The Big Country

One Sentence Review: Acasa

Acasa: Forget outsourcing customer service to India--we need Romanians to make our donuts.

One Sentence Review, Advice Edition: Giano

Giano: Just because Italy doesn't have the most illustrious military history shouldn't necessitate closing the the restaurant on Memorial Day Sunday.

One if by Land, Two if by Sea

Does it get any more exciting?

The First Annual Czech Beer Festival

Starts, or started, today. Go here for beer guru Evan Rail's recommendations. I am sad to miss it, but I will note that it is wisely scheduled to start right after the World Series of Barbecue in Memphis. Could there be two better paired festivals than that? I think not.

I Don't Understand the Appeal...

...but you should still check out Alex Robertson Textor's Eurovision Song Contest coverage at the New York Post blog.

And Silverjet Makes Three

Looks like Silverjet may go the way of Eos and Maxjet after all. Unsurprising, for they used the worst airports on either end--Luton and Newark. Anyway, they've "grounded" the shares, and the planes might not be far behind.

Advancement of the Human Race, Las Vegas Casino Edition

No, I won't continue to harp about losing my money to the Pussycat Dolls.

Along that echt grubby piece of the strip between the Venetian and the Flamingo is O'Shea's Discount Casino---it's next to the Denny's, which by my calculations must pay more rent than any other Denny's on earth. As one walks past, many of the cheaper casinos play a loop of speech touting live entertainment or the cheap steaks; Bill's has a guy who talks like a grizzled prospector. O'Shea's, though, was proud of their newest addition: a beer pong room.

The minds behind the casinos in Las Vegas work hard to make every demographic feel comfortable enough to open their wallets, but are beer pong fans holding back elsewhere on the Strip? Is this the ONE thing that stands between a frat boy and busting his budget?

Now combining beer pong and shuffleboard--that would be innovative.

Check Your Head

Everyone is working themselves into a tizzy over American Airlines announcement that they will charge $15 for checked bags--not for the second checked bag, but the first. The horror!

Lest we forget, American is the only legacy carrier NOT to file for Chapter 11. So pay close attention when they do something like this; it means that tough times are ahead for all the airlines, and that they don't foresee cheaper operating costs anytime in the near future.

Who knows if others will follow, but this may mean more carry-on woes in the short-term. I hope it taxes the TSA sufficiently that they stop banning liquids and forcing passengers to take off their shoes in order to expedite that process, but even that's unlikely until, oh, mid-January of 2009. I don't want to pay more to travel either, but if prices for things like rice and flour are rising, is it any more surprising that flying would be more expensive, too?

Beefcake

Rolf Potts, angling for the cover of Men's Health.

Fish Cakes

At Lotus of Siam, Las Vegas