(no subject)

I recently ate at a Mexican restaurant, which reminded me that there's a Mexican holiday coming up some time this week. Now, I'm American, so naturally we never learned any significant portion of Mexican history. (Heck, I live in the northern part of the country, and we didn't even learn Canadian history.) From what I can tell, though...

The holiday is called "Sinko De Mayo." It commemorates the tragedy of a container ship full of mayonnaise, which was lost at sea. This had a profound effect on Mexican life and culture. Mayonnaise no longer has any part in traditional Mexican cooking. Instead, sandwiches are topped with sour cream, the very sourness of which serves as a token of the loss.

On the sad day itself, in remembrance, every bland white surface is covered in bright colors. Effigies of the donkey which caused the accident are beaten with sticks. And, to make it easier to toast the captain and crew, margaritas are half price.

(no subject)

So Continental and United Airlines are merging.^* If the merger goes through (still has to be approved by stockholders and federal antitrust regulators), the new company will have the very disappointing title of "United Continental Holdings."

I, for one, will henceforth refer to them as "Pangaea Airlines."

^*Except, actually, according to this story, it looks a whole lot more like United is buying Continental.