Friday Four

1. After I spent a big chunk of a day recovering from a hard drive crash, I realized that a couple of new terabyte hard drives (to allow me to back up my entire system vice just the data) would make good birthday presents.

Telling my wife, I was overheard by Pumpkin, who suddenly asked, "Can I come?"

"Huh? I'm not going anywhere. What do you mean?"

"Can I come to your birthday?"

"Oh! Of course, Pumpkin. I want you to come to all of my birthday parties."

It's sometimes really cute what part of a conversation a toddler will hone in on. And the cutest part of all is that she's completely right: That really was the most important part of the conversation.

In the meantime, Little Man, pointing at everything lately, is obviously working on language. His vocabulary has moved beyond Ma-ma and Da-da to include hey and light.

2. The recently-opened beer emporium in my neighborhood continues to allow me to whittle down a backlog of beers that I have heard of that have sounded intriguing, but of which I was dubious about buying six at a time. The latest of these is the Belgian import, Delerium Tremens, on which the Bowdoin Orient offers the following historical note:

Delirium Tremens and Delirium Nocturnum, the two most famous beers manufactured in Belgium by Huyghe Brewery, are classic examples of big things coming in weird packages. In fact, Delirium products were initially banned in the United States on the basis of their names.

Delirium Tremens is actually the clinical term for "the DTs," the violent sickness which alcoholics experience during withdrawal.

When the beers were first imported into the States, a law was in place that prohibited alcoholic products thought to encourage binge drinking, and thus Delirium was snatched from stores nationwide because of its reference to alcoholism.

The article focuses more on Delerium Nocturnum, from the same brewery, which I will definitely try soon.

3. From each side of the Atlantic ring the praises of cats. In, Alaska, one town raves about its feline mayor:

"All throughout the day I have to take care of the mayor," ... Skye Farrar told CNN. "He's very demanding. He meowed and meowed and meowed and demanded to be picked up and put on the counter. And he demanded to be taken away from the tourists. Then he had his long afternoon nap."

He may require special treatment, but his constituents have been largely pleased with his 17-year reign. "He doesn't raise our taxes," Stec said. "We have no sales tax. He doesn't interfere with business. He's honest."

And, from Scotland, we get an interesting article on the role cats play at whiskey distilleries: yesterday, mousing, and today, public relations.

Is there nothing a cat can't do?

4. Libraries are changing with the times. I knew that, but had not known that some allow patrons to check out power tools until I read this blog post.

-- CAV