Silly Site o' the Day

Did I run the spider-playing site yet? I saw it on Mike's blog. Forgive me if this is a duplicate, but it's appropriate to the day...

Friday Cat Blogging (™ Kevin Drum)

Today is Hallowe'en, the day we celebrate the birthday of my big black beautiful boy baby beast. Today Datsa is 16 years old! Here I am giving him a birthday hug, wearing my spidery Hallowe'eny shirt.



Of course, we cannot forget the cute, and Amy brings it as usual:



Hope everyone out there has all treats and no tricks!

Silly Site o' the Day

Via JerseyCynic at Blondesense, just what we needed - Dickipedia!

Silly Site o' the Day

My last ComicMix column is up. Yep, the last one. The site is going in a different direction and doing away with regular columnists. It's been a great ride, and I'm pretty happy I've been able to pull off so many consecutive weeks of disciplined writing. It hasn't always been easy, but it's always been worth it. And in some form, I hope my words will have eternal life (via Gerard)...

Silly Site o' the Day

More YouTube political stuff, via Peter David, from the very biased Help4Voters:



If you click on their YouTube user page, you'll find it also links to three Mac/PC ad parodies ("I'm a Dem..." "...and I'm a GOP") which work to varying degrees of success because, as everyone seems to acknowledge, John Hodgman is the funny guy in those ads and Justin Long is the straight man.

Silly Site o' the Day

What a difference the YouTube has made in this election! Via Jeff Fecke on Alas, A Blog, here's a very clever parody of the old Budweiser "Whassup?" ads; I wouldn't be surprised if these were the same actors:



I also wouldn't be surprised if I couldn't gather enough of these to do one more every day until the election, but we'll see.

Silly Site o' the Day

Home again, and way too tired to blog. Great flight, though. We saw two free movies (JetBlue normally charges, but their free TV wasn't working right so they let us see the pay stuff gratis), one of which gave me the idea for my next ComicMix column. But first, dinner then the World Series tonight! Right after I tell you about upside down dogs (via William K. Wolfrum at Shakesville). My California brother and sister-in-law have two terrific big dogs.

Silly Site o' the Day

Off to the wedding shortly! But in the meantime, loads and loads of blogs have been linking to Ron Howard's blast-into-the-past urgings to get out the vote for Obama, so why should I be any different?



It definitely put a smile on my face!

Friday Cat Blogging (™ Kevin Drum)

Yeah, I kinda miss 'em. This is what they looked like yesterday morning when we left:



Amy loves that the bedroom radiator is working. And oh, it's been very warm during the days here in El-Lay...

Silly Site o' the Day

Even though it was only a few blocks from the Magic Castle, we wound up not going to the Chinese Theatre, so I thought I'd post this Chinese Movie Creator (via Gerard) instead. Oh, and happy blogiversary to my other "blog offpring," Johnny Bacardi!

It's Magic!

Our great thanks to Mark Evanier, who treated us to a lovely lunch at The Magic Castle. Lots of terrific chit-chat and Mark took us on a tour of the place afterwards. Mandatory celeb-spotting as we were leaving included Jo Anne Worley and Penn & Teller. (I didn't see Worley but Mark did, and as we were outside waiting for the valets to bring our cars I heard her unmistakable voice from inside. And alas, I didn't hear Teller speak at all.) I couldn't help but wonder if Penn & Teller are at the Castle every Friday for lunch. Here's Mark and Robin in the parking lot; the Hallowe'en decor abounds both outside and in.



Our very enjoyable time was preceded by a nice phone conversation with Phil Proctor from The Firesign Theatre, whose fan newsletter I published on and off for a decade or so in the '80s and '90s. By the way, did I mention that Tom Gedwillo (my "predecessor" of sorts in Firesign fan publishing) is back with the Chromium Switch website and blog? Anyway, Phil's schedule just didn't mesh with ours this time around. And after lunch we had a drive all around Hollywood and Beverly Hills and Bel Air and Santa Monica and even a bit of the Pacific Coast Highway and Robin really enjoyed it, but it wore him out. So he's currently sleeping whilst I'm catching up on blog reading, and later on we get together for dinner with Mom and my youngest brother Jay, both of whom flew in today, and bro Gene and sis-in-law-to-be Bridgette. So expect a number of family photos once we return, mostly for other members of my family who read this.

Silly Site o' the Day

Well, it's a clean room, at any rate. No spiders like this one (via Sheila Lennon)...

Live from L.A., It's Thursday Night

On the ground, safe and sound, bare bones hotel room but we'll do some food shopping and all will be swell. The wifi connection isn't terribly fast here so I'll only upload the photos from our sushi snack at JFK:



This wasn't our order but it was pretty.



This was our order, and took forever to get to us. Most of the retailers in the new T5 don't quite have their act together. Maybe next time we fly JetBlue it'll be a little better.

Anyway, Silly Site to follow, then off to more sushi (this time a proper dinner) with my brother and almost-sister-in-law.

Why I Love The 21st Century

Me, blogging at JetBlue's brand new T5 at JFK with free wifi:



They have electrical outlets here and everything! Off to get some sushi.

Silly Site o' the Day

Happy blogiversary, Laura! As for me, to paraphrase an otherwise-annoying ad campaign currently running on TV: You know that place between finally supervising the move of my office belongings and those of my bosses to our new home one floor up, and final packing for four fun-filled days in southern California? I am so there! All moved in to a reception-type corner cubicle that's so big you could fit a family of four under my desk and still have room for Mr. Piddles. Put up all my photos and other fun stuff. Looks like home away from home now! And we've spent the last hour or so trying to think of everything we could possibly need for the next four days, one of which will be spent mostly on a flight home. Yes, the laptop is packed, and both the brand-new JetBlue terminal at JFK and our hotel are wifi-equipped, so I expect to be blogging from my travels much more than I have been at home! Of course, we'll see; one doesn't rent a car in El-Lay and spend a free day blogging, after all. Meantime, it'll be good to get away from the finance capital of the US, and not have to look at brokers with hands on their faces (via BoingBoing). Not that I work anywhere near Wall Street, but it'll be good to be on the other coast for a change!

Silly Site o' the Day

Whew, ComicMix column finally finished, and our NY airport car service is booked. Nothing else got done, alas, as I worked more OT and my boss pretty much drained my energy throughout the day. So naturally everything will be done last-minute tomorrow, including the possible move to the floor upstairs. Maybe I'll luck out and that move will be postponed until my return. Packing won't, but fortunately I have Robin to help me there. Meantime, more political stuff, as FARK takes a look at political comparatives with their Political Inclination Thermometric Analyzer (via Keith).

Silly Site o' the Day

Long, long day, too late to get my column done tonight but at least I can blog very briefly and pass along a Palin Quote Generator (via Maru).

A Little More Fall Foliage, and a Bonus

Got a lot of pre-L.A.-trip stuff done today (while I've typed this Robin's been up to the loft storage area to retrieve our suitcases) but didn't get as much blog-reading done as I'd hoped. To make up for my lack of a blogaround, here are a few foliage photos I've taken 'round here:







And here's Robin showing the house ad in IDW books for Sir Apropos of Nothing:



This month's books have an interview with series writer Peter David, who says some nice things about Robin and his work.

Silly Sites o' the Day

Dustin McLean is at it again! He saw how much everyone dug the literalist "Take On Me," so here's his latest Literal Video, done to Tears for Fears' "Head Over Heels":



You did know that Dustin also does animations for Current TV's SuperNews, didn't you? And speaking of Current TV, I've just joined so I can get alerts for new Target: Women segments. This time Sarah Haskins takes on Disney Princesses:



Between Current TV and 23/6's excellent video content (Get Your War On and the Sarah Palin Vlog are both must-watch masterpieces) it's no wonder I can't get through my blog reading at home any more!

First Fall Foliage Post

I've started snapping photos here and there, and tomorrow I'll unburden my camera and stretch out the content section of this blog a bit more so it reaches the bottom of the sidebar again, but in the meantime I wanted to show you what a nice semi-professional level camera can do. Knowing we might miss the peak of the leaves changing when we're in southern California next weekend, we decided to visit V.E. Macy Park today and see how things looked. Here's a preview:



Here's the full public album of the photos we took, and here's more information on the very moving Great Hunger Memorial in the park.

We then drove up to the Palisades Center (overall there's still more green than autumnal color, both in south Westchester and Rockland counties), where I bought some new blouses for our trip. Overall, a terrific date with my husband!

Silly Site o' the Day

Via Rich Watson in email, it's Springfield Punx, wherein Dean Fraser apparently hopes to get a job with Bongo Comics.

Silly Site o' the Day

Less than a week until we're in El-Lay, woo-hoo! Let's celebrate with the Boston Typewriter Orchestra (via Sheila Lennon):



Although given the weather I think I'd rather be in LA than in Boston now...

Friday Cat Blogging (™ Kevin Drum)

Robin got a new digital camera! Just in time for fall foliage and our short trip to El-Lay next week. To warm up, he took some gorgeous photos this past week, including close-ups of Datsa and Amy:





They just seem to pose better for him as well...

Silly Site o' the Day

I just watched Rachel Maddow's coverage of the McCain and Obama comedy routines at the annual Alfred Smith rich-people-rattle-their-jewelry fundraiser (some pretty awkward moments when Obama mentioned those people outside the Waldorf Astoria not dressed to the nines). I thought McCain's delivery was much better than Obama's, and his jokes were a bit sharper too, but Obama's much better able to laugh at himself than his opponent is. Although it still creeps me out the way the politicians and media pal around with each other (not to mention the way the Presidential rivals keep reminding us of how -- to paraphrase Obama and swipe wholesale from Robin -- they're one big gated community and we're not). As I need to get rid of my political sites before the election, today's is Garbage Palin Kids (via Arthur). My brother Jay used to collect Garbage Pail Kids cards; as I recall we decorated the dog's bed with them.

Silly Site o' the Day

My newest ComicMix column is up (including lots of links to What Digby Said), and has gotten a nice spate of comments already, being all newsy and timely and like that. Too much work to do at present to catch up on blog stuff, but I'm determined to at least try a blogaround sometime in the next few days. Meanwhile, with all the talk about stuff that happened 40 years ago, now might be a good time to check out Multi-Media Sixties. Or, as it's known in the Riggs Residence, Wednesday. Via Skippy, who alas will not be able to see us when we're in Los Angeles next Friday the 24th. Anyone else from that area interested in getting together? Please let us know!

Silly Site o' the Day

Great news from my new doctor, but you'll have to read my ComicMix column tomorrow to find out what that is. Meanwhile I'm keeping up with blog reading but not, alas, posting; maybe tomorrow. Have a game in the interim. Via John Rogers, try your hand at Truth Invaders -- also, not incidentally, somewhat related to tomorrow's column.

Silly Site o' the Day

Really beat, but got a lot done today, between the moving and the medical stuff. Via AJ in email, have a look at Humorists for Truth, because sometimes said verity is funnier than making things up?

Silly Site o' the Day

Spent much of the day catching up on blog reading and even some comics reading, while Robin worked and, during his breaks, made sure iTunes and his music library worked on my PC. Now that I have access to all Robin's and my music (with the exception of the admittedly vast amount of vinyl yet to be transferred to digital format) I can properly program the iPod, which I seem to use now far more than he does, particularly on the bike. I just have to make notes of which songs go best with my biking speed. We already have a "drive time" mix for trips to and from Mom's place in Jersey, which for whatever reason (apparently because it sorts alphabetically by artist) always starts with A-Ha's "Take On Me." You've seen the literalist version of that, haven't you?



I first spotted it via Floyd at Channel Frederator, but I think it's been BoingBoing'ed since then...

Silly Site o' the Day

Okay, this is seriously... odd. Via Joe DiStefano at Slashfood, is The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill strange food fetishizing or a commentary on the sick things we do to animals (the bunny putting on makeup, the fur coat with tail) or just really effective performance art? And I normally have a somewhat low tolerance for performance art, so you know it's high praise when I say that I can't figure this one out and it makes me think.

Friday Cat Blogging (™ Kevin Drum)

Before the weather turned unexpectedly warm for a few days, Amy was really getting into the comfy sweatshirts and cardigans atop the clothes closet.



Maybe this weekend I'll clean out my old and ill-fitting winter sweaters... but then where would she snuggle?

Silly Site o' the Day

Great day at work, if a bit exhausting because my bosses and I are moving to another floor so I did a lot of packing. Really grateful I have a job, considering this was Wall Street's Worst Week Ever. No wonder there are so many Sad Guys on Trading Floors.

Silly Site o' the Day

Oh dear Lord, please inscribe Sarah Haskins in the Book of Life for another year!


Well, you know what they say - everyone eats (er, except most Jews on Yom Kippur), everyone poops...

Silly Site o' the Day

My latest ComicMix column is up, wherein I talk about why I won't be fasting tonight and tomorrow. In other news, Caribou Barbie's gone into isolation mode again but, via BoingBoing, you can put together a do-it-yourself Palin interview with this sad-but-true generator!

Silly Site o' the Day

The good thing about the weather getting cooler, and the heat not coming on in the apartment yet, is that I get dressed pretty quickly as soon as I get up now. I'm looking forward to that few days in southern California to get warmed up again! Remember folks, our Free Day in El-Lay is the 25th and we'd love to see y'all, so drop us a line ASAP so we can make plans! And speaking of "oh wow, man," via Generator Land it's the Hippie Name Generator! My hippie name is... well, it's Elayne Riggs, I've always been kind of a hippie. But the generator says it's Windsun Eveningripple, which sounds more like a Pini elf name to me...

Silly Site o' the Day

Happy birthday to my Uncle Phil! He still doesn't have a computer at home, so I thought he'd appreciate these easy-to-understand error messages from JibJab (via Mike Stabile). You will show them to him, won't you, Marc?

Silly Site o' the Day

As if there were any question.




I think all three actors did a great job here, they all made me laugh out loud.

Twinsies

At Mom's, catching up on blogs and watching baseball (Milwaukee just won game 3 of their division series against the Phillies). Look, she got me slippers!



I had to get a shot of this as I don't think Mom and I have worn matching-ANYthing for decades...

Silly Site o' the Day

Well, I'm all caught up on my checkbook reconciliation and bill-paying, so it's off to Mom's for the weekend! If I can score the wifi connection I'll be keeping up with my blog reading, and perhaps even some posting, but if not I'll leave you with this post by Desi of a new Harry Shearer tune. Ta!

Friday Cat Blogging (™ Kevin Drum)

Don't worry, just one photo this week.



And it's a two-fer, too, so there you go!

Silly Site o' the Day

Going out to Mom's for much of the weekend, probsbly for the last time before she snowbirds -- but never fear, I'll see her again in three weeks when Robin and I fly out to southern California to see my brother Gene get married! More on that in the days to come but, if you're a Pen-Elayne reader who'd like to see us, drop me a line! Our free day is Friday, October 24. Anyway, I didn't watch last night's debate, but between the blogs and the news shows and eavesdropping on coworkers I pretty much have the gamut of reaction. And I think that's just about enough. All in all, I'd rather giggle at John McCain as The Dark Knight (via Ampersand and a host of others)...

Silly Site o' the Day

While I have better things to do than watch tonight's debate, I can appreciate the thought that went into Dori's Palin-Biden Debate Bingo Cards on Backup Brain.

Silly Site o' the Day

Via Eva, who's changed her blog name once again, it's Rhett and Link, who perform the Economic Meltdown Song, among others.

Tashlikh Blogaround

White rabbits! Tashlikh is a tradition on Rosh Hashanah, usually taking place on the afternoon of the first day, whereby one performs a symbolic ritual of casting out one's sins from the previous year in an effort to start anew. When I was a kid I remember the congregation took a walk to a nearby small lake, stood around it and threw bread crumbs into it. I always thought it was pretty cool, much better than the scapegoat thingie on Yom Kippur. I mean honestly, that poor animal that never hurt anyone. Not something I want to think about on World Vegetarian Day.

In any case, Robin and I have been doing a number of tashlikh'y things. Last weekend I got rid of almost all my old ill-fitting tops, and today I disposed of the rest of them before doing my twice-yearly ironing. (Yeah, I really don't like ironing.) Yesterday Rob streamlined our living room electronics, really opening up the room, and we trashed all the detritus that we'll no longer be using. Today he vacuumed, and the house smells wonderful. I went through a lot of INSIDE JOKE issues from a quarter century ago to find and transcribe a piece (not one I wrote) for someone who'd emailed me about it last March, so that's finally done. I faxed my current doctor my new insurance card, which goes into effect today. And I've finally caught up with blog reading, so it's time to cast off all those bookmarked posts from September!

• My latest ComicMix column is up and, naturally, since I talked a bit about comics it's received absolutely no comments yet. I'm just about the last person to comment on DC's cancellation of the Minx line, which has been the topic in the comics blogosphere. Good roundups here (by the way, Brigid's blog has moved here) and here and here and here and here and here and here and here and here.

• A propos of nothing, I really don't like this feud between Val and Lisa (and Melissa), and I wish I could present myself as some sort of mediator because I like all of them and think they're all good writers and very needed feminist comics blogger voices, but I'm at a bit of a loss and this appears to have been going on for a long, long time.

• As this blogaround's taken enough out of me, I didn't want to push my luck and do a complete updating of my sidebar, but I did want to note a couple passings and returns. Bill Connolly has called it quits, and Siva Vaidhyanathan has shut down Sivacracy (here's his video goodbye); I'll miss Ann Bartow's contributions there a lot. They're off my sidebar, but kept in my Bloglines folder marked "The Dead Zone" in case they come back. I was also saddened to hear that Rachel Edidin will no longer have time for GirlWonder.org, but I hear her regarding time constraints! Returning to my blogroll and my regular reading are Natalie Davis and Michael Bérubé; great to have both of them back! (Also back are all-new stories of Tara Tallan's Galaxion!)

• Not being able to blog regularly any more (work has taken up most of my daytime energy, and I'm quite happy about that), I missed a number of significant events. Natalie reminds us the 21st was International Peace Day; pretty logo! Unfortunately I couldn't get away from MSNBC's disgusting annual 9/11 airing of real-time footage of the WTC acttacks, which was playing in my office's lobby all morning. What, like they think we're going to forget that awful day if they don't make us relive it over and over? Don't do this to me, I still can't watch Holocaust footage and I wasn't even alive when that happened. Dean has a very nice post done on that day. I also missed celebrating Talk Like A Pirate Day, but quite liked Palau's post about it, and really loved what this group did (via Leigh). In fact, I missed Holy Pasta Week entirely, but considering I can't eat pasta like I used to (see below) that's probably a good thing.

• I don't even know where to begin about our country's current financial peril. Part of me hopes the bailout rescue package being debated in the Senate today passes, for all our sakes, but part of me wonders why middle-class and working-class citizens should reward rich people for screwing up. I can't help but wish our culture were closer to Asian countries' mindset sometimes, where we've seen disgraced CEOs actually commit suicide out of shame and embarrassment. Not advocating seppuku, mind you, just a little more contrition, a blanket refusal on the part of corporations and their shareholders to reward those who ruin them, and perhaps some jail time if warranted. But then, what can one expect from a Congress full of rich people who identify with Wall Street much more than Main Street, and a president who's failed at every business into which his connections have placed him?

Some worthy links: Sheila Lennon says Margaret Atwood and Douglas Rushkoff called the credit crisis. Tom Tomorrow also predicted this mess, as did so many of us who don't wear blinders. He's right, it absolutely is gambling (or, as Frank may prefer, horse racing), I've understood that for decades and am amazed others haven't. Only it's other people gambling with our money and without our permission. And the (brokerage) house always wins. The thing I didn't realize until I caught up on blog-reading was how many ordinary citizens are pissed about being asked to pony up for stuff that isn't our doing. All I'd been doing was watching the pundit-news! But Jeff tells it like it is. So does Michael Moore. David Malki gives us this gem:



Barbara Ehrenreich blames faith-based positive thinking. The Crone asks a really good question about why we need Congress to authorize a $700 billion "rescue" if the Fed's doing an end-run around them anyway by pumping an additional $630 billion into the global financial system. Natalie thinks the failure of the deeply flawed first bailout plan was a victory for the people. The News Writer doesn't understand how Nancy Pelosi Diane Feinstein can get so much mail from constituents who hate the plan and still vote in favor of it. Kevin Drum wonders what the AIG implosion means for ManU, and I have to admit I did as well; they'll have to redesign those uniforms now! And I get dibs on which bit of Wayne Rooney I (as an American citizen and therefore new part-owner of AIG) now own. Ampersand passes along Cynthia McKinney's 10-point plan (seriously, if anyone gets on your case because you have "lady parts" yet no apparent interest in voting for a party ticket featuring a woman, suggest to them that you're considering going Green this year). Jesse Wendel provides an excellent primer of the three successful power (and money) grabs of the Bush administration. (Also read Jesse here and LowerManhattanite here as he articulates pretty much how I feel now, very lucky to be employed again and not by one of the failing corporations; I interviewed at both Wells Fargo and AIG.)

Oh, and that $700 billion may not just be a "really large number" pulled out of someone's ass; it's the exact number quoted by Senator Obama on the Senate floor this afternoon as the amount of our dependence on foreign oil in 2008 (I found confirmation of the number on T. Boone Pickens' site; you can practically hear him salivating). Michael Moore also points out that this number is also the amount by which the 400 richest Americans' wealth has increased during the Bush administration.

• What to say about Sarah Palin? Other than to agree that satire should really constitute more than mimicry, however brilliant; and to remind people not to spread fearmongering and rumors about her, like the banned books thing (and during Banned Books Week, yet, which of course isn't about banned books at all, as I pointed out three years ago) or the fake quotes from past interviews. Honestly, between the Charlie Gibson and Katie Couric interviews and tomorrow night's disaster waiting to happen, there's plenty of real critique to level against "Caribou Barbie" or "Bible Spice" without having to make things up! Of course, you need to be careful lest your questions be labelled as gotcha journalism (which those of us in reality land refer to as "actual journalism").

Oh, and this one's for Kath:



That's from Jude at First Draft.

• Now that October has arrived and I have full medical coverage again, I suppose it wouldn't do any harm to reveal my "pre-existing condition" of diabetes, with which I was diagnosed shortly before I began my current job. Although I seem to have a very low-level form of it, with my blood glucose pretty much hovering around 120 mg/dL (whatever that means) or lower most days, I've increased my activity and exercise just by virtue of my daily commute and frequent stationary-bike riding, and I've changed my diet quite a bit.

I've completely given up potatoes of any kind, which I don't miss, and pretty much stick to whole grain breads with complex carbs. I've also cut way back on dairy and sugar. But the thing I miss most of all is fruit juice. Recent studies have shown that "consumption of fruit juices may be associated with an increased hazard" for women of actually contracting diabetes. I wouldn't be at all surprised if that (combined with my Dad being a diabetic the last few years of his life) actually led to my condition. But dang, I miss it! I was like Ocean Spray's bitch. A day without orange juice used to be like a day without... well, you know. I'd learn to love the taste of bottled water but Susie notes a study that finds high levels of bisphenol A (found in plastic drink containers) can cause heart disease and diabetes.

The only products that make water taste a little like fruit juice without adding calories or other crap all contain aspartame or Splenda. You've heard of Splenda, aka sucralose. Just like sugar! they used to claim before the lawsuit. Well, turns out it might contribute to weight gain. Now granted, the study was funded by the Sugar Association, the adversaries in the aforementioned lawsuit, but it does make one wonder, particularly with so many dire warnings about aspartame, the other popular artificial sweetener. So what's a diabetic to do? This stuff's in pretty much all processed foods -- and, when it's not, you get your high-fructose corn syrup. I saw the first of those nauseating ads which count on people having heard that HFCS is bad but not understanding exactly why. It's like they don't think we know how to use the internets or something. Anyway, all I can suggest is to buy as much unsweetened stuff as you possibly can and add stevia to it. It's found in just about any health food store and is a little more expensive than buying the crap, but healthy stuff often is.

Big hugs to Iain McEwan, who now has to deal with stinky diabetes as well. And anyone who has any interest in creating comics to reach out to diabetics should read this. (Lastly, via io9, get a load of this all-in-one meter!)

• Oh, speaking of deceptive product placement, read up on what Degree did on the TV series Eureka. Ever so much more intrusive than The Office kowtowing to Staples.

• Rachel Maddow continues to be must-watch TV. I hope to finish this blogaround in time to see her show tonight! Here's high praise from Dorothy Snarker and Keith R.A. DeCandido.

• I think it's fitting on World Vegetarian Day to remind PETA: You're Not Helping. Which Leigh Dragoon does quite nicely here, and that's not even about the stupid breast milk stunt.

• Okay, this is already too long, but here are some bits and pieces I liked. First on the cultural front: Cat's gastronomic tour of Chicago was fun; check out his photo-filled posts here and here. Jason reminds us you don't screw with Ebert. Liz sings the praises of Carrie Fisher, while Melissa Silverstein reminds us of how far women still have to go. Meredith from The Office (aka Kate Flannery) gives us her unique diet. Augie reveals the secret friendship of Groucho Marx and Elton John; there's your Marx/Lennon connection right there! Jeff speaks out in favor of the adverb, quite eloquentLY. Michael Bérubé takes his special-needs kid to "Love" and a Beatlefest. Lastly, via Val, they're making a new Partridge Family series. Ohhhh dear...

• On the culture-war front, Mike reports that last Sunday a bunch of fundie preachers wanted to have their cake and eat it too. I don't mind if they preach politics, but you know, we could really use all that money that pulling their tax-exempt status would provide. Meanwhile, PZ reminds me that Australian aboriginal culture is far more sexist than I gave it credit for (in its own way it's as bad as what Colleen recounts here about Egypt), and the hypocritical Pope is still wearing Prada. And Amanda bids us rethink our stereotypes of rednecks. And on the political front: Bora explains both Huckabee's "desk" dog-whistle and the the "community organizer" one, where Jesse Taylor wishes Obama would heat up a bit. Provided, that is, he can escape JC's "It's Not Because He's Black Excuse Wheel."

Time to put this baby to bed! Silly Site to follow. Happy October, all!