The menu for the G-20 Leaders’ Dinner seemed all nicely high class Canadian: Atlantic seafood, filet mignon, and artisan cheese but then I was stumped by the Nanaimo bars for dessert.  I work with a lot of Canadians and I’ve enjoyed all sorts of treats from up north (I’ve even had tourtière) but I just can’t remember if I’d had a Nanaimo bar.  It looks very familiar and I may have seen it in any number of potluck and party situations without knowing it had a Canadian origin.  Of course the best way to positively resolve this situation is to bake some myself.

Nanaimo Bars by ai.dan, on Flickr

Luke Jerram‘s beautiful glass sculptures of infectious diseases are on display in New York’s Heller Gallery through the end of July.  Here’s one from the Swine Flu series.

Jerram has brought his ideas to fruition in several mediums and environments. He designed a talking engagement ring to propose to his partner.  It has his 20 second long proposal etched into the silver surface.

Artist Jemison Faust has also been a personal organizer for over 20 years. Her latest series of paintings took inspiration from the original state of her clients’ homes when she arrived to straighten the clutter. “Before the Work Begins: Tipping Point Series” shows us the chaos of toys and other household objects along with the storage devices they’ve escaped from.  It is on view through this week at the Bromfield Gallery in Boston.

Filed under “Questions I Wish I Hadn’t Asked”: is there a Hello Kitty theme park?  Answer: Harmonyland in Kyushu, Japan.  Featuring Lovely Angel Coaster of Hello Kitty and The Time-machine of Dreams (with seats that give off scent!).  Plenty of pink shopping of course.  There’s also Sanrio Puroland in Tokyo.

A Russian warship is docked in San Francisco this week on a friendship mission. The cruiser Varyag has 16 cruise missiles, anti-submarine rockets, a tropical fish tank, and two parrots. The crew will have a cookout with the crew from the U.S. Navy’s cruiser Bunker Hill. In 1863 Czar Alexander II sent a fleet of ships to San Francisco and New York to show support for the Union in the Civil War.

In summertime, in the height of the movie season, the thoughts of nostalgic types at certain news outlets turn to the drive-in theater, a venue type that still hangs on, barely, in our HDTV, IMAX 3-D world.  The Seattle Times ran a piece on the remaining seven drive-in theaters in Washington.  In Pennsylvania the Palace Gardens Drive-In is celebrating its 60th anniversary.  Long ago they used to run “all-nighters” with movies until dawn.  The local paper in Milford, Massachusetts interviewed residents who remember fun nights watching from the car with dates or with the kids.  At the one remaining drive-in in New Jersey, the owner has just instituted a “trunk check” policy after noticing that parents have been hiding their kids in the back (seems to me this practice has been around long enough for this new rule to be prompted by the economy rather than safety as the owner claims, but perhaps the parents are also being more economical these days).  Some drive-in related websites: United Drive-In Theatre Owners Association (they list places for sale if you’re interested), Drive-In Theater, Drive-Ins.com and DriveinMovie.com.

Rescue dogs, purebreds, and mixed breeds follow their senator and congressmen owners to work on Capitol Hill, adding much needed stress relief to busy days.  They may get to sit in on high-powered meetings and get scratched behind the ears by the elite of Washington, but these dogs are just like dogs anywhere, waiting hopefully for their treats and walks.

A Subway restaurant is rising above New York along with 1 World Trade Center.  Housed in a movable pod that will move up as the skyscraper grows, the Subway franchise saves the ironworkers a trip down and back up for lunch out.  The unit also has bathrooms, a 500 gallon water tank that is refilled weekly by a tanker on a crane, and, coming soon, a great view.

Last May, Seattle Mariners’ bullpen catcher Jason Phillips noticed a woman in the stands, decided to make a move if the game went into extra innings, and ended up tossing her a baseball with his phone number written on it.  After the 15 inning game a text from Molly Ray was waiting on his phone.  They soon went out to dinner and discovered they had a lot in common.  This Sunday they are getting married at Safeco Field after the 1pm game.  Most ballpark weddings take place at home plate, but this one will be in the bullpen.  And hopefully the couple won’t take it as a bad sign if the game goes into extra innings this time.

It’s not open to the public, but employees and official visitors can enter a small museum at headquarters that houses “a remarkable collection of tools and artifacts used by the Secret Service and its foes.”  The archive includes many counterfeit $100 bills, weapons, and the window with a bullet hole from President Reagan’s limo.