Timmy the Tooth

David Eatock, who was signed by Kevin Keegan in September 1995, says he was sexually abused by George Ormond while at the club. ‘There was this awful feeling of guilt and shame,’ he says

A former Newcastle United player has waived his anonymity to say he was the victim of sexual abuse during his time at the club, and reveal the secret ordeal he suffered during the years when Kevin Keegan came close to turning the club into Premier League champions.

David Eatock, one of Keegan’s signings, said he had felt compelled to come forward because of the blizzard of media coverage since Andy Woodward’s interview in the Guardian two weeks ago, and because he had realised, after 20 years with his own secrets, that others had been preyed upon at other clubs and were no longer willing to suffer in silence.

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“I’ll check that out!”

I’m not going to check that out. Yes, I’m sure you like it, and I’m sure you recommended it to me in good faith. To you, the 80 uninterrupted seconds you spent gushing over its merits was time well spent. You believed that the dozens of billboards and online advertisements I’ve seen promoting it were somehow not enough. You thought that what I needed was a personalized recommendation from a casual workplace acquaintance. Ultimately, you hoped a thing that moves you — that ignites your soul and kindles your sense of wonder — would do the same for me. And perhaps it would. But I cannot bring myself to find out. Maybe I fear the unknown. One thing is certain, though: I will not check that out.

“No worries.”

I am paralyzed with worry.

“I’m good either way.”

This is not true. I actually have very deep preferences about the course of action our group chooses to take this evening, but I’m keeping those preferences private because I fear conflict more than I desire happiness.

“Great! How was yours?”

There are two lies here. First, my weekend was not great. While I enjoyed sleeping in and not being at work, “great” is a ludicrous stretch. I did watch The Thing and get drunk by myself Saturday night, which was excellent, but Sunday was mostly spent doing laundry and thinking about my friends who are younger and more successful than me. The second lie is that I care how your weekend was.

“Sorry.”

I didn’t do anything wrong here, OK? After you entered the break room, it was you who picked up my notebook, mistaking it for your own, and so the fault rests entirely with you. I’m not sorry. In fact, I only said “sorry” before informing you of your error because I know virtually no other way to begin a potentially awkward exchange. Fuck you.

“7:30 works!”

It would be much less stressful for me if we did 8:00.

“Congratulations!”

The fact that you and your spouse are having a baby fills me with unease. In just a few years, I will be your age. How can you possibly afford a child? Either you’ve built a solid financial foundation on which you can raise a family (something I seem unable to do), or you’ve cultivated a happy, carefree attitude that permits you to take risks (something I also cannot do). Teach me. Please.

“Let me know if there’s
anything I can do.”

Don’t.

“Hey.”

OK, so there’s no real, affirmative proposition being put forth here, so it’s hard to see how this can qualify as a lie. But the fact is I didn’t want to say it.

“I’m flexible.”

I am a coward.

“Not bad.”

This kind of depends on how you define “bad.” Nothing is physically wrong with me, and I make enough money to be comfortable. I haven’t had any big falling-out with my family or anything. I have friends. But it’s been a long time since I’ve felt happy, if that makes sense. It probably doesn’t make sense. I’m so stupid. I see a therapist. It’s not that I never feel good, is the thing — it’s more that I should feel better. Yeah. There’s no reason for me to be feeling this way, and that makes me feel guilty, which makes everything worse. I’m afraid of taking medication. That thing about there being nothing physically wrong with me isn’t quite true. My arm has started hurting because of how I sit at my desk at work. Remedying this feels utterly beyond my power. I also don’t get enough sleep, which can make me irritable and sad. So, yeah, not bad, I guess. I don’t know.

“Sounds good!”

This one’s true. Tacos sound great tonight.

I still have a nostalgic soft spot for the flavors of the packaged cookies, snack cakes, and ice cream novelties of my youth: your Klondike Bars, your Pop-Tarts, your Keebler Fudge Stripes. The adult me prefers versions that are made with better-quality ingredients, while the child in me refuses any fancy grown-up substitutions. Luckily, these 17 recipes for DIY Oreos, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Jell-O pudding, and more offer just the right compromise: Lovingly homemade, indeed, but retaining all the simple sweetness you crave, each one is sure to make you feel like a kid again. Read More

[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

Unseen above the restored cast-iron facade of this 1857 residential structure in Tribeca, a stunning modern loft extends the building’s livable space, its form responding directly to lines of sight.

Designed by WORKac and known as the Stealth Building, the addition had to work with the existing facade — to preserve its appearance, rendering it invisible became the obvious approach.

In order to accomplish this clever act of concealment, all angles of view and shadows cast had to be accounted for. In turn, these informed the shape of the angular extension. Tracing lines of visibility across facade features of adjacent buildings, the designers derived a roof line that would work with the project goals.

All of this naturally shaped the interior spaces as well, creating dramatic diagonal lines that carry through the various rooms.

The fifth-floor pop-up features sleeping quarters, entertaining and dining spaces, as well as a secluded terrace tucked behind the pediment to provide privacy for residents. The former elevator bulkhead has been converted to contain a hut tub servicing the deck as well.

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[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Houses & Residential. ]

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 Leer

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

An unusual collection of found-object art in Chichibu, Japan is home to nearly 2000 rocks that naturally feature what appear to be facial expressions.

A jinmenseki (or: rock with human face) can look like anything from an abstract emoji to a famous figure, including ones in this array that are purported to resemble Donkey Kong, Nemo and Elvis Presley.

The founder of the museum, Shozo Hayama, passed away after 50 years of collecting and left the space and its collection to his wife Hayama six years ago. The key criteria: nature is the only artist in the mix (no modified rocks allowed).

Some of the rocks are named while others simply set on the shelves, left open to interpretation. Visitors can simply show up but are advised to call ahead since the hours of opening are not entirely consistent or predictable (h/t Spoon & Tamago).

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[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Products & Packaging. ]

Curling up with a glass of wine with a story has never been easier thanks to Librottiglia, a project that wraps printed pages around bottles of Italian reds and whites.

Each wine is paired with a specifically selected literary short intended to match the characteristics of the vintage with an appropriate genre and narrative. Drinkers are encouraged to pour a glass then pour over the pages of a unique tale.

Designed by Reverse Innovation for the Matteo Correggia winery in Italy, each 375-ML bottle is good for two glasses and an absorbing literary adventure. The covers in each case double as both book titles as well as wine labels and descriptions.

A piece of twine wraps the book to each bottle while the words themselves are printed on a thick paper stock to round out the stylized packaging. Stories include The Frog in the Belly, I Love You Forget Me and others by journalists, humorists and mystery writers.

“Today we read books on computers, tablets and mobile phones,” note the creators. “Why not on a bottle of wine?” they ask. “After years of discussion about analogue vs. digital, we want to propose an alternative: oenological” (meaning: related to the cultivation and study of wine).

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• Anfield great left Liverpool to join the American club in 2015
• Celtic play down any move to sign 36-year-old

Los Angeles Galaxy have confirmed that Steven Gerrard has left the MLS side, with the former Liverpool captain now considering the next stage of his career.

Gerrard joined the American club in May 2015 from Liverpool after a long and distinguished career with his hometown club and England, for whom he won 114 caps.

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Read the first installment of plays here.

Weekend

[YOU enter and put your things down in your cubicle. Your COWORKER stares expectantly at YOU.]

YOU: How was your weekend?

COWORKER: Good, good! Spent some time with the in-laws. Went up to their lake house. Great place out in the country.

[YOU fish your headphones out of your bag and insert an earbud.]

COWORKER: Sure beats the city. The city is just getting so crowded! You can’t walk down the street without running into a pedestrian traffic jam. I’ll tell you—

[YOU insert the second earbud. Your COWORKER continues talking even though YOU are no longer listening. He will continue talking throughout the day and long after you leave. He never reciprocates your question and asks you about your weekend. YOU will never have anything worth reporting anyway.]

Bullshit

COWORKER: This project is bullshit.

YOU: Yeah.

COWORKER: Who do they think they are giving us bullshit like this?

YOU: Yeah!

COWORKER: It’s bullshit. I’m not doing it.

YOU: Yeah?

[Your COWORKER slams his binder shut and storms off. YOU can’t tell if the project is bullshit or not. It seems like every other project. YOU continue working on the bullshit project, for working on it is easier than not working on it.]

Shoes

COWORKER: Have you noticed I’ve been wearing sneakers at work the past two weeks?

YOU: I did not notice. That is against the dress code.

COWORKER: Well I don’t like wearing uncomfortable work shoes. And I’m an adult so I’ll wear what I please.

[Your COWORKER continues to wear sneakers for another two days until SHARON FROM HR sees him and reminds him that we are all but children under the dress code, powerless to wear comfortable shoes. When we die we will be buried in uncomfortable shoes.]

Lies

COWORKER: Sorry about your arm.

YOU: What?

COWORKER: I heard you broke your arm.

[YOU examine your unbroken arms.]

YOU: What?

COWORKER: Wait, what?

[YOU raise one arm and then the other arm to demonstrate your arms are unbroken.]

COWORKER: Someone said you broke your arm.

[YOU reexamine your unbroken arms. They are a lie. It is known that you have a broken arm.]

YOU: Which arm?

Today

COWORKER: What’s today?

YOU: Tuesday

COWORKER: No, the date.

YOU: The 17th

COWORKER: When is Mardi Gras this year?

YOU: I’m not sure.

COWORKER: I’m going to get one of those cakes with a baby inside.

YOU: Alright.

[YOU forget when Mardi Gras is supposed to fall. YOU are not even sure what season it is without giving it some thought. It could be any time of the year, any time of the day in your fluorescent climate-controlled cake.]

Important

[Your COWORKER erupts in laughter.]

COWORKER: Come here, you have to see this.

YOU: Can you just send it to me?

[Your COWORKER breathlessly waves YOU over to his computer. YOU obey his hand motion and lean over his cubicle wall.]

YOU: What is it?

COWORKER: It is a dog dressed like a pumpkin.

[YOU gaze upon the image of a dog dressed like a pumpkin and laugh, even though YOU are but a writhing mass of meat and neuroses dressed like a person.]

Weekend Redux

[YOU enter and put your things down in your new office. From his cubicle your COWORKER stares expectantly at you through the open door. YOU are unaccustomed to the suffocating silence that came with your promotion. YOU exit your office and approach your COWORKER’s cubicle.]

YOU: How was your weekend?

COWORKER: Good, good! Spent some time with the in-laws. Went up to their lake house. Great place out in the country. Sure beats the city. The city is just getting so crowded!

[YOU turn around and head back into your new office.]

COWORKER: You can’t walk down the sidewalk without running into a pedestrian traffic jam these days. I’ll tell you—

[YOU close the door. Your COWORKER continues talking even though YOU are no longer listening. He will continue talking throughout the day and long after you leave. It’s comforting to know something is there on the other side of the door.]

[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Guerilla Ads & Marketing. ]

Amidst the colorfully furnished spaces mocked up in IKEA’s flagship store sits a place of jarring contrast, a replicated version of an actual 260-square-foot house that is home to a family of nine in Syria.

IKEA has done installations before and worked on flat-pack refugee shelters, but this piece really brings the problem home, putting it in front of consumers as they shop. In collaboration with the Red Cross, the displays also feature tags that offer people ways to help by donating to relief efforts.

The original house in Damascus, Syria after which this one in Slependen, Norway was modeled houses Rana and eight of her family members. Both the real and replica versions feature hard cinder block walls — the latter relays stories of the residents, how they live and what they lack in terms of food, medicine and clean water.

“We had been working with the Red Cross for months, so we had a lot of footage from Syria,” said the agency behind the idea. “But no matter how emotional it was, nothing got close to the experience of visiting people in a war zone. We realised we could give Norwegians that experience at IKEA. At the one place where you think of and plan the future — the apartment served as a physical reminder of how lucky we are.”

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[ By WebUrbanist in Design & Guerilla Ads & Marketing. ]

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I’d like to thank all my “real liberal” friends for scaring off others who would never engage in anything politically in their lives. On Facebook, I’m watching non-vocal, non-political friends pipe up publicly for the first time because they realize “something’s not right” and wearing a safety pin is the first “vocal” thing they’ve ever been comfortable with in their lives. Then they’re told their actions are “too little too late,” “a joke”, and they aren’t “not ready to do the real work.” And you wonder why seemingly reasonable people voted for Trump.

Fifa is wrong to get involved in players wearing poppies when England meet Scotland, says Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.

In the latest from his series of cartoons, David Squires looks at football and Remembrance Day. And you can find David’s archive of cartoons here

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A racist was running for president

A sexist was running for president

A misogynist was running for president

A jingoist was running for president

A xenophobe was running for president

A chauvinist was running for president

Men had ungroomed beards

Things were handcrafted

People patronized local butchers, bakers, brewers and farmers

The South Side of Chicago was overlooked

In an extract from his new book, David Squires looks back at an infamous moment from the 1986 World Cup …

It’s fair to say that England and Argentina had ‘history’. Their football rivalry had taken on a bitter edge in the aftermath of Antonio Rattin’s sending off at the 1966 World Cup and, on the political front, the two countries had been at war just four years before they met in the heat of the Azteca Stadium in Mexico City. Both teams had publicly played down the relationship between the sporting rivalry and the war, but away from the microphones it was a different story. In his autobiography El Diego, a typically restrained Maradona explains: ‘In a way, we blamed the English players for everything that happened, for all the suffering of the Argentine people.’ In a way, I blame Steve Hodge’s inability to volley a football in its intended direction for everything that followed

• The Illustrated History of Football by David Squires is published 3 November 2016 by Century, Hardback, £12.99

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[ By SA Rogers in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

Who wants to sit in a stale, noisy central office when they could take their job – not to mention the coffee maker – on the go instead? This Nissan vehicle houses the world’s first all-electric mobile office, and it’s more than just a fold-down desk in the back of a van. The whole enviable setup includes a panoramic glass roof, wood flooring with built-in LED lights, an intelligent system that adjusts the lighting and color, wireless mobile charging and an espresso machine that pops up out of the counter.

Devised to show off what the e-nv200 van can do, the mobile office concept spotlights changing workspace trends, especially as flexible and remote working becomes more widespread. Lots of workers are no longer chained to permanent desks anymore, with the freedom to do their jobs from any number of places.

Both of the side sliding doors on the e-nv200 can be opened, along with the split rear doors, to open up the office to the worker’s chosen surroundings. Drive the van to the park, a beach or any other spot that inspires you and helps you focus, pull out the floating deck at the rear and enjoy working conditions most of us can only dream about.

The fold-down desk console features a built-in touch screen computer, wireless mouse and keyboard along with storage space and stationery supplies, and there’s even a mount inside one of the rear doors for a folding Brompton bike if you want to take a break and get some exercise. Watch the video to take in all of the details.

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[ By SA Rogers in Technology & Vehicles & Mods. ]

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[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

Using the sun and the sea, renewable sources of energy and water, a desert farming operation in Australia show how organic food in a fresh new and sustainable way.

The soil-free hydroponic systems of Sundrop Farms use solar energy to filter brackish water for use on crops, growing 17,000 metric tons of food annually. The sun’s energy also powers, heats and cools the greenhouses as needed, reflected via a series of 23,000 mirrors. In contrast, a “conventional greenhouse uses groundwater for irrigation, gas for heating, and electricity for cooling.”

The “plants are grown hydroponically, which is the technical way of saying we don’t use soil. Our plants flourish on nutrient-rich coconut husks instead.” Additional climate and irrigation controls allow the farm to maximize outputs with minimized inputs.

The desert location as well as natural control strategies allow Sundrop to accomplish their goals without harmful, expensive or polluting inputs as well. “Unlike traditional agriculture we use no fertilizers and no weed killers. We control plant eating bugs with carnivorous ones, just the way nature intended.”

Sundrop’s success illustrates the possibilities of working in a world where water, land and energy are all scarce and valuable. Moreover, the farm shows that fruits and vegetables can be produced year-round in any conditions thanks to hydroponics and green energy, from rural wastelands to urban food deserts.

“Because we do everything in a controlled environment, we know what our input costs are, and we’re doing everything on a renewable basis, we can provide real consistency of supply and a higher quality product at a better price year ’round,” said Philipp Saumweber, chairman and CEO of Sundrop Farms.

“Existing farming practices are unsustainable,” explains Sundrop. They generally use fossil fuels, excessive groundwater and require appropriate soil and weather conditions. “Yet by 2050 rising populations will see a 50% increase in food demand. Climate change is increasing the number and the severity of catastrophic weather events. And water scarcity is becoming more acute in arid regions. We need to look at alternative ways to create energy and to produce food. That’s no longer a preferred option but a necessity. Fortunately however, things are starting to change.”

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[ By WebUrbanist in Architecture & Offices & Commercial. ]

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Plain M&Ms: You DVR C-SPAN.

Circus Peanuts: You will vote for Trump on November 28th.

Sugar Daddies or Charleston Chews: You were an active Taft supporter, and you may sport similar facial hair.

Swedish Fish: You don’t understand why they are called Swedish fish, like WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN, and you are considering voting for Gary Johnson.

Kit Kat: Socialist.

Fun Dip or Pixy Stix: You are in a diabetic coma and, therefore, you are unaware of the current election. Some of your friends are jealous of you about this.

Twizzlers: You have avoided politics ever since you ran unopposed for student council in middle school and lost.

Candy Corn: Ignorance is bliss.

Reese’s Pieces: When considering your vote, you think: What would The Dude do?

Skittles: You still don’t understand what a hanging chad is, but you suspect it has something to do with Chad Michael Murray and his athletic abilities.

Laffy Taffy: Whenever someone mentions TPP, you scream “YEAH, YOU KNOW ME!” Every. Single. Time.

Airheads: You’ve plagiarized one of Michelle Obama’s speeches.

Nerds: You’ve published a long-form essay questioning the stability of capitalist governments and/or you own a framed photo of Nate Silver.

Sour Patch Kids: Miley Cyrus 2024!

Whoppers or any candy run through an x-ray machine: You get all of your political news coverage from Russian government sponsored television and/or you are Julian Assange.

hman:

“…Trump’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame was destroyed early Wednesday morning in what looks to be a Tinseltown first.”

• Under-pressure manager finding hotel life tough
• United take on City in the EFL Cup fourth round

Under-pressure José Mourinho has labelled his current setup a “disaster” as he prepares for the Manchester derby.

Related: Behold the new José Mourinho: United’s glum, passive, powerless manager

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While I may not be a vegetarian, it just so happens that I'm a firm believer in the idea that a meat-free Thanksgiving can ultimately be a tastier Thanksgiving; one in which your precious stomach real estate is wholly devoted to the real stars of the show. Here's the side-heavy, cheesy, creamy, rich, but totally turkey-and-all-other-meats-free Thanksgiving of my dreams. Read More

Hello, I’m a Social Justice Warrior, and I’m here to take your guns. So, if you could gather them all up and leave them next to your DON’T TREAD ON ME sign, you can get back to watching TV, presumably that new Kevin James show. This will only take a minute.

Yes, you heard me correctly. The liberal media has tricked you into thinking that a scenario like this was “a conservative conspiracy theory” or “Sean Hannity dystopian slash-fiction,” but here I am. Now give me your guns.

Please don’t make me call my gender-queer friends waiting in the Prius. They hate all men.

I can see that you’re confused and possibly angry (or maybe that’s just how your face is), but since I double-majored in Communism and Political Correctness Studies at a famous Ivy League college, let me educate you. Guns are just the beginning. This is the New America, the one that Reddit has warned you about. First, we take your guns. Next, we install illegal immigrant mayors in small Midwestern towns. By the end of the decade, with some minor tweaks to the Common Core, every American child will be gay.

Please stop yelling. If you think you have a right to your opinion, you’re wrong. This is a democracy for people who donate to PETA. This is a democracy for people who ride recumbent bikes to work. This is a democracy for people who read the New York Review of Books. We know what’s in your best interest. You’re an anachronism, pal. You might as well take your Styrofoam cups and your headphone jacks and get the hell out of here.

The Constitution? Yeah, we’re done with that. We’ve enlisted a group of multi-racial women, The Founding Mothers, to draft a new document, The Socialist Mixtape, which will become the law of the land. We’re only going to let non-white, low-income women vote for the first 150 years or so — just until things settle down enough to let white men have a say.

There are a couple of other things you should know. When you’re reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, you are now required by law to say “one nation, under a groove.” Also, after careful deliberation, we’ve decided to change the National Anthem to something a little less militaristic: Tracy Chapman’s “Fast Car.” Standing while the anthem is playing will be optional, but bobbing your head during the acoustic guitar breaks will be strictly enforced.

By the way, America is now gluten-free.

Why are you on your knees? Oh, that reminds me: you can’t wear that cross necklace in public anymore. It’s a security risk. If you ask me, it’s time to get serious about radical Christian evangelicalism. That’s why we’re going to start using drones in the War on Christmas. Nothing lights up a manger scene like hellfire missiles!

But I’m getting ahead of myself. First things first: give me your guns. The U.N. needs them.

• Survey of 4,000 supporters was conducted for BBC 5 Live
• Fifty per cent said they had heard homophobic abuse at a match

The majority of football fans in Britain would have no issues with an openly gay player at their club, although 8% have said they would stop going to support their club, according to a survey carried out for BBC Radio 5 Live.

Last week the Football Association chairman Greg Clarke told a Department for Culture, Media and Sport select committee he “would be amazed” if there were not a gay player in the Premier League and felt “ashamed” that to date no one had been confident enough to publicly reveal their sexuality.

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[ By SA Rogers in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

Had Buffalo Bill escaped Clarice Starling and moved into a quaint suburban Connecticut home, his interior decor might have looked a little something like this. At 24 Brentwood Drive, an absolutely amazing color palette in shades of dried blood, glistening internal organs and Exorcist vomit green adorns every available surface in the form of hand-painted designs. And the best part is – all of this could be yours for just $339,900.

Believe it or not, this is an actual real estate listing on Zillow.com, described by listing agent Ernie Rossi as a “unique one of a kind finishing completed by a professional!” The agents provide a full 51-photo tour on the site, showing off room after room filled with decoupaged stair rails, musty-looking floral curtains, decorative stamped paint in rust red and squiggly designs in shiny copper.

Naturally, the listing went viral on social media upon discovery, with people describing the interiors as “serial killer chic,” “deranged” and “a portal to hell.” The real estate agents told The National Post that the sellers are artists, and remain optimistic that someone out there will fall in love with their designs. The home has only had one interested party in thirty days online, however.

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Who knows – maybe it’s actually some kind of viral horror marketing for a horror movie or a Halloween attraction, given that it’s mid-October and the house is located near the ominously named Mount Horr and Secret Lake – but there are elements of the home that feel earnest. Check out the full listing to decide for yourself.

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[ By SA Rogers in Design & Fixtures & Interiors. ]

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Welsh international’s conviction quashed, but decision to allow evidence about complainant’s sex life causes outrage

International footballer Ched Evans has been found not guilty of the rape of a 19-year-old woman, but the decision to allow the jury to hear the sexual history of the complainant has sparked outrage from women’s support groups and campaigners.

As Evans was acquitted of rape at a retrial on Friday, five years after having sex with the woman in a hotel room, activists expressed fear that an earlier appeal court ruling which allowed the complainant’s sexual behaviour to be taken into account by the jury would set a dangerous precedent, and could deter women from coming forward to report sexual offences.

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Let's face it: Pea soup is not an attractive dish. It's not even attractive in a down-home, plain kinda way. Good thing it's got some pretty darn redeeming characteristics. It's cheap, filling, hearty, and deliciously smoky with ham, and the only downside is that it's ever-so-slightly fussy and time-consuming to make. Here's a way to speed it all up. Read More

Paul Freedman.  Ten Restaurants that Changed America.  Liveright/WW Norton, 2016.

I was happy to be asked for a blurb for this fascinating, entertaining, and beautifully produced (color illustrations!) volume.  Here’s what I said:

Is it even remotely possible that ten restaurants—from Delmonico’s to Howard Johnson, Sylvia’s, and Chez Panisse—could change the way America eats?  Paul Freedman draws on deep historical research, analysis of contemporary sources, and interviews with surviving players to give us an elegantly written, fascinating, and, dare I suggest, gossipy account of the individuals and social trends that made these restaurants famous.   Whether or not you’ve ever eaten in any of these restaurants, you will have a wonderful time reading this book and will gain unexpectedly delightful insights into modern American life.

I particularly enjoy Freeman’s writing.  Here is an excerpt from his chapter on Le Pavillion (page 336) on what it’s like to get into a high-end restaurant these days:

[I]t is hardly as if American high-end restaurants have become that much more democratic.  Although it is customary to begin any account of the modern restaurant boom by conjuring up the bad old days of damask tablecloths, dress code, leather-covered menus and haughty maîtres-d’-hôtel, restaurants today impose distinctions that would never have occurred to Henri Soulé: near-impossible reservations, no reservations, the speakeasy restaurant type with no visible sign, special telephone lines for favored customers, or forcing clients to pay in advance of their meal.  The model is no longer the nightclub of the Copacabana or El Morocco type, but the culinary version of a dance club complete with velvet rope and line of suppliants, lacking only a bouncer.

Freedman sprinkles wonderfully gossipy digressions throughout.  Here’s one from his chapter on the Four Seasons (page 372):

President John F. Kennedy’s forty-fifth birthday on May 19, 1962, was celebrated there.  Guests, who contributed $1,000, had a rather modest meal of baked crab, chicken broth with spring wheat, beef medallions and birthday cake.  Kennedy had spent so much time chatting with each table, had time only for cream of asparagus soup and a beer before going off to Madison Square Garden where Marilyn Monroe sang him a rather suggestive version of “Happy Birthday.

That comment ought to take you right to YouTube, where you can the “suggestive version” for yourself.

UPDATE (Oct. 10, 8 a.m.): The winners of the 2016 Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel are Oliver Hart and Bengt Holmstrom, “for their contributions to contract theory.” Hart is British and is affiliated with Harvard; Holmstrom is Finnish and is affiliated with MIT.

The typical winner of the Nobel in economics is a 67-year-old man, born in the United States, who is working at the University of Chicago when he wins.

I’ve been looking at the typical characteristics of winners of the various prizes; here’s what I found for physiology/medicine, physics, chemistry and peace so far. The economics award is expected to be announced Monday.

But, technically, there is no Nobel Prize in economics. Instead, there is the Bank of Sweden Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. It was first awarded in 1969 and is named not after a person, but after the central bank of Sweden — the Sveriges Riksbank — which funds it. The Nobel Foundation doesn’t pay out the award or choose the winner (though the winner is chosen in accordance with the same principles used by the Nobel Foundation), but it does list the prize on its website along with the Nobels, tracks winners the same as Nobel laureates, and even promotes the prize alongside its own. Members of the Nobel family have spoken out against the award.

So why does it exist? Notre Dame historian Philip Mirowski has found evidence that the economics award grew out of Swedish domestic politics. According to Mirowski, in the 1960s, the Bank of Sweden was trying to free itself from government oversight and become independent. One way to do that was to frame economics as purely scientific, rather than political — in which case, government interference could only hurt the bank. Having a Nobel Prize boosted economics’ scientific street cred. And Mirowski isn’t the only academic who is skeptical of whether there should be a Nobel-associated economics prize. Friedrich von Hayek, who won the award in 1974, used his Nobel Banquet speech to critique the prize. “The Nobel Prize confers on an individual an authority which in economics no man ought to possess,” Hayek said. He worried that the prize would influence journalists, the public and politicians to accept certain theories as gospel — and enshrine them in law — without understanding that those ideas have a different level of uncertainty than, say, gravity or the mechanics of a human knee.

The definitive map of America's creepy clown epidemic.

A newly released survey shows that Americans who care about expert opinion and scientific evidence hold different policy positions than those who don’t — across party lines.

The survey, conducted in January by the independent research organization NORC at the University of Chicago and released Tuesday, asked 1,007 Americans online and by phone about how they seek out and process information. About four in five respondents said that it is easier now than it was five years ago to find useful information, but four in five also said that they are sometimes or often overwhelmed by how much information comes to them.

Sifting through so much information, Americans have to decide which pieces are valuable to them. When they do, some place a much higher value than others do on information that comes from sources referring to experts or scientific evidence, or that is based on government data. And the more people value those kinds of information, the more they are likely to support Obamacare and same-sex marriage and to believe global warming is happening.

The effect persisted after controlling for demographic characteristics and for political party affiliation. So, for instance, 39 percent of Republicans who think information related to experts is important agree that “homosexual couples should have the right to marry one another,” compared with just 9 percent of Republicans who don’t.

The study doesn’t tell us whether holding certain policy beliefs makes people more likely to place a premium on expertise or data, or the other way around — or whether some other trait determines both policy beliefs and prizing evidence. “Causality is difficult,” said Norman Bradburn, a senior fellow at NORC and the senior adviser on the report. “You can’t infer it.”

NORC conducted the poll in January to try to avoid a time when respondents would be overly influenced by the presidential campaign in full swing, Bradburn said, even while planning to release it around NORC’s 75th anniversary this month. Researchers sought to choose issues that were sufficiently controversial and likely to remain relevant throughout the campaign. “Most people don’t have an opinion on most issues except those right at the top of public discussion,” Bradburn said.

The study covers much more than policy positions. Bradburn said that with so many alternative sources of information available to respondents, he was particularly struck by the high level of confidence they still place in newspapers: 90 percent of Americans who use them, in print or digital form, said they “can completely or mostly trust” newspapers as a source. The decline of local papers might have taken a toll, though: Only about half of Americans say they are more informed about local news and civic life and government activities in their communities than they were five years ago.