Corruption Of Cocoa

I've been wondering this for a few months now: Are Hershey's Kissables the worst use of chocolate ever? A coworker of mine brought in Kissable cookies—nothing impressive, but not too shabby—but even that level of attention and effort wasn't enough to overcome the nasty taste of those retched candy pieces. Having seen better candies disappear after just a few months, I can only hope this scourge is gone by the end of the summer.

Aspiring Sleuths

I've had a lot of fun with Google's Da Vinci Code Quest over the past 24 days, and I'm very much hoping that I made the final phase, if only because it will give me a couple more puzzles to play; I don't think I stand a chance of winning the speed competition for the grand prize. Both the daily puzzles and the official site play a bit like a Myst game, albeit without the ingenious subtlety of the Riven chapter. Maybe I can pick up Myst IV on the cheap this summer to keep from going through puzzle withdrawal.

Change Of Address

I signed the lease on an apartment with fellow architecture student Nate Chesley. We'll be living on the fifth and sixth floors of 317 Montgomery Street, just a nine-minute walk east of the Warehouse. We're quite excited.

Album with depth

UPS delivered Tool's new album, 10,000 Days, to me yesterday afternoon, and I'm quite impressed. The 11-track disc has—I'd argue—seven complete songs, and the sequencing seems perfect. The title track is actually the second half of the 17-minute "Wings for Marie," a song to vocalist Maynard James Keenan's departed mother, and not only does it feature the band in top form, it includes the most poignant use of a weather soundtrack that I've heard in any piece of music.

The packaging almost lives up the the contents. Unlike anything I've seen, the case folds open to form a stereoscope, which allows the enclosed booklet to be viewed in 3d. I think the lenses would have been better placed inside, so as not to dominate the closed cover, but this is a small detail, and I'm generally appreciative the exquisite—if tiny—artwork.