I documented my then-new Gingerbread Man Soap Dispenser on The New Leaf Journal last December. I then documented my second refill of Mr. Gingerbread Man back in July. Today, it was time for re-fill three. I had some peppermint castile soap for the job, but I wanted to dilute it. In order to know how much water to add, I needed to know the volume of the soap dispenser. Fortunately, I had a good source: Me. While I did not specifically note the volume in either of my two NLJ articles, I included a photograph of the original tag in the first which noted the volume as being 10.48 oz. I was also reminded of the fact that the tag had a peppermint candy depiction for some unknown reason (the original soap smelled like gingerbread, matching the gingerbreadk man), so I do not have to feel bad about filling it with peppermint-scented soap.
Tag: anecdotes
Toys R Us Leaving Japan After 35 Years
For the past nine years, Toys R Us has been part of this category too. Even after the chain closed its last U.S. branch in 2017, Toys R Us Japan kept chugging along. Sadly, though, the company has finally reached its limit, and says that it will be leaving the Japanese market.
Back in the 90s and very early 2000s, most of my video games came from Toys ‘R Us. See, for example, my discussion in Nintendo 64 at 30 and My N64 Memories (which includes a photo of my Toys ‘R Us-sourced copy of Mario Party) and EGM’s 2001 Sega Neptune April Fools Joke (referencing the Sega 32X I received from the store). Toys ‘R Us went under in the United States in 2017, although it may be making a small comeback. I don’t recall ever having thought about Toys ‘R Us’s presence outside the United States, but I learned from a SoraNews24 article titled Toys R Us is leaving Japan after 35 years in the country that Toys ‘R Us has (soon had) a notable presence in Japan. From the article:
Since arriving in the country in 1991, it’s grown to approximately 150 stores across the country and currently employs a total of around 6,000 full and part-time workers.
It had a good run. While the sun sets on Toys ‘R Us in Japan, I would not mind seeing it make a successful comeback here in the United States. Good memories.
Burger King Surpasses Wendy’s
Wendy’s has lost its place as America’s runner-up to McDonald's, ending a six-year run as the second-largest burger chain, being surpassed by a resurgent Burger King.
Fox Business reported on August 9, 2026, that Burger King surpassed Wendy’s as the (distant) second largest burger chain in the United States after McDonald’s. According to the report, Wendy’s had passed Burger King in 2020 and held the runner-up spot for six years, but their fortunes have reversed:
Burger King reclaimed the No. 2 position as its U.S. turnaround gains momentum, with domestic same-store sales jumping 8.5% in the second quarter. Wendy’s, meanwhile, reported a 7% decline in U.S. same-store sales, marking its sixth consecutive quarter of contraction.
I am not sure if I have had food from America’s big three burger chains this century, but I had some when I was a kid in the 90s. There are two long-standing McDonald’s and Burger King locations in Downtown Brooklyn, the former being situated on Court Street and the latter on Fulton. There used to be a Wendy’s on Fulton, but it died off some time ago. I do recall having had Wedny’s at the former Pier 17 at South Street Seaport, as in the charming Pier 17 before New York took advantage of Hurricaine Sandy to replace it with something less than charming. Combined with Mixue report from last year and my Taco Bell coverage a few weeks ago, I am working at becoming an authority on fast food that I never eat.
Used Game Stores in an All Digital World
The second article is simply disappointing, because not only does this mean you can't own games anymore, but there are cascading impacts: it breaks the model of used video game stores (at least for modern games)...
Much digital ink has been spilled on the slow decline of physical video games (including by yours truly). In a reply post by Jake at An Almost Anonymous Blog titled The importance of owning physical (and digital) media when possible, he noted that the demise of physical games will result in the corresponding demise of used game stores for new games. That astute and correct observation made me a bit nostalgic. As I have noted elsewhere, my only home console from 1994-1998 was a Sega Genesis. Thanks to used game stores, first the great Funco Land and second Game Stop, I was able to catch up on NES, SNES, and (to a lesser extent) Sega Saturn. Moreover, having become an NBA fan in early 1997, used game stores gave me access to some of the early NBA games for Genesis.
Using AIM Until the Bitter End
Do you remember AIM? It may [surprise] you to hear that AOL’s instant [messenger] was actually supported all the way up to 2017...
Hackaday published an article authored by Tyler August titled AIM-ing For A More Open Platform Than Discord, wherein he summarized an article on running a self-hostable open-source implementation of AIM’s underlying OSCAR protocol (see Here’s how I host my own AIM server at Veronica Explains). I appreciate the project to bring back AIM because I used AIM for many years. My own use of AIM inspired me to reply to one minor part of Mr. August’s report. He began the article by asserting that “[i]t may surpri[s]e you to hear that AOL’s instant [messenger] was actually supported all the way up to 2017…” Surprise me? I will have Mr. August and everyone else know that I used AIM on the last day the service was live. Moreover, although I had been using AIM through the Trillian client since about 2011 or so, my friend and I returned to the official AIM client to see the service off. Good times, good times. I shared my AIM memories and thoughts in more detail in Recollections of the Rise, Decline, and Fall of AIM.
Pook-Emu Bee: Links For 07-01-26
I have not published “daily” Pook-Emu Bee links since June 23. But today is the start of a new month. Let us turn over a new leaf in July with the Pook-Emu Bee.
1. Nina Totenberg Sincerely Apologizes For An Inexplicable Error (Josh Blackman at The Volokh Conspiracy. June 30, 2026.)
Her explanation for falsely reporting that Justice Alito was retiring makes no sense. But then again, even given her partisan impulses (noted by Mr. Blackman in the article), it is hard to figure what the game was here.
2. Meta fights soaring hardware costs by reusing old DDR4 server memory in new DDR5-only servers — custom CXL 2.0 chip marries legacy DDR4-2400 with cutting-edge DDR5-6400 (Anton Shilov for Tom’s Hardware. June 30, 2026.)
Add “Meta has to skimp on RAM” to the reasons why my current 2020 computer build is going to have to be in it for the long haul.
3. Rejecting the Luxury of Hobbies (Ennui Vagaries. June 30, 2026.)
This description of how the social media “influencers” treat “hobbies” sounds like what I would have expected. Of course, this is why I don’t follow the “influencers.”
4. Colo-radical: Socialist Who Called 9/11 ‘Inevitable’ Takes Down 15-Term Incumbent in Denver House Primary (Ethan Barton for The Washington Free Beacon. July 1, 2026.)
I still remember the burning smell from across the river when the Islamist terrorists she plays rhetorical footsie with (that was charitable) flew two planes into the World Trade Center. This scenario would most certainly have been difficult to explain a couple of decades ago.
5. COSMIC Desktop’s Frosted Glass Is Giving Windows Aero Vibes (Michael Larabel for Phoronix. June 2, 2026.)
I thought Vista looked decent back when I used it for a couple of years, so I am unsurprisingly not opposed to this frosted glass aesthetic.
6. America’s immigrant tech workers are paying an uncertainty tax (Ananya Bhattacharya for Rest of World. June 30, 2026.)
This article is confusing in that I can’t figure out if the author sees that the point of the now-temporarily-enjoined H-1B fee and other impending regulatory changes is to produce the outcome he is describing (granting potential disagreements on what the H-1B program is ideally for).
7. Sega’s Crazy Taxi Spins Its Wheels Thanks To Another GenAI Kerfuffle (Damien McFerran for Time Extension. June 30, 2026.)
I choose to remember Sega for inspiring me to take up video games in 1993-94.
8. Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez’s wild past of fetish parties, drugs and gruesome chicken stunt exposed (Annie Gaus for the New York Post. June 28, 2026.)
Her college life in 2012 sounds much more dramatic than mine watching Puella Magica Madoka in the Brooklyn College library with a friend. With that being said, I can look past many questionable college life choices if she manages to fix the whole blinding headlights issue.
9. Two new Casio Vintage watches with step tracker, bluetooth on their way (Anubhav Sharma for Notebook Check. June 29, 2026.)
I might be interested if they work with Gadgetbridge. My atomic non-smart watch is a Casio and I am a fan.
Cabbage Sorter’s Review of Shiki (Anime)
I had Shiki on hold since 2013 ... When I first watched it, I couldn't get past the hair, it was too much. It wasn't just the hairstyles though, I clearly remember feeling overwhelmed by a gazillion characters being introduced at a lightning pace and that was also too much. I'm not immune to propaganda however, and after seeing a few positive reviews about it in quick succession I finally picked it back up again. And I really loved it!
I follow the excellent Cabbage Sorter blog for fun articles about and reviews of anime, manga, and novels (not to mention entertaining posts on other subjects). Here, she reviewed the 2010 anime version of Shiki, which is an adaptation of a serialized horror novel of the same name. She notes that she first tried to watch it in 2013 before dropping it and picking it up again in 2026. 2010 was the first year I recall watching anime simulcasts, but I missed Shiki at the time. I picked it up well after it first aired (I want to say 2019-20). I was persuaded because (1) I saw it on Crunchyroll, (2) I saw it had decent reviews, and (3) it dawned on me that I have not seen many anime in the horror genre. On the whole, I agree with Cabbage that it is a solid anime and largely succeeds in “not taking itself way too seriously” while nevertheless being grim and violent. I am not sure that my assessment would be quite as positive as her’s, but I would rate Shiki as the sort of anime that could have appeal to some potential anime viewers who like its genre and niche but do not have any other experience with or interest in anime as a medium (I may have included it as an additional recommendation in my 2020 article recommending anime from that decade for general audiences had I not opted for the 1-to-0 decade).
Learning About Preserving Strawberry Freshness
I try my best to stick to the grocery list but this was a really good deal for strawberries. I did that thing mixing 1 part white vinegar and 3 parts water, soak for 10 minutes and dry thoroughly to extend their freshness.
I came across a blog post by Chris Glass titled Strawberries were on sale. Having not long ago published an article about once purchasing out-of-season cherries on sale. I had to open. While Mr. Glass’ post came as advertised, I found a tip. After purchasing his for-sale strawberries, he soaked them in one part white vinegar and three parts water for 10 minutes to “extend their freshness.” I have found that the appearance of strawberries deteriorates quickly, so I will have to study this method. Alas, the strawberries at Mr. Beet, where I purchased by cheap winter cherries (and just this week purchased more relatively cheap cherries) was $7 per box. So my experiment will have to wait.
Pook-Emu Bee: Links For 05-01-26
We welcome May with a new edition of the daily Pook-Emu Bee links (after a spotty week). It looks nice outside my window…
1. Stripe introduces Link, a digital wallet that autonomous AI agents can use, too (Sarah Perez for TechCrunch. April 30, 2026.)
While this is certainly exciting, I would suggest considering not allowing “autonomous AI agents” to make purchases on your behalf.
2. Pirate RPG game is secretly looting your SSD lifespan — new Windrose patch promises smoother sailing and addresses excessive disk writing (Aaron Klotz for Tom’s Hardware. April 30, 2026.)
It wasn’t looting my SSD lifespan…
3. Nexon CEO says “it’s important to assume every game company is using AI” following Arc Raiders debate (Sophie McEvoy for Games Industry.biz. November 12, 2025.)
See what I just did here with this expert link placement?
4. Republicans Shouldn’t Kill the Dignity Act—They Should Make it Tougher (Daniel Di Martino for City Journal. May 1, 2026.)
There are a number of problems with this argument. But the most basic problem is that “mak[ing] it tougher” would “kill” it. Thus, I would humbly suggest staying the course.
5. cPanel, WHM emergency update fixes critical auth bypass bug (Bill Toulas for cPanel. April 29, 2026.)
NLJ’s server used cPanel back when it was on Bluehost. But I moved NLJ more than four years ago. Joke is on you, hackers.
6. Statement from New York State Education Department Spokesperson JP O’Hare (JP O’Hare for the New York State Education Department. April 29, 2026.)
As a one-time test proctor, may I suggest just having kids take tests in person at the school buildings my tax money is paying for?
7. The Art Deco beauty of Bloomingdale’s 59th Street streamlined and stylized elevators (Ephemeral New York. November 10, 2025.)
I only went to the 59th Street Bloomingdale’s once. That trip was documented in NLJ. I did use the elevators because all of the cow statues were on the first floor.
(HT Ambient Irony for links 2 and 5.)
Remembering My Clamshell Landline Phone
If you grew up in the 1980s, there's a decent chance you had a novelty telephone in your home — one shaped like a football, a hamburger, or perhaps a cartoon character.
Dan Lewis’ April 21, 2026 “Now I Know” newsletter covered the subject of Garfield (the comic cat) phones washing up in France. It is a good (and well-sourced) story, but here I will focus on his opening sentence: “If you grew up in the 1980s, there’s a decent chance you had a novelty telephone in your home — one shaped like a football, a hamburger, or perhaps a cartoon character.” While I was technically born in the 80s, I grew up in the 90s. Nevertheless, I do remember at least one novelty phone. For some time in the second-half of the 90s around when we acquired a still-working Newpoint Switcher 2000 Plus, we had a clamshell (as in it looked like a sea shell, not just how it opened) land-line phone that opened up to reveal the speaker and number pad. I remember it in part because I know it was our phone for at least part of the time we had AOL dial-up internet (related: see a thing I learned recently about MSN dial-up). Regarding Mr. Lewis’ opening line, I will submit that while I never had a football-shaped phone, I did have a stuffed-football-shaped universal remote from RadioShack (that was in the early-to-mid 2000s).
New Victor V. Gurbo Podcast Interview
And I don't play things the way that they are written to which I go back to a Dylan quote where he said, I never play my songs the same way twice. ' cause I can either remember, nor am I good enough to play them the same way over and over again. But I'll listen to a song and I'll go, oh, that's really neat. Let me try to figure out if I can cover that.
-Victor V. Gurbo
My good friend Victor V. Gurbo (who has written some articles for NLJ) was interviewed by Charles Zona for an episode of Seeing Them Live With Charles Zona. I read the interview transcript, but you can listen to the full 1 hour podcast if you prefer listening to reading. Victor covers many topics, beginning with his childhood memories of seeing live music for the first time and concluding with some notes about his current music projects. In between, you will hear some stories I recall from the past, including winning the Brooklyn section of NPR’s Battle of the Boroughs contest in 2013, going to a Jack White concert only for Jack White to leave early (he was very happy about that), and his waiting for a custom guitar he ordered that was always slated to be done by the end of the month (which month?). For even more about Victor and his music, you can read my article based on a text-interview I conducted with him last October.
Joke is on the Crunchyroll Hackers
Crunchyroll is investigating a potential hack which may have led to the exposure of customer email addresses. As readers of my anime writing on NLJ may know, I am a Crunchyroll subscriber (I have been a paying subscriber since 2016 and have had a free account since ~2010-11). I now laugh. Joke’s on the hackers. My Crunchyroll account email is a SimpleLogin alias and I pay my annual subscription with a (now-deleted) virtual debit card from Privacy[dot]com.
Jeff Green’s Career-High 43 on 03-18-13
In their absence, Jeff Green had one of the best games of his career, scoring 43 points.
Brian Windhorst for ESPN wrote 27 straight wins: The most dominant stretch of LeBron James’ career, revisiting the 27-game winning streak of the 2012-13 Miami Heat. I followed the NBA closely that year and for that reason remembered a specific game discussed in the article between the Heat and the Boston Celtics (which was my favorite team) on March 18, 2023. Mr. Windhorst noted that the Celtics were missing Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo, but Jeff Green picked up the slack for the injury-depleted Celtics:
In their absence, Jeff Green had one of the best games of his career, scoring 43 points.
I remember this game not for the Heat’s winning streak, but instead for Jeff Green’s 43-point explosion. I will go one step further than Mr. Windhorst and opine that this game was almost certainly Mr. Green’s best performance in his now 17-year NBA career (he is currently a member of the Houston Rockets). His career-high 43 points came on very efficient shooting splits (14-21 from the floor, 5-7 from three, and 10-13 from the free throw line) and he added 7 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 2 steals. He turned the ball over just twice and posted a career-best game score of 38.6. Interestingly, while I would have remembered the “Jeff Green” game and the fact the Celtics lost if I had to answer without the benefit of the article, I did not recall that the game occurred toward the end of Miami’s historic winning streak.
Pook-Emu Bee: Links For 03-18-26
I continue my perfect daily Pook-Emu Bee links stretch. If you enjoy the (almost) daily links and commentary, you can also follow via feed.
1. Japanese onsen egg maker from 100-yen store Daiso needs to be on your shopping list (Oona McGee for SoraNews24. March 18, 2026.)
It sounds like a great deal on paper but the hidden costs caution me, a resident of Brooklyn, New York City, from pulling the trigger.
2. Rune Factory, Story Of Seasons 20th Anniversary Site Updated With Illustrations, Popularity Polls (Orpheus Joshua for Noisy Pixel. March 17, 2026.)
I thought to myself “it doesn’t feel like 20 years.” To be fair to me, the first Rune Factory did not make it state-side until 2007, so I was right in a way. 2027 project in store?
3. Man shot in the leg overnight in Boerum Hill (News 12. March 18, 2026.)
Two days ago, I complainted that a story about swastika graffiti incorrectly placed the incident in Brooklyn Heights. Today, I must inform News 12 that no reasonable construction of “Boerum Hill” includes 3rd Avenue (I am glad to read the victim is “expected to reover”).
4. The “RAMpocalyse” Forces Retroid To Temporarily Discontinue One Handheld And Hike The Price Of Another (Damien McFerran for Time Extension. March 18, 2026.)
My take-away from this article was the $4,299 AYANEO Next.
5. Would John Roberts Have Become Chief Justice If He Was Confirmed To The D.C. Circuit in 1992? (Josh Blackman at The Volokh Conspiracy. March 17, 2026.)
While I agree with Mr. Blackman that John Roberts would have probably not become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court had his first nomination to D.C. Circuit been successful, I think there is a decent chance he would have still been a “candidate” for one of the openings under George W. Bush.
6. When Deron Williams boldly proclaimed he was the best point guard in the league (Peter Sunjic for Basketball Network. November 12, 2025.)
Mr. Williams was at no point the “best” point guard in the NBA. But I would be comfortable placing him third for most if not all of his best three-season stretch from 2007-08 through 2009-10 (behind Messrs. Chris Paul and Steve Nash).
7. BLOB DYLAN Board in Williamsburg (Nicholas A. Ferrell at The New Leaf Journal. March 16, 2026.) & Sharing a Stuffed Bird Rescue Story (Nicholas A. Ferrell at The New Leaf Journal. March 17, 2026.)
You may wonder how my two newest articles could possibly be related given their headlines. Answer: They are centered on photos taken one hour apart, and the first led into the second.
Mid-March Snow in Brooklyn (2021 and 2026)
As I was walking in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn New York, I noticed small, dust-sized white particles falling sporadically from the sky. After about 30 seconds I was satisfied that I was not hallucinating – it was in fact snowing.
At about 4:00 PM on March 12, 2026, a friend of mine who lines nearby in Brooklyn sent me a message on Delta Chat: it’s snowing. I turned my head to the right to look out my window. Indeed, it was snowing. The snow would stop and start again. As of 5:12 PM, it is not snowing. This snow in March reminded me of an article I published on NLJ five years ago titled A Brief Mid-March Snow in Brooklyn. Then, like today, snow unexpectedly fell from the sky in March. While I remembered writing the article and where I was when it had snowed, I forgot one detail:
After temperatures flirted with 70 degrees over the weekend, they plummeted to highs in the mid-30s on Tuesday, March 16, 2021. While the temperatures were as low as I expected from having read the weather reports, I had not expected snow.
We just came off clearing 60 on four consecutive days, just clearing 80 on Tuesday the 10th. It was still close to 60 when I walked home last night from a show by the distinguished Victor V. Gurbo. But at the time of snow, the temperature was around 40. Today’s snow was a little bit heavier than the snow of March 16, 2021, which I would have almost certainly missed entirely had I not been outside at the time, but between the unexpected snow after a warm stretch following an unusually snowy December-February (see some of my snow photo articles from 2020 and 2026), we can say that history rhymes.