From the NY Times…

To the Editor:

I see little to celebrate in the 100-year anniversary of the New York subway system. We are still paying higher fares, and the train I ride most frequently, the F, is frequently rerouted on weekends and late nights for ostensible construction, while I haven't seen any discernible improvement in service in the last eight years.

The terrible shrieking brakes only become more shrill, the station platforms are often filthy with decades of caked chewing gum, the announcements are often undecipherable because of faulty audio equipment, various peddlers are permitted to roam the cars freely harassing passengers, and the newer trains run only on a few lines.

The subway systems in Paris and Toronto are far superior, as is the Metro in Washington. One might as well celebrate the precarious hundred-year-old plumbing or electrical wiring in one's brownstone.

Eric W. Kuns
Brooklyn, Oct. 27, 2004

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In other news:

1. I recently dusted off the old Guns N' Roses "Use Your Illusion" albums, and dammit if Shannon Hoon and Axl Rose weren't the greatest vocal duo since the Righteous Brothers. Now, in a bit of cosmic alignment, Copy, Right has posted a cover of Mogwai doing "Don't Cry," from the beloved Peel Sessions. They get points for the effort.

2. Go try to make friends with Tara Reid's top-heavy sister. Here's her Friendster profile.

3. He's not in Maroon 5. But his name is Adam Levine. This is his story. (via Coolfer)