The week of May 5, 2014 was: remembering that Paul Rudd was the bat mitzvah DJ for our friend Gabrielle Birkner of Modern Loss, tiny hamsters eating tiny burritos, and trying to find direct flights from JFK to the Aleutians West Census Area.

Mash-Ups in the News:

Mark Bittman on Bagels, Lox, and Why Comfort Food Matters

“Every family, every ethnic group and every person can talk about their cravings. The comfort food of others rarely appeals to us; it’s our own that matters.” Avocado and lime. Spam and kimchi. Our Cry of the Week.

 via NY Times

RC Global Inc. Not Selling Soda So Much as God

The Catholic Church is undergoing a brand repositioning and restructuring, focusing less on the West and more on emerging countries. Consultants from KPMG and McKinsey are leading the charge. They should definitely sign up for Starwood cards.

via The Economist

Mash-Up It Couple: Amal Alamuddin and George Clooney

Amal Alamuddin, London-based human rights lawyer, world-class intellect, and woman-about-the-globe fluent in French, Arabic, and English, has decided to marry an American. We win.

 via NY Post

Let Them Eat Patacon!

Patacon is a sandwich in which the slices of bread are replaced by thin slabs of smashed, twice-fried green plantains. And you no longer have to travel to Venezuela to eat it. If this is a dream, never let us wake.

 via Serious Eats

Speaking Your “Native” Language and Fighting Fraudulence

After three and a half years, Noam Scheiber stops speaking to his daughter exclusively in Hebrew, feels more authentically like her father, and faces, as he calls it, the basic fraudulence of his Israeli identity. Okay, so maybe this is our Cry of the Week.

 via The New Republic

Turns Out Fox News Thinks Sad Asians Are Interchangeable

We don’t expect THAT much from Fox News, but inserting random sad Asians into a story about the South Korea ferry disaster seems in poor taste. Also, fix the clip, guys.

via KoreAm