New on Monzy.com: it's the rivalry of Persian Computer Science Gangsta Rappers. Nerdcore will never be the same. I say MC Plus+ should really bust a cap (apparently three is no clear consensus on the origin of this slang expression) in Monzy's ass, at the very least for not using named A-tags or any other kind of advanced technology that would allow to link to individual articles. Yo.

(In related news, my Russian-speaking readers might enjoy this awesome birthday greeting)

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Another good photo over at travisruse.com. The number on the train is the unit number that uniquely identifies the car. This train is an R46, since they have unit numbers in the 5482-6207 range.Using nycsubway.org you can even tell if the train you were riding in was involved in a major accident. I mean to write a little palm OS app that will take a unit number and give you some info about the train, but I'll probably never get around to that.

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Public service announcement. Have you backed up all your digital photos? By the way, Picasa 2 has an awesome backup tool.

While buying coffee at hidden Starbucks I browsed through the little pamphlets that they have next to condiments and stirring sticks (did you notice that they have Splenda now?). What have I learned? Firstly, I learned that a Starbucks grunt's official title is "hourly partner". Cordwainer Smith's rhyme comes to mind : "I need a temporary dog / For a temporary job / On a temporary place / Like Earth!" I kind of collect peculiar corporate job titles, as I've mentioned at the end of an earlier Thought Tally.

Secondly I learned that you can come into any Starbucks and ask for complimentary coffee grounds. As it turns out, coffee grounds make an excellent nitrogen fertilizer for your garden. I wonder if Starbucks coffee is a good fertilizer - it sure tastes that way.

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Why I drink the Starbucks fertilizer? Because my lunch break is short and Joe's is in the Village. By the way, recently I've learned that there's another good coffee place called Ninth Street Espresso. I need to pay them a visit.

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I also need to some other coffee and caffeine news. There's a new trend in espresso making. The innovative barristas started cutting off the bottoms of portafilters. This lets them notice any minute imperfections in packing of grinds and have outstanding quality control of the extraction. It also looks cool as hell. I am thinking about doing the same with one of my spare portafilters.

I learned this interesting tidbit because these days there are several outstanding blogs kept by super high quality coffee house operators. There's Victrola Coffee, Blue Bottle Clown College and Tonx Dot Org. I suggest that you subscribe to their feeds unless you can't stand heartbreakingly beautiful photos of artisanal caffeinated drinks.

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In other news I seem to be totally addicted to matcha tea. I got some awesome "thick tea" from Japan and it rocks.

I am thinking about going to Japan for my next vacation. Time to tally my knowledge of Japanese. Let's see...

Nippon - Japan
Sushi - Raw fish with rice
Sashimi - Raw fish
Sake - Alcoholic drink. Some call it Japanese vodka or rice wine, but what do they know. It's technically a rice beer.
Yakitori - Kebab
Tempura - Stuff fried in batter
Nori - Seaweed for sushi
Wasabi - Pickled radish
Agari - Green tea (in sushi restaurants)
Miso - Soy paste soup
Mochi - Ice-cream (or other stuff) in a dough shell
Arigato - Thank you
So Des - So it is
Godzilla - Big radioactive lizard
Sumo - Along with competitive eation, one of the few sports involving a lot of fat people
Yokozuna - A champion wrestler. Tend to be overweight
Sarariman - Office worker, formerely a Samurai. Probably.
Samurai - A Shogun's report
Shogun - Samurai's supervisor
Bushido - Samurai's Rules and Regulations Manual
Geisha - A woman who entertains Yokozunas, Samurais and Shoguns. As well as Sararimen with a good sarary.
Sensei - Teacher
Kohai - What Wall Street types call a Rabbi. One who helps out somebody less experienced.
Sempai - Someone who has a Kohai.
Karate - Pronounced Kara-tey.
Something-do - Way of something.
Kendo - Way of the sword. Somehow really means fencing dressed skirts with bamboo sticks.
Robot-san - Mechanical human being. Some take Samurai or Geisha form.
Kinokuniya - Japanese bookstore chain
Ringo - Apple
Ringu - Ring
Waifu - Wife
Chambara - Japanese movies about Samurai
Manga - What Americans call Anime
Jedi - Another word for Chambara; also a person with high midiclorian count
Terevision - A device for watching Chambara
Harakiri - A suicide method very popular in Chambara
Kamikaze - A suicide method not very popular in Chambara. Also a drink
Kohee - 8 dollar coffee
Yakuza - Legitimate businessmen with a lot of tattoos and missing pinkies.
Meiwaku - Trouble, disturbance.
Kawai - Cute
Pokemon - A very kawai little critter
Makdonurado - A fast food place where sometimes you get a toy Pokemon with you meal and your food tastes like it's made out of Pokemons.
Katana - A type of Samurai's cutting sword. Also name of Larry Ellison's giant boat.
Katakana - One of sets of Japanese characters. Either the one used for foreign words, or the other one.
Hiragana - Same as Katakana.
Hai - Yes
Beero - Beer.
Ebisu - God of something good, maybe beer. Also a type of beer.
Kappa - Demon of some kind, I think lives in water. Also a character in Mario Bros. games.
Tanuki - A smart shape shifting demon with huge balls.
Futon - Bed
Tatami - Rug

Uh... Yeah, I think I am done.