Yet Another Vice That’s Good for You: Chocolate Milk!

Yippee! I am always tickled to hear that yet another ostensibly bad-for-you food has been Officially Declared Healthy. Today, it’s chocolate milk, according to the New York Times.
Move over, red wine. Make room for chocolate milk. A new study suggests that regular consumption of skim milk with flavonoid-rich cocoa may reduce inflammation, potentially slowing or [...]

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Transformer Porn

The other day, a friend of mine mentioned that her son and a friend of his (both in middle school) had been discovered searching for porn on the Internet. Now, that probably describes a few million teenagers in this country, but they were searching specifically for transformer porn. It sounds like the parents were admirably [...]

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Einstein Fail: I Want My Money Back

So I read in the New York Times that the Baby Einstein company is offering a money-back deal for those of us whose kids watched their silly videos and didn’t turn out to be the next Stephen Hawking … yet. I’ll confess to owning the original Baby Mozart, plus Baby Shakespeare and a couple more. [...]

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An Unusual Case of Father-Blaming

One reason I remain fascinated by the Heene “balloon boy” spectacle is that you don’t often see such a blatant case of father-blaming in the media. I can easily name famous mothers who murdered – Susan Smith, Andrea Yates – but I can’t think of a father who killed his kids and drew similar media [...]

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Letterman’s Disingenuous Confession

I’m not so sure Letterman’s confession – possibly the most-discussed since St. Augustine’s – deserved to be held up as a model for future public figures who cheat on their partners. I agree with Fran Langum (aka Blue Gal) that Ensign, Sanford, and Vitter could learn a little something from Letterman in the “don’t be [...]

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Tomita’s Psychedelic Music

From the land of Hello Kitty and Rabbit vibes comes a really freaky interpretation of Debussy from electronic music artist Isao Tomita. Blame Debussy for the racist title, Dance of the Golliwogs, which might have sounded prettier in French but was probably no less problematic. I’m not sure if the whiteness of the kids in [...]

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Oddest Robocall Ever

Around 8 this evening, the phone rings. I pick up. A man’s deep voice intones:
America, are you aware of the tea parties that are happening
as a demonstration of (?) our government’s thoughts?
Please take notice today.
(Click.)
That final line rang out like a warning.
There are teabaggers on my phone line. Why, oh why, are they calling me?
There [...]

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Finally, Some Backup in the Homework Tussles

My little Bear is now in fourth grade, and that means heaps more homework. When he brought home the first batch last week, he ended up in tears, arguing that kids work all day and shouldn’t have to keep working in the evenings. They do have a longish school day (9 to 3:30) and I [...]

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How Do You Spell Wingnt?

Glenn Beck is trying hard to turn himself into a LOLwingnut. (The funny part ends at 1:00.)

(Via Andrew Sullivan)
I have to admit that this is the longest snippet I’ve ever watched of the Glenn Beck show. I’m amazed at how inarticulate the guy is. If he weren’t inspiring crackpots to carry [...]

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Sexist British Slang Bleg

So, about this term “dozy bint,” which was flung at me in this recent comment: Can any of my readers who are conversant with British English (or, as various German friends of mine have maintained, real English) explain its full range of connotation? I get that it’s a sexist insult. Beyond that, I’m hard pressed [...]

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Caturday Meets Wingnuttia, Jonah Goldberg Edition

At Alternet, Tara Geneva reports that Jonah Goldberg says we can stop planning for global warming and start readying ourselves for a far more likely catastrophe: a big old asteroid striking the earth! (By the way, wasn’t Reagan’s Star Wars program supposed to cover that threat? Yikes, we’re back to the future!)
Here’s Goldberg’s scenario:
The year [...]

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Best Political Poet Since Rumsfeld

I know I swore off Palinology, so can we book this post as Shatner blogging?

posted with vodpod
(via Alas and Mudflats)
Or, as Jerry used to sing: “The sky was yellow and the sun was blue.”
Also, I don’t think I’m too naive, but if you happen to know what Cheechakos are, would you please let me [...]

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Squirrely about Chocolate

I haven’t seen our bunnies since I returned from Germany. They’re probably pouting about the cage we put over my chard. So I got all excited when I heard a rustling sound while my husband and I were sitting on the front porch.
It wasn’t a bunny. It was a squirrel, having a big fight with [...]

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Ashes to Ashes; Oil to Oil

We’re trying to declutter the storage space in our Berlin apartment. My husband hauled out an old plastic crate where he’d stashed an old bath mat – and discovered the silly thing had liquidified.
We just spent the last half hour removing apparent oil drips from the linoleum. I’d provide a picture but I’m still feeling [...]

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Ersatz Fireworks, Palin Edition

So the Fourth of July is already somewhat surreal when you’re outside of the U.S. We’d hatched a scheme for viewing fireworks anyway at the German-French friendship fair, which is basically a carnival with good wine and Brie, but yet another thunderstorm washed out that plan.
The kids wept and railed. Me, I’m contenting myself with [...]

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Totally Irresponsible Speculatin’ about Palin upon Her Bailin’

Disclaimer: Everything below is gross speculation and has no relation to proven facts. Consider this the heated imaginings of a lonely woman whose husband is out of town for the night, taking the mute button with him.
On the one hand, Mark Sanford has been giving seriously unhinged interviews in which he admits not only to [...]

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There’s a Black Hole in Siberia, Mama!

With two kids who are terrified of movies like Chicken Little, I’ve been reluctant to spring the real horrors of the universe on them. I’ve written before about how painful it is to have to explain 9/11 and the Holocaust to them. Yes, I’m a wimp, too, but they’re sensitive little boys. Don’t let anyone [...]

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Pravda Says: Strippers Are WMD!

This comes from Pravda, so it must be true, right?
Russian physiologist Leonid Kitaev-Smyk has stated that most male diseases are caused by women who adhere to provocative clothes and behaviour. As a result, the Western civilization gradually turns into the society of sexually unsatisfied men and eventually unsuccessful and physically unhealthy men, the scientist considers.
US [...]

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Locking Down

I grew up in a small town in central North Dakota, population 488 in the 1970 census. No one locked our doors. Why would we? The only time anything got stolen was when a punk teenager my dad had disciplined in class got revenge by taking our 1969 Pontiac for a joyride. He drove nearly [...]

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A Fishy Bear Story

So my friend who hosted me during my last night in Seattle emails me the following story:
Black bear runs through Ballard
The bear’s path led him less than a block from my friends’ house – less than two hours after we’d packed up the barbecue. My friend thinks he might have been drawn by the smell [...]

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