seatguru.com, decemberists, reagan, new computer

SeatGuru.com: the site that ensures you’re in the absolute best seat on your plane. For instance, say you’re on an American Airlines 737. Avoid Seat 9A! Noisy air-duct alert!
Another Decemberists profile, focusing on the nerdiness of their fans: “I ask [lead singer Colin] Meloy how he feels about being a heartthrob. ‘I feel great about it! I would certainly rather be that to a bunch of English majors and drama fags than a bunch of sorority girls.’ He laughs. ‘It’s one of our main m.o.’s to try to make the world safe for pansies.'”
Reagan Memories. “Once we were having a delicious dinner of fugu puffer with CIA Director Casey. As we worked our way through the non-toxic musculature, Casey noticed that the fish’s poisonous liver had been incautiously left inside by the food prep staff. (This was after President Reagan had broken the sous-chefs’ union.) I edged the liver into a napkin with my knife, but Casey, I saw, was looking on anxiously. ‘The forbidden delicacy!’ he said. ‘Let me have it!'”
Simple animation in Flash.
After over four years with the same aging desktop computer, I just bought a new one. Color me excited. But this probably means I need to change my computer naming system.
(I am not one of those people who names his car. Actually, I don’t believe I’ve ever met someone who names “his” car. “Her” car, yes, but not the hombres. Anyway, I am, however, a computer namer.)
My current setup is based on characters from A Confederacy of Dunces, one of my very favorite books. Ignatius is the dear ol’ desktop; its two other internal hard drives are Jones and Gonzales; Myrna’s my iPod; Dorian is my workhorse MP3-holding external Firewire drive; Claude is my portable Firewire drive; Santa Battaglia is my PowerBook; and Miss Trixie (an old iBook) and Mancuso (an old Firewire drive) are both now living happily in new homes.
(Yes, a significant portion of my disposable income goes to computer gear. I figure I could be blowing all that cash on crackwhores and heroin, so geek toys are a worthwhile alternative.)
Anyway, so Trixie and Mancuso are gone, and Ignatius and Gonzales will also hit the road shortly (to their retirement home in Louisiana). Even though some of the others will still be hanging around, it’s probably time for a new naming schema. Some possibilities:
– Small Louisiana towns: Mamou, Eunice, Rayne, Hackberry, Catahoula, Duson, Iota, Ville Platte.
– One-word bands: Spoon, Sloan, Calexico, Morphine, Quasi, Seam, Superchunk, Devo, Sebadoh.
– Noted journalists: Bradlee, Murrow, Mencken, Cronkite, Hersh, Breslin, Royko, Kempton.
– Paris Metro stops: Champs Elysees, Bastille, Bourse, Ch. De Gaulle, Les Halles
– Former North Carolina Tar Heels: Chilcutt, Forte, Glamack, Jamison, Lynch, Kupchak, Salvadori.
– New Orleans Saints greats: Hebert, Manning, Abramowicz, Kilmer, Gajan, Waymer.
All ideas welcome.