bookofjoe

Procter & Gamble invades Vietnam

Above, Tide Vietnam-style.

For this we fought a war, expending countless lives and enormous treasure while rending the very fabric of our country?

Echoes of Afghanistan in days of future past ring in my ears....

[via Lauren Coleman-Lochner's July 5, 2012 Bloomberg Businessweek article headlined "In Vietnam, P&G Woos Hearts, Minds, and Schools". Nice touch, that "hearts and minds" knife-twist.]

Keychain Breathalyzer

Save a life — maybe even yours.

From websites:

........................

Fits in your bag or pocket and displays your alcohol level as a two-digit LED display.

Folding mouthpiece; comes with three additional mouthpieces.

Cleared by the FDA for personal use.

........................

$29.20.

[via CSYCB]

Experts' Expert: Bayou hedge fund fraudster Dan Marino's 5 tips on how to get away with it

[via Guy Lawson's new book about the Bayou fraud, "Octopus," and Bloomberg Businessweek]

Beardski

Hey, don't get your baggies in a twist: it's winter right now for half the planet.

Just saying.

From CSYCB: "This is actually a functional insulated ski mask! It's a neoprene-lined woven thermal fleece with 12" synthetic beard for riding your Harley or exploring the polar ice cap. One-size-fits-all design. Velcro securely holds the mask in place and makes it easy to wear/remove. Protects ears, face, and neck from the harshest of cold weather conditions. Get Your Beard On!"

Couldn't have said it better myself.

$34.95.

Camouflaged Self-Portraits by Cecilia Paredes

From DeMilked:

"Peruvian artist Cecilia Paredes 

has mastered the art of camouflage

and by using body paint is able to disappear

into her surroundings."

"With the help of her assistants,

she paints herself into the background of floral wallpapers."

"Her dark hair and the whites of the eyes

are often the only things

that show there's a person hiding."

[via Kay (Leah)]

Perception of Density Bowl

By Norwegian designer Beate Einen, glass filled with Styrofoam balls.

Apply within.

[via the New York Times]

Einstein explains E=mc² in his own words — in 58 seconds

Surely you've got a minute.

[via Open Culture]

Helpful Hints from joeeze: Best seafood scissors

Cook's Illustrated's "Equipment Corner" feature in the July & August issue — never "July/August" — had the following to say about seafood scissors:

Cutting open thick, hard seafood shells to extract the meat can be challenging, but seafood scissors promise to make the job easier. We tested two pairs against our favorite all-purpose Shun Classic Kitchen Shears ($49.95), snipping through pounds of lobster, king crab, and shrimp and lifting out the meat. The kitchen shears' thick, straight blades, though excellent for butterflying chicken and snipping herbs, were difficult to fit into narrow claws and legs and tended to hack up delicate meat in the process. The straight, bulky blades on the Original Sea Scissors ($14.95) shared the same problem, and their one innovation — a splatter-blocking shield — merely served to obstruct our view. The slim, curved Progressive International Seafood Scissors ($9.95; pictured above and below) were just right: sturdy enough to slice through a crab carapace, easily able to follow the arc of a shrimp shell or lobster tail, and thin enough to neatly extract meat from a lobster leg. These affordable shears saved time — and didn't waste one morsel of precious meat.

I am struck by how the majority of Cook's Illustrated's mano-a-mano product face-offs in recent months have resulted in the very cheapest item winning in terms of overall function.

In the kitchen space, if nowhere else, it seems you often don't get what you pay for: price has little relation to quality.

Most interesting, this.