I’ve just learned that one of my college buddies, Brian Wagner, took his life yesterday. He cites depression, though I was not aware of that. I feel sadness, but I feel confusion even more.

Brian was “thoughtful” enough to write his suicide note as a Word file. I’m not about to post it here. But, if you’re also a close friend of Brian’s, just e-mail me (link is on the right) and I can get it to you.

Apparently, due to the mildly successful film Office Space, there’s now a cult following behind red Swingline staplers:

“Office Space” didn’t burn up at the box office, barely recouping the $10 million it cost News Corp.’s 20th Century Fox to make it. But in 2000, when it came out on video, it was clear the movie was reaching a particular audience — cubicle-dwelling computer programmers. For months, Swingline fielded demands for “that red stapler” pouring in by phone and e-mail.

There was just a slight problem: Swingline didn’t make bright-red staplers.

The Swingline in the movie was custom-painted by a prop designer. When real-life Miltons found out they couldn't buy one from the manufacturer, they simply made their own, creating a thriving market on eBay for Swinglines spray-painted red. Then, finally, in April, three years after the red-stapler buzz began, Swingline began selling a “Rio Red” stapler, its basic “747” model in a coat of lipstick. [...]

The best part is Swingline’s website section on the stapler:

Up the Revolution: The Red Stapler! Staple and be heard! WHAM-cubicles! WHAM-dress code! WHAMWHAMWHAM!

Man, if I score myself a cubicle job (whee!), I’ll be sure to get one of these to complete the image :).

(Link from ObscureStore)

Some people just never learn.

A man who tried to rob a Greenfield gun shop at knifepoint Thursday afternoon was shot in the chest by the shop owner, police said.[…]

It looks like there's a cat-and-mouse game afoot between the cops and the “cataphiles” in Paris:

[....] The cataphiles are in relentless war, “une guerre souterraine,” as Gadget calls it. Head-lamped cave-cops cruise the underground, chasing out trespassers, handing out thousand-franc fines, about $140. Manholes are soldered from above; whole teams descend hauling cement and cinder blocks — an awful sweaty job — to block off passages and seal up the rabbit holes. To no avail. Within days, the cataphiles go on the attack, using crowbars, sledgehammers, shovels, hydraulic jacks, high-powered rock drills: smashing the walls, busting the careful solders. One legendary manhole was closed and reopened and closed again 20 times in a week. The police, of course, find this infuriating; the cataphiles think it’s hilarious fun. […]

See also: Infiltration.org.

Via MetaFilter, PwC will be renaming itself as Monday. That’s right, “Monday”. And, this e-mail apparently made the rounds at Monday, on Monday:

Admin: Good Morning, this is Monday.
Client: No, actually its Tuesday.
Admin: Yes sir, but you've reached Monday.
Client: What are you talking about?
Admin: You've called Monday sir.
Client: I realize I called yesterday, but today is Tuesday.
Admin: Today is Tuesday, but you've reached Monday.
Client: What?
Admin: Who can I connect you with?
Client: I need to talk to a partner in PwC.
Admin: There are only partners in Monday at this location.
Client: They don't work the rest of the week?
Admin: They work all week, sir. But they're all in Monday.
Client: But I want to talk to a PwC partner today, not Monday.
Admin: You can't talk to a PwC partner here. You'll have to talk to a partner in Monday.
Client: I can't wait til Monday!!

Via this thread on MetaFilter, Christopher Sell was trained as a French chef and has managed a chain of London sushi restaurants, but he’s now earning his acclaim for his fried twinkies.

They actually taste very good. The white vanilla filling inside the Hostess treat infuses into the golden spongecake and lends a surprisingly delicate, banana-like flavor. On the outside, the batter Sell dips the Twinkies in becomes crispy while the inside becomes soft and somewhere between fluffy and pudding-like.

“They come out with a souffle-like quality,” Sell said. [...]

Yeah, that's just about a heart-attack on a plate right there, but maybe a delicious heart-attack on a plate ;).

Via FlutterBy, John Scibby is enjoying his post-divorce life.

The oven has never been turned on.

“I think of the oven as a kind of shelf,” he says.

The laundry room is equipped with a washing machine and a dryer. It is also equipped with a drill press, a grinder and a welding torch.[...]