Farkleberries offers our heartiest congratulations to the University of Chicago's Prof. Roger Myerson on winning this year's Nobel Prize in Economics, jointly with Prof. Eric Maskin and Prof. Leonid Hurwicz.



My apologies for the slightly blurry photo taken at this morning's press conference at Mandel Hall, but it was the best I could do without flash. From left: Prof. James Heckman (won the Nobel Prize in Economics 2000), Prof. Roger Myerson, Prof. Gary Becker (1992), and Prof. Robert Lucas (1995). Missing is Prof. Robert Fogel, who won the prize in 1993.

Strange to come to work with news crews waiting outside the Prof's door, awaiting the newly announced laureate's arrival. Even stranger is the fact the University's Department of Economics now has five - count them, five - current Nobel prize winners (not counting professors passed on, or emeriti). Five laureates out of 38 active faculty members means...13.2 percent of our department has won the Nobel Prize. That's just kind of...extraordinary.

It's not often I click advertising links that appear in the margins of my Gmail account, but this one (in all Japanese characters) intrigued me...after all, how I could I not wonder which of the key words in my otherwise innocuous English email generated a Japanese ad?



Behold...SOBAPUNK. Exactly what it sounds like. It's food...it's fashion! T-Shirts with cute skull-and-crossbones logos, piles of noodles with "punk"-style shredded laver seaweed pieces on top. Click on the link and you'll see their catchy motto:

HEALTHY PUNK LIFE
SOBAPUNK NOODLES = BUCKWHEAT GREEN TEA TASTE NOODLES
Opening Special: Buy Punk T-Shirts Get One Free SOBAPUNK Noodle!!!!

ONE Free Noodle?!?! Now, that's punk.

The 'user comments' are choice:

A healthy alternative...and it tastes great! Celo
Sobapunk is an amazing product. Besides being cleverly packaged with distinguishable and hip artwork; sobapunk noodles are a great tasting and healthy alternative to junkfood. It compliments a variety of condiments and is very satisfying. My first experience with it left me craving for more! Gotta have my sobapunk!

This is Real Japanese taste Raichu
A friend of mine gave me 1 pack of Soba Punk. I followed the instruction to cock cold soba. I don’t think it’s difficult to cock if you follow the instruction. That was very helpful. And the most importantly, taste was amazingly great

Or, would that be "cold-cocked" soba?