• 4,500 people are currently stranded on a stalled Carnival cruise ship off the coast of Mexico without air conditioning or hot water, but the Coast Guard has airlifted them some canned goods, like Spam. [ABC 7]
• KALW mistakes Martuni’s – a show-tune-friendly piano bar – for a karaoke bar. [via SF Gate]
• That church that got converted to a house next to Dolores Park got rented out for a Don Julio tequila promotional event. [Uptown Almanac]
• Wendy’s is introducing new fries topped with sea salt because “people associate it with good, natural things,” according to a rep. [USAT]
• The Journal concludes that Japanese chefs in America pretty much refuse to use our water, preferring instead to import bottles from the Land of the Rising Sun. [WSJ/Japan Real Time]
• Is there anything that isn’t better after it’s barbecued? John T. Edge explores the world of smoked turkeys. [NYT]
• A food-safety advocate in China was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for “inciting social disorder.” [AP]