The next issue of the second series of Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen has arrived. (Previously Blogged About Here). Haven't picked it up yet, but the first issue was good. As always, Jess Nevins' annotations are crucial to uncovering the many references to Victorian (and later) literature that Moore draws upon. And just to prove my geek status, I sent him a citation of my own. The comic includes "The New Traveller's Alamanac" (which Jess calls "Alan Moore's attempt to kill me"), an exhaustive compendium of supernatural (literary) places in the UK. In it, he describes the fate of Alice, who after coming back through the looking glass, starves to death.
The fate of Alice and the Baker [in the Hunting of the Snark], who both starve after being reversed in the looking glass, sounded awfully familiar to me. A search through some anthologies turned up an Arthur C. Clarke story from 1946 called "Technical Error", in which a power plant accident causes a worker to become "laterally inverted." (His body is flipped from left to right after briefly entering the fourth dimension). He is later in danger of starving to death because he can't digest the stereo-isomers of the enzymes his body needs. Or something like that.Jess sent me back a nice note, and maybe he'll include my citation and I'll be famous. Ha!
| Alan Moore | Science Fiction | Arthur C. Clarke |
I picked this religion quiz up whilst approving Bob's Blog for nycbloggers. (Hey can I work NYCB into every post?) I usually ignore these things but was curious enough to spend a couple of minute trying to figure out what religion I should be. Guess what? I should be a Reform Jew. Good thing I already am. However, it's interesting that "Liberal Quakers" and "Sikhism" rank #2 and #3. Hey, some of my best friends are Liberal Quakers and Sikhs. Go figure. Christian Scientists, Conservative Christianity, and Athesim (or, "Nontheism") rank last. Here's the complete list:
1. Reform Judaism (100%)
2. Liberal Quakers (82%)
3. Sikhism (79%)
4. Unitarian Universalism (75%)
5. Bahá'í Faith (74%)
6. Orthodox Judaism (73%)
7. Neo-Pagan (72%)
8. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (66%)
9. Islam (66%)
10. New Age (59%)
11. Jainism (53%)
12. Mahayana Buddhism (51%)
13. Secular Humanism (48%)
14. Theravada Buddhism (45%)
15. New Thought (45%)
16. Scientology (43%)
17. Orthodox Quaker (43%)
18. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (42%)
19. Hinduism (38%)
20. Jehovah's Witness (35%)
21. Taoism (28%)
22. Seventh Day Adventist (28%)
23. Eastern Orthodox (27%)
24. Roman Catholic (27%)
25. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (26%)
26. Nontheist (25%)
27. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (24%)
So, any surprises for folks taking the quiz?
| Quiz |
Worried Saudis Try to Improve Image in the U.S.
Good luck. Our "good friends" the Saudis are so worried about their image here, they're willing to give us... a racehorse?
The royal family has considered presenting the racehorse that won the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes this year as a gift to the victims' families, according to one adviser to the family. The horse, War Emblem, which was owned by Prince Ahmed bin Salman, who died in July, would be part of the commemoration at Ground Zero.WTF? First, I can't even imagine what the victims' families would think. "Er, we're sorry that 15 of our citizens killed your husband... here, have a .03% share of a racehorse. No, really, we mean it. Go on, take it." Second, it's called War Emblem? I don't even know how the flacks over at Qorvis would spin that one.
Incidentally, if you've never read this letter from asparagirl (another fine nycblogger) to Qorvis' HR department, you really must.
| Animals | Saudi Arabia | 9/11 |
No, it’s not a trip into the wayback (or WABAC) machine. Betamax has, in fact, been around all these years and it’s just now that Sony declared it will cease production of the players after the next 2000 are spat out.
| Sony |
Friends:
Newsday published an opinion piece of mine this morning. The editors told me it was provocative, and they backed that up by placing it on the opening page of the viewpoints section. Read it and judge for yourself.
I hope you are all well and enjoying summer.
Regards,
Matt
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Remember, there was a similar plot in LA that was also busted, and then a neo-nazi one in Boston.
______
Associated Press
August 24, 2002
Yahoo! News - Cops: Doc Had Firepower, Expertise
By RACHEL LA CORTE, Writer
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - A doctor suspected of hatching an elaborate plot to blow up dozens of mosques and an Islamic education center had enough expertise and firepower to carry it out, police said Saturday. Robert J. Goldstein, a foot specialist, possessed an arsenal powerful enough to level the 200-unit town house complex where he lives and a detailed "mission template" full of instructions, officials said.
| Vorks | Hate Crimes | Religion |
I'm clearly not reading Ethel the Blog often enough. Good news stuff over there, on war, markets, etc.
I recently received this email from Mike Watkins, who teaches negotations at HBS:
I am in complete agreement with the approach recommended by former Secretary of State James Baker in his op-ed piece below.
I strongly believe that the administration has to lay out the options and make "the case" clear to the American public. Key questions to be answered include:
* What exactly is the threat posed by Iraq in the short and medium term?
* How critical is it to act now and what are the options?
* Why doesn't it make sense to work through the UN?
* How will a unilateral US (or US/Britain) attack on Iraq likely to impact the broader war on terrorism and the situation in the Middle East?
* How will it impact the stability of Pakistan (with its nuclear weapons) and Saudi Arabia (with its oil)
* Critically, will an attack make it more or less likely that weapons of mass destruction will be used or fall into the hands of the wrong people (e.g. through a breakdown of control over them in Iraq).
* Critically, will an attack make it more or less likely that another major terrorist attack will occur in the US?
If the case can't be made publicly, then we have a big problem. It's simply not acceptable to hide behind the "we have the intelligence but can't show it to you" gambit. If the case can be made, I will be the first one to vote for war.
If you agree, please pass this e-mail along to others. The stakes are very high.
You can read James Baker's piece at the NYT here. Update: another email from Prof. Watkins:
As is probably obvious, I'm very concerned that the administration is creating a self-fulfilling prophecy concerning the use of weapons of mass destruction by Iraq or their transfer to terrorists.
As we approach a tipping point, events could easily take on a life of their own. Suppose Hussein decides that an attack is inevitable (or just that he's ready to go out with a bang), what might he do? He might give a very small amount of anthrax or nerve gas to Palestinian terrorists so they can distribute it somewhere in Israel and cause a panic, and be linked, perhaps intentionally, back to the Iraqis. What happens then?
The situation reminds me of the lead-up to WWI where concerns about preemptive attack created a failure of deterence. All it took was a flashpoint event in the Balkans to create an unstoppable escalation dynamic toward war.
But then maybe I'm just a pessimist.
| Iraq | War |
The Osama bin Laden - Hari Seldon - Isaac Asimov connection
| Al Qaeda | Isaac Asimov | Science Fiction |
So the Bushies can’t detain, try, and deport people in complete secrecy, after all. Gosh, who woulda thunk? Read all about the federal appeals court’s decision in the New York Times, provided you register for free. My favorite part, is the line I want to weep it's so good,
said Lucy Dalglish, the executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.
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My Mom has chickens.
This still kind of weirds me out. I grew up in the suburbs. No one has chickens in the suburbs. Now my Mom lives in the country -- Upper Bucks County, Pennsylvania, to be exact -- and she's got a couple of dozen chickens running around. They lay eggs. They crow at inappropriate, non-dawn times. They make chicks.
She names them all, of course. My last trip there she referred to two black-and-white chickens (like I know the breeds; are you kidding?) as "Salt and Pepper." Somehow I heard "Salt-N-Pepa". Which got my mind to thinking: what if she named all her chickens after rap stars? Lil' Kim? Puff Chicken? Ol' Dirty Rooster? The Notorious H.E.N.?
This still makes me chuckle. Any further chicken name suggestions can be left below.
| Chickens | Birds |
From: http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/features/fischer08212002.html
[selected excerpts]
According to a study by researchers at the Harvard Graduate School of Education (HGSE) and Brandeis University, one of the greatest predictors of violence and aggression in children is their level of inhibition or social withdrawal.
"Inhibition stood alone as the one personality characteristic that predicted aggression, which suggests possible connections with the isolated, alienated children who have committed school attacks," says Fischer.
Fischer and Watson also expected to find that demographic and socio-economic factors such as race, ethnicity, gender, and socioeconomic status would lead to aggression, as earlier studies had indicated; instead, they found that these factors had little influence in whether or not a child became violent later in life. "The standard stuff in the literature suggests that poor kids, kids from discriminated-against groups, and boys are more likely to be aggressive, but our findings don't support this," adds Fischer.
"We were startled with the results because many people believed that high inhibition would accompany low aggression," says Watson. "We found just the opposite. The more inhibited kids are, the more likely they are to be aggressive." Inhibited children in this study were characterized as socially withdrawn, uncomfortable or distressed in new situations, and anxious about making new friends or trying new activities. Examples of aggressive behavior included fighting and lashing out at their peers both physically and verbally, insulting them, hitting and pushing them, attacking them with weapons, and, in extreme cases, criminal aggression, including murder.
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Chance that Dog Day Afternoon would be on our Netflix queue: 75% (A classic 70s film that neither of us have seen? Pretty likely it would end up in the queue.)
x
Chance that any particular movie in our queue would be in our posession: 2.5% (Figuring 4 movies at a time / ~ 160 movies in queue.)
x
Chance that on a given date, we are watching a rented movie: 14% (We watch about one per week.)
x
Chance that a given Netflix DVD in our posession is chosen: 20% (Four movies would make 25%, adjusted downward for possibility of using local rental or movie in our collection.)
=
Chance that we happen to watch Dog Day Afternoon exactly 30 years after the bank robbery it depicts took place in Brooklyn: 0.05%
| Brooklyn |
... in the New York Times today: A Nation of Bloggers.
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Take the quiz and find out your environmental impact. (It's at the BBC, so if you need to do some metric conversion, I found this to be useful). I compare favorably with the rest of the US — my "environmental footprint" is 3.8 global hectares compared with 9.7 in the rest of the nation — but most of that, I suspect, is due to living in New York City, with heavy reliance on public transportation and small living spaces. Belonging to the Park Slope Food Coop doesn't hurt, either.
But still, where are we going to get those extra 1.1 planets?
Link via Ye Olde Phart
| Quiz |
Kermitage. Via Pop Culture Junk Mail.
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So a ways back I emailed the good folks at Netflix with the following idea: why not make one's rental queue, history, ratings, etc. available for export to one's blog? Bloggers, after all, are more likely to generate referrals than a static page, and some of them write about what movies they see, and here's this content already sitting there, so why not make it exportable? Unfortunately, they never responded. And now Ben of Movable Type has gone and created a scraper program! Yay! But I'm not a Movable Type user and it only works as an MT plugin. Boo. (You can see it in action at dollarshort.org, with a discussion on it here.)
So here's the question: should I move over to MT? I've been very happy with Blogger thus far. But what Blogger really needs is a way to categorize posts, and arrange archives according to categories as well as date. (Note to self: have not updated the subject index for several months, as it must be done by hand....) Right now, the most recent post is always the most important -- but what if you're not interested in this topic, and want to read about politics or music or whatever? How can you browse for what you're interested in? It just can't be done with Blogger (or even BloggerPro, which can create titles for indexing, but doesn't seem to have categories in the works).
So, has anyone out there made the leap to MT? Is it worth it? Can I do it without a degree in programming? Or should I just try to convince Trip to write a Netflix scraper instead? (Heh.)
By the by, here's the last few movies we've rented:
From Russia With Love, 1963
Stolen Kisses, 1968
Amarcord, 1974
Grand Illusion, 1938
Pride and Prejudice Vol. 1, 1995
Pride and Prejudice Vol. 2, 1995
Cowboy Bebop 5, 1999
Dr. No, 1962
The Misfits, 1961
The Best Years of Our Lives, 1946
| Movable Type |
August 4, 2002
6:15 a.m. at the Cape Arundel Golf Club, prior to a round of golf
Good morning. I'm distressed to hear about the latest suicide bombers in Israel. For those who yearn for peace in the Middle East, for those in the Arab lands, for those in Europe, for those all around the world who yearn for peace, we must do everything we possibly can to stop the terror.
There are a few killers who want to stop the peace process that we have started, and we must not let them. For the sake of humanity, for the sake of the Palestinians who suffer, for the sake of the Israelis who are under attack, we must stop the terror.
I call upon all nations to do everything they can to stop these terrorist killers.
Thank you.
Now watch this drive.
via Ftrain
| Sports | Middle East | Golf | Terrorism |
fontomas has some new fonts up -- for a limited time.
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Ishbadiddle's guide to occasional music.
LISTen up! is back! In which, one of our guests selects a music-listening occasion, gives his or her top music list (singles, albums, box sets, EPs, whatever) and suggests a new category.
This week's guest: Liz maryland Hiraldo
Music occasion: Music for road trips
Let's Go for a Ride | The Collegians | The Doo-Wop Era - Harlem, N.Y.: 40 Hits
Behind the Wheel | Depeche Mode | Music for the Masses
Drive | the Cars | Heartbeat City
Rockin' Down the Highway | Doobie Brothers | Toulouse Street
Route 66 | Depeche Mode | Music for the Masses (i know, i know, depeche mode didn't write this one but i like their version)
Lost Highway | Hank Williams | Ultimate Collection
Devil in My Car | B-52's | Wild Planet
Radar Love | Golden Earring | The Continuing Story of Radar Love
Highway Patrol | Junior Brown | Guit With It
I Drove All Night | Cyndi Lauper | Twelve Deadly Cyns
Motel | David Bowie | Outside
Running on Empty | Jackson Browne | Running on Empty
Gasoline Alley | Rod Stewart | Storyteller: The Complete Anthology
and last but not least,
Road Trippin' | Red Hot Chili Peppers | Californication
Liz's new categories: Music for a Summer Heat Wave
Music for a Rainy Afternoon (I can already see it, Here comes the rain, its raining men, who'll stop the rain...)
Other categories:
Music for Practicing Your Dance Moves In Front of the Mirror
Music for Giving To Someone Who Knows Nothing About Jazz
Music You Haven't Heard But Should
Music for Playing After Sex
If you'd like to be a guest LISTener, or suggest a category, email me or leave a comment.
| Lists | LISTen Up! | Cars |
picture by Frank H. Jump
Some beautiful pictures of old painted ads at the Fading Ad Campaign site. I've always wanted to photograph these myself but I'm glad someone else has. Read the photographer's page on how he started this as a response to being HIV+.
| New York City | Photography | History | AIDS |
Did you know that exports from the New York Metropolitan Area to Poland have dropped 72% since 1993? These and other fun facts can be found at the handy government export statistics site, which I found uncynically referenced at American Cynic.
| Trade | New York City |
Picking a movie is more difficult these days. With Ben around, our ability to just up and run to the movies is severely curtailed. Now we have to line up babysitters, make sure the movie time jibes with Ben's bedtime, etc. Our last attempt (mibII) was a disaster; clearly we had to pick better this time.
"Goldmember"? Comedies are ususally better with an audience -- but it had the possibility of being disappointingly dumb. "Spy Kids 2"? Loved the first one -- but we loved MIB too, and hated MIB 2. Plus, it would probably play OK on the small screen. Small spies and all that. So we settled on "Signs". Haven't missed with M. Night yet.
So: Signs. You've seen the previews so you know the setup: Mel Gibson defends his family farm from the occupying British soldiers. No wait, that was The Patriot. Aliens -- it's aliens this time.
That's part of the movie's point -- it's not really about an alien invasion. "The aliens were a Macguffin," Debbie pronounced as we left the theater. Like he did in Unbreakable and Sixth Sense, MNS uses the supernatural as an occasion to examine the human condition.
One of the early shots in the farmhouse shows a blank spot on the wall where a crucifix once was. Hess (Gibson's character) is an ex-minister who has suffered tragedy in his family and turned his back on God. The appearance of crop circles in his backyard, the signs of the coming alien invasion -- they're occasions for Hess to ask himself, "does everything happen for a reason?" Anyone who's had someone close to them die has asked the same question. They've probably also had people tell them that everything, including death, does happen for a reason. That gives some people comfort, and makes other people angry. Hess is angry at God. ("I hate you!" he yells at one point when another family member's life is threatened, and it's clear Whom he's addressing). While the Test of Faith movie has been made many times, Signs is about Hess's Test of Faithlessness.
(Incidentally, we saw this right after renting "Serendipity", which asks the same question in romantic-comedy mode. Coincidence? I don't think so....)
The acting, by the way, is great. There are a couple of moments where Gibson breaks out of the strong-silent-suffering mask -- one where he confronts MNS's character, another at a family dinner -- that are really powerful. Cherry Jones deserves a Two Minute Oscar for her role as the local cop. And the kids are really quite good. (Abigail Breslin as the daughter reminded me of Drew Barrymore in ET and Heather O'Rourke in Poltergeist.)
Don't go into this movie expecting Independence Day. Or even expecting The Sixth Sense. (Everyone seems to expect that all of MNS's movies will now have a Big Twist at the end). It's a mediocre science fiction movie, a good suspense movie, and a great family drama.
| M. Night Shyamalan |
I usually don't do these. But Spike is so cool. Liz sent this over (she's Spike too!)
| Anime | Cowboy Bebop |
In Which We Are Introduced to Winnie-the-Pooh and Some Lawyers
| Disney |
Evidently, if you're a Florida woman who wants to put her baby up for adoption, you've got to take out an ad in the paper in order to attempt to notify the father, if unknown. She must not only detai where and when the birth took place, but also "must list her name, describe herself, name or describe the possible father(s) and list the date and the city or county of conception." No word on whether a scarlet "A" is required.
On the same front, an abusive boyfriend actually got a judge in Philadelphia to bar his pregnant former girlfriend from having an abortion. Fortunately the decision was overturned.
Just so we don't forget that along with corporate malfeasance and lies, civil liberties violations, and getting ready for a war without just cause, our country is still screwed up in other ways. Thanks to Angela Gunn for both these stories.
| Law | Florida | Abortion | Philadelphia |
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The incident occurred in January at the Prince of Wales pub in north London. Prosecutors told the court that Ant showed up to the bar wearing a cowboy hat and combat jacket--leading patrons to begin giggling at him and whistling the theme to the Spaghetti Western The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, Reuters reports.The 47-year-old Ant--who once sang that "ridicule is nothing to be scared of"--reportedly lost his cool and left the bar, returning a short time later with the starting gun, and threatened to shoot the patrons. He also threw a car alternator through the pub window, hitting a local musician, prosecutors said.
| Fashion |
by Ian Frazier
Laws Pertaining to DessertRead the whole Gospel According to Dad here. Thanks to Colin for the link!
For we judge between the plate that is unclean and the plate that is clean, saying first, if the plate is clean, then you shall have dessert. But of the unclean plate, the laws are these: If you have eaten most of your meat, and two bites of your peas with each bite consisting of not less than three peas each, or in total six peas, eaten where I can see, and you have also eaten enough of your potatoes to fill two forks, both forkfuls eaten where I can see, then you shall have dessert. But if you eat a lesser number of peas, and yet you eat the potatoes, still you shall not have dessert; and if you eat the peas, yet leave the potatoes uneaten, you shall not have dessert, no, not even a small portion thereof. And if you try to deceive by moving the potatoes or peas around with a fork, that it may appear you have eaten what you have not, you will fall into iniquity. And I will know, and you shall have no dessert.On Screaming
Do not scream; for it is as if you scream all the time. If you are given a plate on which two foods you do not wish to touch each other are touching each other, your voice rises up even to the ceiling, while you point to the offense with the finger of your right hand; but I say to you, scream not, only remonstrate gently with the server, that the server may correct the fault. Likewise if you receive a portion of fish from which every piece of herbal seasoning has not been scraped off, and the herbal seasoning is loathsome to you, and steeped in vileness, again I say, refrain from screaming. Though the vileness overwhelm you, and cause you a faint unto death, make not that sound from within your throat, neither cover your face, nor press your fingers to your nose. For even now I have made the fish as it should be; behold, I eat of it myself, yet do not die.
| Parenting | Ian Frazier |
Noelle Bush gets rehab, the poor and black get hard time
Fed up with draconian drug penalties, a coalition led by angry mothers is threatening to overturn some of the country's harshest laws.
Interesting Salon piece on the Rockefeller Drug laws. NS sent it over.
| Law |
Nancy sent this over. "Granola" is my favorite one.
You live in California when...
1. You make over $250,000 and you still can't afford to buy a house.
2. The high school quarterback calls a time-out to answer his cell phone.
3. The fastest part of your commute is going down your driveway.
4. You know how to eat an artichoke.
5. You drive your rented Mercedes to your neighborhood block party.
6. When someone asks you how far something is, you tell them how long it
will take to get there rather than how many miles away it is.
You live in New York City when...
1. You say "the city" and expect everyone to know you mean Manhattan.
2. You have never been to the Statue of Liberty or the Empire State Building.
3. You can get into a four-hour argument about how to get from Columbus
Circle to Battery Park, but can't find Wisconsin on a map.
4. You think Central Park is "nature."
5. You believe that being able to swear at people in their own language makes you multi-lingual.
6. You've worn out a car horn.
7. You think eye contact is an act of aggression.
You live in upstate New York when...
1. You only have four spices: salt, pepper, ketchup, and Tabasco.
2. Halloween costumes fit over parkas.
3. You have more than one recipe for moose.
4. Sexy lingerie is anything flannel with less than eight buttons.
5. The four seasons are: winter, still winter, almost winter, and construction.
You live in the Deep South when...
1. You can rent a movie and buy bait in the same store.
2. "ya'll" is singular and "all ya'll" is plural.
3. After five years you still hear, "You ain't from 'round here, are Ya?"
4. "He needed killin' " is a valid defense.
5. Everyone has 2 first names: Billy Bob, Jimmy Bob, Mary Sue, Betty Jean, etc.
You live in Colorado when...
1. You carry your $3,000 mountain bike atop your $500 car.
2. You tell your husband to pick up Granola on his way home and he stops at the day care center.
3. A pass does not involve a football or dating.
4. The top of your head is bald, but you still have a pony tail.
You live in the Midwest when...
1. You've never met any celebrities, but the mayor knows your name.
2. Your idea of a traffic jam is ten cars waiting to pass a tractor.
3. You have had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" on the same day.
4. You end sentences with a preposition: "Where's my coat at?"
5. When asked how your trip was to any exotic place, you say, "It was different!"
You live in Florida when...
1. You eat dinner at 3:15 in the afternoon.
2. All purchases include a coupon of some kind - even houses and cars.
3. Everyone can recommend an excellent dermatologist.
4. Road construction never ends anywhere in the state.
5. Cars in front of you are often driven by headless people.
| California | New York City | Florida | Colorado |
Capitalism DOES Have a Heart! Thanks to Sandra for the link.
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The thought of this makes me sick -- not because I think it's a bad idea, but because I was eating a fruit roll-up just before I was hit by a car when I was 8, and I can't even think about them now. Anyway, Sandra sent this in:
OK, although I came up with this idea in grade school, why isn't the patent office defending my claim??? Thank God I know people at Finnegan, Henderson here in DC.
My concept was to take a fruit roll-up and mold it into the shapes of a dinner plate, luncheon plate, bowl and cup. It would then be "wrapped" in photodegradable film laminate/plastic. That way, you could eat your meal and then eat your place setting for dessert.
Read on and have a laugh on me, courtesy of the Washington Post.
-Sandra
________________________________________
Government Develops Edible Food Wrap
AP
By Catherine Donaldson-Evans
NEW YORK - You've just finished the sandwich you packed for lunch, but instead of crumpling up the wrapping and tossing it in the trash you do something that might seem a little odd to an onlooker.
You eat it.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture is developing edible food wrap and expects it to hit grocery store shelves by the fall.
The purpose, say researchers, is to get people to eat more fruits and vegetables - five servings a day is the recommended amount - and help farmers use more of what they grow.
"Studies have shown the average American consumes only half the amount of recommended fruits and vegetables each day," said Tara McHugh, the project's research leader at the USDA's Agricultural Research Service. "We're trying to help people meet those recommendations."
That's not an easy feat in a fast-food-saturated society, but the government has good reason to believe it's necessary. Obesity is fast becoming the number one cause of preventable disease in the U.S., according to McHugh. And treating disease costs money.
"There are many reasons why we need to consume more fruits and vegetables," she said. "The products we're developing are healthful and convenient."
The wraps, which resemble a less sweet and sticky version of a fruit-rollup snack, are made from 100 percent fruit or vegetable puree.
In the development phase, researchers have created the edible films in apple, strawberry, peach, pear, mango and grape, as well as tomato, broccoli, carrot, corn and red bell pepper. McHugh doesn't know which of those flavors will ultimately be available on the market.
"We can make the films from almost any fruit or vegetable," she said. Currently, government researchers are focusing on the peach, tomato and broccoli varieties and working with a company called Aquafilm to produce and market the wraps for sale.
In its current form, the film doesn't cling tightly to the container or food it's covering. McHugh admitted that certain aspects of the product need to be perfected - including the adhesive, which can be improved by adding more sugars, she said.
But there are some things the edible film just won't be as good at as its friends Saran and Glad.
"It's never going to be as waterproof as a plastic film," she said.
McHugh envisions the wrap being sold in a roll, like plastic wrap; as a secondary wrap for food that has an ou