Why the terrorists hate us this week: Barkitecture

About once a week, the New York Times publishes a piece that makes me want to punch everyone involved in the face. This week's comes courtesy of the Homes section, which has a big feature on luxury doghouses that cost upwards of $25 000:

Traditionally, doghouses were where dogs actually lived, separate from the family. But now that dogs are increasingly considered members of the family, their homes are becoming more like second homes — and in some cases, they’re entirely ornamental. Sure, there are still plenty of doghouses built for dogs to live in. But there are also an impressive number built the way Christian Louboutin makes shoes: you can walk in them (sort of), but clearly that’s not the point.

Read the whole thing. Try not to kill anyone. 

Is foodie-ism a horse race or a dog show?

Someone tweeted this link about the evolution of foodieism out of French nouvelle cuisine. I'm not really sure I understand it, but the argument seems to be something like this: Nouvelle cuisines became like a horse race -- about breeding the biggest and best horse on the field. In contrast, there is the dog show conception of success:

“Best in show” is rooted in standards of authenticity – i.e., the best representation of a type. Increasingly, foodie culture in the U.S. and other parts of the world has begun to adhere to these “best in show” standards as they seek for authentic representations of food.

I'm not really sure I understand this.