FromeDome

My friend Dan and some other folks just opened up a new bar called Destination at 13th St. and Avenue A in the East Village. It’s loosely travel-themed, and nice and unpretentious. Check it out.

This Calvin Klein ad at Houston and Lafayette is apparently “too sexy” for some people.

Starbucks Via instant coffee makes a nice iced coffee, too, if you need something fast. But even at Costco prices, it’s expensive.

This was — before I drank most of it in a different glass — two packets of the Colombia “medium” roast, dissolved in 16 oz. of cold water. (Plus ice, milk, sweetener, etc.)

Food, Inc., which opens this Friday, is basically a dull movie version of Eric Schlosser’s book Fast Food Nation: It reveals some of the disgusting details behind the food industry, ranging from the foul conditions in a chicken farm to the overbearing business practices that agriculture giants force on their clients. This is achieved partially through semi-gruesome imagery and partially through scary and/or sad ideas.

This is an important issue, and I’m glad that people like Robert Kenner (who directed the film) and Schlosser (who starred in the film and co-produced it) are making noise about it. Our food system is really messed up, and the government and the industry need to get their act together. (One of the best things I’ve ever done online — after reading Fast Food Nation in ‘02 — was joining the U.S. Food Safety and Inspection Service food recalls listserv. More on that another time.)

But the problem with Food, Inc. is that it’s just not a very interesting or entertaining film — and I’m even into this stuff. Even at 93 minutes, it felt like it dragged on for twice as long. Everything from the photography to the narration to the interviews to the facts presented were pretty… average. Perhaps I’m desensitized, or not a first-time learner, but nothing seemed particularly compelling, scary, amusing, or memorable.

Kenner might frighten a few people away from ground beef for a while, or sell a few tubs of organic yogurt. But Food, Inc. isn’t going to be a must-see film, and isn’t going to change the food industry.

Here’s the trailer:

Pilot and journalist Miles O’Brien — you may recognize him from CNN — has a nice article at Reuters about what might have happened to Air France flight 447, the Airbus A330 that disappeared between Brazil and Paris on Sunday night.

But the most interesting question — to me, at least — is at the end:

Why not send steady streams of telemetry from airliners to the ground all the time — a la the space shuttle? This effectively places the “black boxes,” safe and sound — on the ground. Imagine how invaluable that much data would be right now — given the distinct possibility this could remain an unsolved mystery.

That’s an excellent question. Given how advanced communication technology is these days, it seems like a smart idea for airliners to constantly feed home base as much information as possible: Its location and position, how flight and peripheral systems are working, how many people are using the bathroom, what movies are popular, etc. Especially the safety stuff.

I can think of four reasons why airlines aren’t doing this already: Because it’s almost always data they’ll throw out immediately after the plane lands safely, because radio spectrum may be scarce and unreliable, because they aren’t required to do it by law, and because it’s the last information they’d want slipping into the wrong hands.

But so what? These seem like problems that can be worked out. Now, as O’Brien points out, we’re potentially in a worse situation: Not knowing if the A330 is safe to fly in certain conditions. So where are those data streams?

Photo of Air France F-GZCP — the plane that vanished — by Gabriel Widyna on Airliners.net

Checked out Taïm Falafel at Waverly Pl. and 7th Ave. Easily one of the best falafel sandwiches I’ve ever had, and the ginger-mint lemonade was also excellent. We ate the normal (”green”) falafel on white pita with extra olives. Really nice.

Huge line tonight because Taïm’s episode of Throwdown! With Bobby Flay aired again on Food Network over the weekend. But a good deal and great food, enjoyed on a sidewalk bench. Next time, definitely getting the honeydew ginger smoothie.

N. Damen Ave., south of North Ave., Chicago.

Also: Don’t miss Rod’s best radio commercial from his run for Illinois governor. “Big mama too?”

Broadway and Steinway, Astoria, Queens, NYC.

If this inspires you, Papa John’s recently relaxed its franchise requirements, waiving its $25,000 startup fee and the first year’s royalties.