Cream Pie. Watch:

Photo credit: Virgin Mobile

Virgin Media has unveiled the world's first billboard made entirely of cheese. Located in London's Covent Garden, the 16.4 foot by 14 foot mural depicts  "The Fastest Mouse in all Mexico" — Speedy Gonzalez. The mouse is the new brand ambassador for Virgin's "Super Speedy Broadband" ad campaign.

Created by acclaimed food artist, Prudence Staite, [the billboard] uses 10 types of locally sourced cheese. Weighing in at [242.5lbs] the giant cheese sculpture took Prudence and her team eight days to craft, spending over 100 hours in a chilled studio to preserve the artwork. (source)

Shropshire Blue, Cheshire, Lancashire, Cheddar (mild, medium and mature), Chili Cheddar, Double Gloucester, Red Leicester and Wensleydale were all used in the making of this dairy installation. And hopefully the weather in London stays cool, or the whole project might really start to stink!

Photo credit: flashnews.com

ARE YOU WONDERING WHY THE INTERNET SEEMS LOUDER TODAY? WHY, HAVEN'T YOU HEARD?

IT'S INTERNATIONAL CAPS LOCK DAY!

THIS EXTREMELY IRRITATING DAY EVEN HAS ITS OWN WEBSITE AND TWITTER PROFILE.

BY NOW YOU'RE PROBABLY WONDERING HOW TO CELEBRATE THIS POINTLESS DAY. HERE ARE A COUPLE OF SUGGESTIONS:


NOW TRY TO CTRL YOURSELF AS THE PARTY BEGINS.

TIP: ALTERNATIVELY, YOU COULD PERFORM NEITHER OF THE ABOVE SUGGESTIONS BECAUSE READING TEXT IN ALL CAPS IS INCREDIBLY ANNOYING!

Photo credit: MediaPost

Starbucks will turn 40 years old in 2011. To mark the occasion, the coffee chain is going "green" and making plans to change its menu as well.

Starbucks says it will offer beer and wine, cheeses, meats and other savory snacks after 4pm. About 70% of all Starbucks business happens before 2pm so this is their attempt at sucking more money out of each and every one of us on a daily AND nightly basis appealing to all of us "night people." I predict success.

The first prototype for the new and improved Starbucks opened today in Seattle and seems to be getting mostly favorable reviews.

Here's a sneak peek, courtesy of USA Today:

Image credit: Montro/Threadless

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

India's richest man is moving into the world's most expensive home; it only costs (holding pinky finger to lips) -- one billion dollars. That's billion, with a "B."

Mukesh Ambani's new 27-story home is in south Mumbai, a city which immediately brings to mind Oscar-winning movie Slumdog Millionaire, and now Jai Ho! is stuck in my head... but back to this most expensive abode. The building is named after the mythical island of Antilia and maintained by a staff of 600.

[The home] contains a health club with a gym and dance studio, a ballroom, guestrooms and a range of lounges and a 50 seater cinema. There is even an elevated garden with ceiling space to accommodate small trees. The roof has three helicopter pads and there is also underground parking for 160 cars. (source)

Obviously it pays to be the fourth richest man in the world.

Here is the solution to last week's NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct. 10):

Answer: Throws and beaux. Also accepted: through and blew, through and flew.

NPR Sunday Puzzle for October 17: Rearrange the 14 letters of "OPENING CREDITS" to name two symbols you can type on a typewriter or computer. What symbols are these?

Submit your answer to NPR for a chance to be on next week's broadcast and be sure to visit Jenny's Noodle next Sunday to see the correct answer!

"Cut me some slack jack! Chump don't want no help, chump don't GET da' help!"

Photo credit: VancityAlli/flickr

pas·ta
Part of Speech: n 
Pronunciation: pah-stuh
Definition: any of various flour-and-egg food preparations of Italian origin, made of thin, unleavened dough and produced in a variety of forms, usually served with a sauce and sometimes stuffed
Etymology: 1874, from Italian pasta, from late Latin pasta "dough, pastry cake, paste," from Greek pasta "barley porridge," probably originally "a salted mess of food," from neut. pl. of pastos (adj.) "sprinkled, salted," from passein "to sprinkle" (source)

October 17 is National Pasta Day!
With over 600 shapes of pasta in existence, celebrating this most wonderful food holiday is quite simple -- just use your noodle! Choose a shape, choose a sauce...and pesto presto!

Buon Appetito!

Once every few years...while on a road trip...stuck in the middle of nowhere...I will stop to eat at McDonald's. So although chances are that I'll never taste the McDonald's M Sandwich, I find the ad for it quite clever -- it made me look twice.

According to the ad's creative team:

Due to its high quality ingredients, McDonald’s wanted “The M” to be seen as a special option and its communication to target those who had some knowledge about cooking. That’s the reason why we came up with the idea of cookbooks forming the shape of a sandwich and the concept line “The M, a sandwich for experts.” (source)

Out of curiosity, I did an internet search for the books. I didn't find them.

[via adsoftheworld]

Photo credit: Automotive Traveler

Happy Sweetest Day!
If you don't live in the Great Lakes region, you may be unaware of a small holiday that us girls force our guys to celebrate -- it's called Sweetest Day. Today (the third Saturday in October), is a sort of mini-Valentine's Day and an excuse for us gals to get expect candy, flowers and a romantic dinner.

Sweetest Day was created in 1922 by Cleveland's Retails Confectioners International, who originally described it as an "occasion which offers all of us an opportunity to remember not only the sick, aged and orphaned, but also friends, relatives and associates whose helpfulness and kindness we have enjoyed." But again—and most importantly—it's an excuse to eat candy!

Happy Sweetest Day Danny B!!

Image credit: someecards

> Other funny Boss's Day ecards are here

Photo credit: Paramount Pictures

Chew on this: Researchers have developed a technology that could be used to produce a gum just like the Willy Wonka version from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

"Tiny nanostructures within the gum would contain each of the different flavours," food scientist Professor Dave Hart told the Telegraph. These would be broken up and released upon contact with saliva or after a certain amount of chewing – providing a sequential taste explosion as you chew harder."

"Hi, Cornelia. How are ya, Sweetie?" he added.

No, the professor didn't really say that. But do you realize what this invention means? Simply chewing a piece of gum could turn into the enjoyment of a three-course meal of tomato soup, roast beef and a baked potato, and blueberry pie for dessert!

I'm getting all Violet Beauregarde about this and I may need to be squeezed soon, but it's pretty exciting. So many potential scenarios come to mind. For example, say there's some dude who asks you to dinner and you're just not into him. Instead of hurting his feelings, just hand him a piece of gum -- dinner is served! Oh yeah, and dieting? It pretty much becomes obsolete!

By now you're probably humming the Oompa Loompa song, so here it is. For old times.

Image credit: Rough Draft Studios, Inc.

Ugh! Idiot! Jon Heder has reportedly signed on to voice his title character in the new FOX animated series, Napoleon Dynamite. Other movie cast members will also reprise their roles in the new show set to air sometime next year. This is pretty much the worst idea of all time. I'm just kind of TO'd, you know, because there's no way this will ever hold up to the original. Deep breaths... imagining I'm weightless, in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by tiny little seahorses...

Photo credit: hanataro/Flickr

The Food Lab at Serious Eats has debunked 6 common and egregious food myths -- but one in particular greatly piqued my interest. The myth that most concerns my cooking repertoire involves a popular food item known as pasta. Perhaps you've also cooked pasta once or twice (or every day of my life) and could benefit from the following tidbit...

Pasta Must Be Cooked in Massive Amounts of Boiling Water
Well, this one is actually true, but only if you are dealing with really fresh (as in you rolled it yourself) pasta. With dried pasta, as long as the pasta is completely covered in water, it'll cook just fine. People cite the fact that a large pot of water will lose less heat than a small pot of water when you add pasta to it, but this is in fact not true. There is a difference between heat (energy) and temperature (a value based on how much energy a given amount of a given substance holds).

So, it's indeed true that a large pot of water will show a smaller decrease in temperature than a small pot of water, but the amount of energy needed to bring that water back up to a boil when you add the pasta to it is exactly the same, no matter how much water you have. In fact, because a small pot loses less energy to the outside environment because of its smaller surface area, it will actually return to a boil faster than a large pot of water will.

Moreover, you don't even need to keep the water all that hot. Cover your pasta with boiling water, bring it back to a boil, put a lid on it, and remove it from the heat. It'll cook just as fast and evenly as a pot that's kept at a rolling boil for the entire duration of cooking, plus it'll shave a few pennies off your gas bill!

Got that?! Read all 6 food myths here.

Image credit: district87

Photo credit: New York Times

You're probably tilting your head and/or your computer back and forth trying to figure out what the heck is going on in the photo above. That's because Eugene Kagansky's newly-opened coffee bar has been flipped onto its side -- literally. At D'Espresso, located just one block away from the New York Public Library at Bryant Park, the walls looks like they're the floor and vice versa.

Glazed tiles printed with images of books create the illusion of bookshelves tilted sideways, running along the ceiling, down the rear wall and onto the floor. Another wall is covered in herringbone-patterned oak flooring. And the spherical glass lights jut out horizontally from behind the bar, rather than hanging from the ceiling.
[via NYTimes]

What happens at this cafe after someone drinks one too many Baileys Irish coffees?
_____
D'ESPRESSO
100 Stanton Street, New York, NY 10002 | Directions
212-982-7030
www.despresso.com

Image credit: HalloweenExpress.com

Photo credit: Ghostbustersnh.com

Volkswagen's See Film Differently turns the camera on iconic film locations "to see what effect the movies have had on the everyday lives of those who work there." The humorous ads posted thus far capture New York City life at both the famous firehouse featured in Ghostbusters (watch below) and at Katz's Deli, where the notable When Harry Met Sally "I'll have what she's having" scene was shot (watch here).

Ghostbusters Ad
It's not just fires you have to deal with if you're a member of the Hook & Ladder fire crew on Varick St, New York. Life's never quite been the same ever since Ivan Reitman decided that their firehouse would make a perfect HQ for Venkman & Co.

[via Laughing Squid]

Image credit: 1010uk/Flickr

The auspiciously-numbered day, October 10, 2010 (10/10/10), only occurs once every hundred years. Today, thousands of brides are getting married, astrologers are working overtime, and the internet is buzzing with conspiracy theories. Two of the more creative ways to celebrate 10/10/10 are being hosted online.

Flickr
Photo-sharing site Flickr is asking everyone to Help Record 10/10/10 by taking a photo or video and uploading it to one of Flickr's 10/10/10 groups.

Vimeo
Video-sharing site Vimeo is sponsoring the One Day On Earth project: Across the planet, documentary filmmakers, students, and inspired citizens are recording the human experience over a 24-hour period (Oct. 10, 2010) and contributing their voice to the largest participatory media event in history.

How will you spend October 10, 2010?

Image credit: npr.org

Here is the solution to last week's NPR Sunday Puzzle (Oct. 3):

Answer: George Gershwin

NPR Sunday Puzzle for October 10: What are the two longest rhyming words that have no letters in common? For example, "pie" and "guy" rhyme and do not share any letters. The answer words cannot start with an unaccented syllable, such as "today." The source for acceptable words is Merriam-Webster's 11th Collegiate Dictionary.

Submit your answer to NPR for a chance to be on next week's broadcast and be sure to visit Jenny's Noodle next Sunday to see the correct answer!

When did Sesame Street become so pop culture savvy? There was the whole Katy Perry/Elmo sitch, and now this. Not since "Study Like a Scholar, Scholar" has there been such a clever Old Spice parody, but anything is possible when you smell like a monster and know the word "on." Nicely done Children's Television Workshop Sesame Workshop.

Oct. 8, 2010 Google doodle honoring John Lennon's 70th birthday.

Legendary musician John Lennon (October 9, 1940 – December 8, 1980) would've celebrated his 70th birthday on Saturday. For the first time, Google has embedded a YouTube video as its homepage doodle, in tribute to the late Beatle. The doodle manifests while the song Imagine plays (unfortunately, the view count doesn't show on the video page, but I imagine it's already sky high). Google's video doodle is an extension of additional video tributes being posted on the John Lennon YouTube channel.

The desk of Albert Einstein.

Have you ever stopped to think about what your desk says about you? (Um, I'm a hoarder of office supplies and have OCD?!) Or what wearing high heels says about your social status?

L Studio presents Lines: "An inspirational series that looks at how the shapes of everyday objects affect people in different ways." Episodes 1 and 2 are posted below for your viewing pleasure.

> The Desk (Episode 1) : Extraordinary individuals reveal what makes each of their workspaces unique and inspiring.
> The High Heel (Episode 2): An intriguing look at the erotic symbolism, bourgeois beginnings and feminine obsession with shoes.

Image credit: FoxNews.com

Read the full article here.

[via someecards]

The new Gap logo.

The internet has been buzzing about the all new, Helvetica font, black-lettered, blue square hanging off the "p" design that recently replaced the iconic navy box with white letters we have all come to associate with the Gap. According to my unofficial research, the first admission from the Gap that they've adopted a new logo design came in the form of a tweet at around 9:30pm EST on Wednesday.

Is this rebranding a worse faux pas than tapered jeans, or are people obsessing and freaking out over nothing?

Bonus: The Gap's new logo has its own unofficial Twitter profile. Think @BPGlobalPR.

Image credit: Marco Fabiano | Buy it here

no•odle
Part of Speech: n
Definition: a ribbon-like strip of pasta: noodles are often served in soup or with a sauce / slang: the head
Pronunciation: nood-l
Etymology: circa 1779, from German Nudel, unknown origin
(source)

Spaghetti, fettuccine, or linguine; Asian or Italian; dried or fresh; in soup or with a sauce; hot or cold -- whether you call it pasta or noodles, I could enjoy them for every meal. Lucky for me, October 6 is National Noodle Day!

Let us celebrate this occasion by taking out our colanders, grabbing a fork, and looking at back at some scrumptious Jenny's Noodle noodle-y postings:


Buon Appetito!