I am the ghost of groovymother.com. Woooooo!

This is an old page from Rod Begbie's blog.

It only exists in an attempt to prevent linkrot. No new content will be added to this site, and links and images are liable to be broken. Check out begbie.com to find where I'm posting stuff these days.

Entries for week beginning June 6, 2010

June 11, 2010

Whither Bacon?

The following is my answer to the question “Why are some people obsessed with bacon?” on Quora

Diet Coke with Bacon

First, the technical answer: Bacon is a particularly umami packed foodstuff, making it almost universally delicious.

This means that, more than other meats, it can be combined with other flavours in interesting ways. An event like BaconCamp showcases its flexibility; bacon can enhance dishes both savoury and sweet.

But on a more base level, I think bacon’s popularity (and cultishness) is more tied to its emotional feeling. Bacon is cheap and easy to cook. You can buy a large pack from the supermarket for a few bucks, and prepare it by frying, grilling, broiling or microwaving. (If good quality steak was as cheap and easy-to-prepare as bacon, we’d probably see FiletMignonCamps sprouting up!)

In the US, bacon’s an integral part of most of the crazy-huge breakfasts served at diners and restaurants, so it gets internally associated with the times you’ve treated yourself to breakfast out. And in the UK, a bacon butty, usually with plenty of ketchup (also extremely umamiful), is standard fare for when you’re short of cash, hungover and/or lazy (ie. students eat them A LOT)

Because of these experiences, bacon is subconsciously tied to “comfort food” in our brains. Most people enjoy it, and vegetarians often comment that bacon is the one meat they miss. Since it’s a relatively-unspoken common bond, when it is brought to the fore in (primarily internet) culture, it’s something large numbers of people respond to with “Yeah! I love bacon too!” Amplify this in the standard internet hyperbole filter, and there’s your “obsession”.

The Onion Sports Introduction To World Cup Soccer

Helpful guide for Americans confused by all this “football” talk.

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June 10, 2010

The Evolution of the World Cup Ball

I like that the 1962 ball is called “Mr. Crack”

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I love my new Google background image

I love my new Google background image

inspiration

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June 9, 2010

Today's Guardian (Phil Gyford's website)

Phil explains some of the design decisions behind his reader webapp.

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Today's Guardian

Excellent remashing of the Grauniad’s online articles into something that feels like an edition of the newspaper. Particularly lovely: vim navigations keys to page through and between the articles.

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June 8, 2010

The Divine Comedy - At The Indie Disco

Never has a band so perfectly appealed-to and mocked their fan base. Ace!

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world cup - Google Search

world cup - Google Search

Nice easter egg if you search Google for world cup

June 7, 2010

Why I Sold Zappos

Tony Hsieh tells his tale. Of course, his humble version is of evil VCs forcing the hand of the handsome founder with an amazing (and still unproven) vision. Reminds me of Philip Greenspun’s one-sided tales of ArsDigita post collapse. Second bubble, same as the first.

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If San Francisco Crime was Elevation

You’d get out of breath walking up Tenderloin Mountain. Fun visualization.

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Ride Free

Ride Free

My new coffee mug, care of Four Barrel coffee.

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About This Site

This is an archive of groovmother.com, the old blog run by Rod Begbie — A Scottish geek who lives in San Francisco, CA.

I'm the co-founder of Sōsh, your handy-dandy guide for things to do in San Francisco this weekend.