03.24.06

Tonight, tonight, the world is full of mascots

Posted in family, sports at 12:32 pm by Dan

At 7:10, my undergrad alma mater Boston College tips off as underdogs against Villanova, where my brother graduated, in the “Sweet Sixteen” of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship Tournament. In a sort of dumb scheduling quirk, at almost precisely the same moment, the BC Hockey Eagles will drop the puck as underdogs to open their NCAA Men’s Hockey Championship tournament (which technically I guess is also the “Sweet Sixteen”, since only 16 teams are invited). Their opponent? Miami of Ohio, Melanie’s undergrad alma mater.
I think perhaps the Sports Fan lobe of my brain will explode.

Also, by the by, a Happy Wedding Anniversary to Tom and Elizabeth!

Permalink 1 Comment

03.21.06

Geoffrey Chaucer Hath A Blog!

Posted in humor, language at 10:32 pm by Michael

And he’s cranky! Check it out.

Permalink 2 Comments

03.15.06

The Bible vs. The Constitution

Posted in DC, politics at 4:46 pm by Dan

“Senator, when you took your oath of office, you placed your hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. You didn’t place your hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible.”

-Jamie Raskin, testifying Wednesday, March 1, 2006 before the Maryland Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee in response to a question from Republican Senator Nancy Jacobs about whether marriage discrimination against gay people is required by “God’s Law.

I can’t recall anything that so pithily sums up my mistrust of the burgeoning US theocracy.

Some reports circulating on the Intarweb say that the actual question from Ms. Jacobs was along the lines of: “Mr. Raskin, my Bible says marriage is only between a man and a woman. What do you have to say about that?”

I wonder if Ms. Jacobs realizes that “her Bible” also says that since she has no sons, if her husband dies, “Her husband’s brother shall take her and marry her and fulfill the duty of a brother-in-law to her” (Deuteronomy 25:5)
His full testimony is a pretty good speech - it’s at Mr. Raskin’s campaign site (link above) - he is running for State Senate in Maryland in a district that borders the section of Takoma Park where some of us used to live.

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03.14.06

For all who knew him…

Posted in family at 8:45 pm by Alison

I thought some of you might like to know that Gus the Cat has gone to his reward. It was a good fight, and we’ll miss him.

Permalink 1 Comment

03.09.06

Assorted Peeves in Medical Reporting

Posted in language at 4:44 pm by Dan

This is a niche form of disgruntlement, I realize. Mel has long since stopped rolling her eyes every time I point out how compelled I am by the animation in the commercial for {insert medical product here} to believe that it actually coats my stomach in pink, or reduces the cartoon inflammation, or attacks the animated colony of bacilli, or (most horrifically recently), sucks a colony of anthropo-mucus blobs (clothed, praise be to all the powers) out of my cartoon sinuses. Animation is damn near ubiquitous in drug commercials (except of course, for genital-related drugs or products - think how THAT would go over), and it proves exactly diddly.
But this post from FrinkTank The Brain is not a F*ing Lite Brite, Ok? got me all in a dander (though an amused dander) about the sloppy ways we let insidious metaphors creep into our thinking about medicine, drugs & health. And then I stumbled across an article in WaPo this week, that in its conclusion committed one of my personal Cardinal Sins of Medical Reporting:

“Just last week, a study showed that eating chocolate may lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of death.”

FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, YOU CANNOT REDUCE THE RISK OF DEATH. THE RISK OF DEATH IS 100%.

Perhaps someone less morbid than I would not be bothered by that, but the whole point of this article was warning against being a medical study flibbertigibbet, and then she goes and lays an egg trying to have a flip little ending. Sigh.

Permalink 4 Comments

It was bound to happen

Posted in art, humor at 9:44 am by Alison

Someone has taken a stab at continuing the Art Frahm “Celery” series with photographs of live models.

Permalink 2 Comments

03.03.06

Pop Quiz of the Day

Posted in fun at 3:00 pm by Dan

On which Sci-Fi ship’s crew would you best fit?

A brief (48 Likert scale questions) questionnaire, to answer one of the most burning questions about your future. My results below the fold (take the quiz first if you don’t want to be aware which ships are in play). From a user at QuizFarm.com
Read the rest of this entry »

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