When I was at the mall last week, I responded to a survey about my frozen-waffle-eating habits. I was given a box of frozen waffles (and $2 for my trouble) to eat and report back to the research organization. I wrote a full report over on Digest.

I've created an Applescript Folder Action that will mirror the contents of a local folder to a server folder using Transmit. Directions for using the script are in a ReadMe file included with the script. Download the script (8k).

If you like it (or not), please let me know via a comment to this entry.

Today I went in search of the Adult Swim offices. I had looked at the location on the map the night before and knew the cross streets when I set out. I learned my lesson last time, so I was going to double-check the location before I left the house, but my internet connection was malfunctioning.

I got off the train at N4:Midtown and proceeded west to Spring Street. Following Spring St. south, I should have run into 12th Ave. The first numbered street I remember seeing was 6th St. "Hm," I thought, "perhaps there's a difference between streets and avenues." I walked a couple more blocks and realized that I had thought wrong. I walked east one block to Williams Street (Hence the name of the Adult Swim production company) and proceeded north. The street was running parallel to the interstate, and seemed to end at a on/off ramp not much farther beyond 8th Street. At this point, the heat and humidity were sapping my energy like Death to inattentive Gauntlet players -- Curt needs food... badly.

Upon returning home, I checked the map to see how close I was. It turns out the street didn't end where I thought -- it was just some heat exhaustion-induced mirage -- and I was only about a 1/3 mile away. I'll have to try again another day.

I spent some time at the World of Coca-Cola today. I learned a lot about the origin and development of the world's number one soft drink. For instance: In the early days of the product, a high sales day was nine glasses.

When the president of Coca-Cola, Asa Candler, was approached with the idea of selling the soft-drink in bottles, he didn't think it would work, so he sold the bottling rights for $1. The bottlers then bought the syrup and proceded to make a significant amount of money.

Coca-Cola was (one of) the first global brands. They had bottlers in several countries by the 1920s. The company is the longest continuous sponsor of the Olympic Games, and currently sponsors numerous other events world-wide, including World Cup Soccer (The World Cup Italy mascot is shown here). It wasn't until the mid 1900s that Coca-Cola trademarked, and began using, it's shortened name, Coke.

The coolest parts of the World of Coca-Cola, though, are the tasting rooms. One room contains domestic beverages including Coke, Sprite, Barq's and several others. The other room contains Coke beverages from around the world. I tried a watermelon drink from China that was... interesting. There was a tour group of kids so I couldn't reasonably muscle my way back to the tasting fountain to try other drinks, like lychee nut.

Bibo is a boxed drink sold in Africa, but the box is shaped like the frozen treats that used to come with my elementary school lunches. I'm not sure where you'd puncture the straw into these triangular forms.

Like any attraction worth its price of admission, the World of Coca-Cola tour ends in a gift shop where you can buy all sorts of Coke-branded merchandise from t-shirts and hats to ice-cream scoops and alarm clocks. I managed to escape with the contents of my wallet in tact, but other visitors weren't so lucky. The World of Coca-Cola is definitely worth visiting if you're ever in Atlanta, especially since you can make up the $7 admission by drinking as much soda as you want in the tasting rooms.

Taken in a MARTA station on my way home from a recent excursion.

This flash project, takes a surreal look at an abandoned hospital. Make sure you have some time to look at all the rooms and explore the sublime environments.

A Chilling Effect?, which has already won awards at the Online News Association and the Society of Professional Journalists Region 10 convention, is a finalist in three categories for awards from the SPJ National Convention in September.

After my shift ended last night, I went to a party with some co-workers. We hung out outside (it was probably around 72 F, and there were no threat of thunderstorms) and chilled out. What really stands out in my mind, though, was seeing fireflies for the first time ever (high five). There was something watching the light fly around then turn off, and trying to guess where it would come back on was very surreal.

Today I visited the Varsity and had my first Slaw Dogs of 2004 (high five!). The Varsity was featured in The Hot Dog Program which has aired on PBS stations around the country. A Slaw Dog is pretty simple -- hot dog + cole slaw -- and very good. The building is very unique. It's like a diner collided with a school. There are different rooms in which to sit and eat, and the seating units are school-desks. Although I only saw a third of the interior, so other areas may have different furnishings.

A co-worker invited me to tonight's showdown between the Marlins of Florida and the Braves of Atlanta. We had amazing seats: second row, right next to the dugout (high five). The game was kind of a wash -- Braves won 9-1 -- but it was fun to be inside Turner Field and watch a professional sporting event. I wrote some more about it over at True Fan, if you're interested. Oh, that's not my photo, although if I hadn't left my camera in the car, I probably could have gotten a shot like that from where I was sitting, it's from atlantabraves.com.