Blogwatch: In Honor of My Blog's Namesake, Here Are Some Pop Culture Lunch Boxes!

How awesome would it be to have this Maxwell Smart lunchbox?

Check out some other rare ones over at the Pop Culture Safari! blog, which surely must be a kindred soul of mine.

And be sure to check out the rest of the blog. Shazam! DVD and CD releases of the week. An XTC spotlight!

Well done.

Sushi is the Best Food, Now Eat it Right

I was really a deprived child. Growing up in St. Louis, there were not really any options to eat sushi. So I didn't really ever get to eat it until I moved to Washington DC 13 years ago. But since I've been here, I've probably had it more than 1,000 times, all over the world.

It's also my 4-year-old son's favorite food by far. He calls the eel rolls "candy sushi."

I think I've done a good job of building strong manners for eating sushi. But it's funny to see this chart of sushi dos and don'ts, posted by the excellent blog Smart People I Know, which notifies me that I should stop blending my wasabi in the soy sauce. Hmm.

And my son usually bites the nigiri in half, but otherwise his manners are in tact as well.

Top 5 Favorite Sushi:
1. Eel
2. Fatty tuna
3. Salmon
4. Tuna
5. Tie between octopus and yellow tail

Blogwatch: Happy Valentine's Day (From Some Interesting Characters)

There are a lot of funny tributes to love out there, and most of the best ones are at the Awkward Family Photos site. This is a must-follow site on the web.

Blogwatch: Shakespeare Gets a New Representative From the Wilds of the Web

Because there are so many great blogs out there like Pop Culture Lunch Box, this is a regular feature that will give these unheralded journalism enterprises a little love.

My great friend, fellow playwright, excellent comedian, and heroic everyman superhero Dan Sullivan, I'm thrilled to report, has started a blog called Fighting Sullivan (link has expired). This is the perfect medium for such a kind of person (in the center of the picture). He is brimming with creativity and I fear that, with him now unleashing his wild ramblings upon the world, the Internet is reaching its next stage of awesomeness.

Fear for us all.

All that said, I'm awfully glad he reported on another friend's latest theatrical performance. Tim Getman recently wrapped in a production of Merchant of Venice at the Shakespeare Theater in DC and I missed it. I would normally report on such a production in the form of a review. Dan approaches it differently. This video he posted on his blog is just weird. And I can't stop watching it.

Blogwatch: Who's the Dirtiest Congressman?

Very impressive new website by all the big guns of environmental protest-advocacy, like Bill McKibben's 350.org, Greenpeace, MoveOn.org, and others.

The site is called Dirty Energy Money and allows you to see how much energy and oil industry money has been accepted by politicians and companies. It also lets you search by zip code.

By the looks of this graphic, you would think climate-hoaxer Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma would be the "dirtiest" coal-funded politician. But no, he's only number three. I'm sure he'll get his staff right on rectifyin' that.

Blogwatch: Rock 'N' Roll Metro Map

Because there are so many great blogs out there like Pop Culture Lunch Box, this is a new regular feature that will give these unheralded journalism enterprises a little love.

I would actually remember whether I'm supposed to be going in the direction of Shady Grove or Glenmont on DC's Metro if this were the map.

Click here to super size it.

And while this person's Flickr account may not necessarily be considered a blog, theonlyone's photostream has some great art nonetheless.

Blogwatch: The Meat Puppets Continue to Surprise

Because there are so many great blogs out there like Pop Culture Lunch Box, this is a new regular feature that will give these unheralded journalism enterprises a little love.

From the wonderful and "barely coherent" ramblings of the Minnesota-based blog Lost Forest After Dark, it's good to see that the Meat Puppets (celebrating 30 years as a band!) are still a force of fun lunacy to be contended with on the world's rock stage.

From a review of the band's recent show at the 400 Bar, we learn that the desert-fried 80s legends "can still throw down." Along with their many classics off great albums like Up on the Sun and Forbidden Places, the Puppets threw in a handful of covers, including the Christian hymn "How Great Thou Art" (also later covered by Elvis) and the gospel tune "Just a Closer Walk with Thee."

And to really localize the show, former Husker Du bassist Greg Norton and his handlebar mustache made an appearance on the The Beatles' "Tomorrow Never Knows."

Photo courtesy of Lost Forest After Dark