Serge the Concierge

What Size and Shape is your Cucumber? European Union Lets Love Rule

Should Greek cucumbers be identical twins to Irish ones or strawberries from Brittany be the same as those from Catalonia?

The European Union decided to take the corset off its regulations as to what shape of form 36 categories of fruits and vegetables should be size and look wize.

Here's what changed on July 1, 2009 according to Knobbles and curves are back for fruit and veg by Geoff Meade (Independent, June 30):

"26 items (restrictions on shape and size repealed without qualification) - apricots, artichokes, asparagus, aubergines, avocados, beans, Brussels sprouts, carrots, cauliflower, cherries, courgettes, cucumbers, cultivated mushrooms, garlic, hazelnuts in shell, headed cabbage, leeks, melons, onions, peas, plums, ribbed celery, spinach, walnuts in shell, water melons, and witloof/chicory.

10 items (restrictions lifted subject to labelling to distinguish them from "class 1" produce) - apples, citrus fruit, kiwi fruit, lettuces, peaches/nectarines, pears, strawberries, sweet peppers, table grapes and tomatoes."

God knows what happened to the unevenly shaped produce before the Brussels crowd as voiced by agriculture commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel (pictured above) got wisdom.

What a waste as Ian Dury would have sung?

Scrabbling or Crosswordpuzzling on Sunday, Have you tried Wordnik?

Are you Scrabbling or Crosswordpuzzling on Sunday?

You might be working on a book, an essay or an online story as I am right now?

Have you tried Wordnik as your little helper?

What's it all about? It describes itself as 'an ongoing project devoted to discovering

all the words and everything about them', not as a static thing but keeping up with them as they evolve.

Quite an ambitious task it is.

It all started at TED where Erin McKean had a chance encounter with the deep pockets of Roger McNamee.

I love words, reading them, writing them, understanding them.

I can see the passion behind a venture like Wordnik yet I cannot quite figure how it could become a money maker.

Maybe it is just treated as a worthy cause by its backers, the new age of enlightenment.

Found my way to Wordnik via Spinning the Web: P.R. in Silicon Valley (Claire Cain Miller, NY Times, July 5)...

Fireworks Popping In and Around Town, Happy 4th of July

I heard that some cities decided to cancel their Independence Day festivities.

Others to save money lit up the sky on Thursday, July 2nd.

Driving down the Garden State Parkway around 9:30 pm, I saw maybe 10 different locations gracing the skies with their fireworks.

The tradition is still alive.

Shouldn't we make July 4th a work free day though?

Happy 4th of July

On 4th of July, Give us Liberty, Give us French Wine suggests Inspiring Thirst

In Independence Day Wines (Inspiring Thirst, July 3), Clark takes a contrarian view on the Buy American for July 4th take.

Here is his argument:

"Why on earth would you buy a bottle of French wine to go with an Independence Day celebration? I’d argue that the first bottle you look for should be from France! I believe it was the involvement of the French Navy in the Revolutionary War that played a major factor in the U.S. sealing the deal. Also, let us not forget that it was the French who gave us the Statue of Liberty. So, clearly, we should raise a glass to the French this weekend!"

I have to disagree with him on the point of wine stores promoting American wines mainly.

I walked into one today who had a Rosé wine sale going.

They were not all French yet the French contingent was a good third of it with the Loire Valley, Provence and Languedoc being represented.

No Bandol like the La Tour du Bon 08 (pictured above) picked by Clark though.

Related: Back to the Loire, with Couly-Dutheil Chinon Rose 2008, All Cabernet Franc

When will TD Banknorth and Commerce Bank Marriage be Fully Consumed?

A man walks into a bank, this happens to be and ex-Commerce Bank branch and his nearby TD Banknorth branch was transferred there.

Problem is the computers of Commerce and TD Banknorth don't talk to each other in what is now TD Bank.

Even though the 2 entities have been together the computer systems are not integrated yet.

Man is told that his cash deposit since it is a Saturday an a holiday weekend would not be credited until the following Wednesday.

Sounds crazy, doesn't it?

It's 'America's most convenient bank' except when it comes to computer integration hiccups.

So when will TD Banknorth and Commerce Bank marriage be fully consumed?

Related: Can't Login into Your Comcast Account Equals 45 Minutes of Frustration

And from the Wall Street Journal: Ten Ways Banks Take Your Money