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Alex, Lawrence, KS — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 20:02:22 GMT

Why is it a "WWI spy mystery" if the year is 1904? I'm pretty sure WWI didn't start until 1914 or so...

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Michael T, Hollywood, CA — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 22:23:27 GMT

Hey Will,

Big shout-out for the anime links. The comments on the giant Gundam page are right on, Gundam totally kicks Transformer booty...what a live-action movie that would make. And the "Peanuts" page was right on, as well. Just wondering, though...why was there no new version of the Kite-Eating Tree? I can only imagine it's "Overfield"-like tentacles swiping poor old Charlie Brown's kite from the sky...

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Sean — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 22:28:46 GMT

"What's the oldest piece of modern technology that you still use regularly?"

I think guitars and musical instruments in general, exhibit a certain coolness factor when they are aged.

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Dennis McClain-Furmanski, Dalworthington Gardens, Texas — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 02:25:16 GMT

Maybe I'm not getting a point or something, but it seems to me that keeping 100,000 soldiers in Iraq will "Threaten Stabilization Efforts in Iraq." Stabilization would take something constructive like Peace Corps, not guns and bombs. I seem to recall some philosopher saying a government can't function and obey all its own laws. I think our present government is enjoying that point way too much.

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Janna S., Los Angeles, CA — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 05:05:35 GMT

Amen about the nachos. I live in LA and am that one awful person in the group who hates going out for actual Mexican food but who loves her Americanized Mexican.

Also I think there are a bunch of things hidden out in North Dakota in the middle of nowhere. Doesn't the urban legend say that if it were to secede it would be among the top 5 nuclear powers in the world?

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Tom Stright — Sat, 21 Jul 2007 14:28:31 GMT

That Building at 3701 N. Fairfax Drive in Arlington Va was a job I worked on for 18 months as a Plumber. I find all that talk about it funny as it was built as a office building and anything that is special about had to of been done after it was done. But in the 2 years after it was built and we were going back and forth doing warranty work nothing ever looked out of place.

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Don Tuite, California — Sun, 22 Jul 2007 21:07:59 GMT

I'd call Erskine Childers' *Riddle of the Sands* a "WW1 Spy novel," and it was published in 1903. All it takes is prescience. Now if only Childers had had the prescience to ditch that pistol Michael Collins gave him . . . .

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LV — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 13:42:43 GMT

I love the White Stripes, but they definitely take the cake for oddity. Being OK with that, I think, has to come with the territory or you'd be driven crazy!!

Mexico is certainly not alone in foreign misconception of its cuisine - the existence, and influence, of a melting pot country like the U.S. almost guarantees that traditional cuisine from any country is going to be b*stardized. Probably most food we think of as belonging to a certain country is really just inspired by the cuisine of a _particular region_ of that country. Because of my nonna (grandmother), I know that's true of "Italian" food. It's not necessarily a bad thing that the cuisine has been altered (made my nonna's food that much more special that I couldn't get it elsewhere), but it really is too bad that so many people have a false sense of what's really eaten elsewhere. Hopefully Mexico will have some success; maybe other countries will follow in its footsteps. At the very least, it would prevent people from being shocked when they visit!

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Leslie, NM — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 15:38:51 GMT

That Charlie Brown as anime thing was....disturbing? Fun but disturbing. As a fan of both Peanuts and Anime I never thought I'd see worlds collide like that. Thank god they didn't do a bloated anthro version of Snoopy and Woodstock though. (of course it's probably lurking on deviantart somewhere)

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Peter, Minneapolis — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 16:01:04 GMT

There are NO mountains in North Dakota. Lots of minute man silos though....

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KW — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 18:46:47 GMT

The Mexican food story reminds me of a trip I took to Cozumel back in the '80s just when Corona was starting a big marketing campaign. You couldn't find a XX or Tecate on the island, just Coronas (sans lime). About a month after I got back to the States, Coronas were showing up served with limes. When I asked what was with the lime, the waitress, with extreme confidence and a worldlier-than-thou attitude informed me "That's how it's served in Mexico". On a similar note, I was never served "Italian butter" with my bread in Italy. Olive oil, yes, but no spices in it to speak of.