Category Archives: history

by | December 1, 2010 · 9:51 am

today is a google holiday, hooray!

Today’s Google Holiday: 55th Anniversary: Rose Parks refuses to move. I love this one, although I find it disconcerting that on the same day this is a Google Holiday, there’s an NYT headline that reads, “Pentagon Sees Little Risk in Allowing Gay Men and Women to Serve Openly.” That this is a headline in 2010, 55 years after Rosa Parks stood up — or rather, sat down — for herself on that bus, makes me wonder if we’ve really come very far at all.

What I was Googling: blow dry. It’s a LivingSocial thing. Which is it, co-blogger Kathleen?!!?!

In other news, today is December 1 and it was almost 65 degrees in DC this morning. It was also raining, and I bonded with my cohorts at the bus stop as our umbrellas flipped inside out with every gust of wind. Then I got on the sweaty, sweaty bus and stood directly across from a girl I went to college with. We ignored each other. MATURITY.

[Posted by Mallory]

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by | September 11, 2010 · 2:19 pm

jon stewart’s september 11, 2001 monologue.

Just watch it. (And thanks, EA.)

[Posted by Mallory]

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by | July 10, 2010 · 3:32 pm

a whole post on comic sans.

Just as Kathleen has been hesitant to give LiLo press she doesn’t deserve, I know that I shouldn’t humor Comic Sans with frequent posts about it. But I can’t help it. The past few days I’ve gotten a couple of bloggy tips related to Comic Sans, and I knew you all would want to hear about them.

First, Kathleen posted a video on my Facebook wall in which the creator of Comic Sans discusses the history of the infamous font. It’s cool to get the backstory, though I can’t say it makes me hate the font any less:

And perhaps more entertaining (no offense, Kathleeny) is a tip from our A-MAZING, FAN-TASTIC Chicago correspondent. As you might have heard somewhere on the news or the interwebs or the Twitter, LeBron James just announced his decision to play with the Miami Heat, and people are getting crazy about it. (Full disclosure: I don’t actually care. Although I did find this article on James’ move pretty interesting.) What I’m getting crazy about is the fact that Cavs’ owner Dan Gilbert posted a rant on NBA.com about James’ departure and decided to write it in Comic Sans. CNN’s John Sutter echoes my thoughts perfectly:

After Gilbert posted a rant — in the cutesy Comic Sans typeface — about James’ departure on NBA.com, bloggers, newspaper writers and Twitter pundits lashed back with a collective message that essentially said this:

Unless you’re a fourth-grader, or being ironic, or the author of a comic book, or on vacation from the 1990s, never use that typeface.

And they’re right! If you want to be taken seriously in a professional forum, do not use a bullshit font! Would you use Papyrus on your resume? Kristen ITC on your campaign signs? (Well, Sarah Palin might.) In the world of normal, the answer is a definitive no. So why would you use Comic Freaking Sans for the most public document you’ll ever write? And why wouldn’t you have some intern proofread your tirade for excessive use of Caps Lock and unnecessary quotation marks?  (See for yourselves. It’s bad.) We can only assume poor Gilbert was blinded by grief, and for that, our thoughts go out to him.

[Posted by Mallory]

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by | June 23, 2010 · 8:13 am

edith shain, the kissing nurse, dies.

Edith Shain, now famous for being the subject of “one of the most memorable photographs from World War Two,” died on Sunday at 91. You know the photo, right?:

Now I’ve seen this photo about a million times — and was among the 50% of college girls who had this poster up in her dorm room (there was a poster sale on campus, OKAY?) — but I never knew the story behind it. As I went to post this, I wondered if she ended up marrying that guy, or something equally adorable. Turns out, she didn’t even know him. According to le Wikipedia, “In August 1945, Shain was working at Doctor’s Hospital in New York City as a nurse when she and a friend heard on the radio that World War II had ended. They went to Times Square where all the celebrating was and as soon as she arrived on the street from the subway, the sailor grabbed her in an embrace and kissed her.” As one Gawker commenter pointed out, that almost makes the story more amazing; there Edith was, minding her own business, when all of a sudden she becomes part of this iconic moment, captured forever on film.

Rest in peace, Edith, and thanks for being such a good sport. Next time a stranger tries to give me a smooch on the sidewalk, I’ll go with it, and hope someone’s around to snap the picture.

[Posted by Mallory]

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by | June 11, 2010 · 9:34 am

today is a google holiday, hooray!

Today’s Google Holiday: Happy 100th Birthday Jacques Cousteau! Now, does it count as a birthday if the person is dead? I’m not sure I can support the phrasing of this holiday. They should have titled it, “It Would Have Been Cool If You Were Still Alive, Jacques, Because Then You Would Have Been 1oo!” Then again, if I had worked for Google, yesterday’s National Iced Tea Day and the second anniversary of this here bloggie (!!!) on June 9 would have been featured. They’ll get their priorities straight eventually. Jacques might have done cool stuff in the ocean, but Kathleen and I post funny videos that other people made. I really don’t understand the difference.

What I was Googling: Nothing, actually. (I considered making something up that was kind of awkward/funny, like maybe “the electric slide,” but that would have been dishonest.) I was actually on Google to see if yesterday’s picture party was still going on. Did anyone else see that? Instead of being white, the Google homepage background was a fabulous picture that changed every so often. I think they were advertising a new feature where you can pick any photo you want and have it be your background. I grabbed a screen shot of this baby:

It’s fun, like Fridays are fun! Have a good one!

[Posted by Mallory]

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by | May 24, 2010 · 11:53 am

belated roundup of some google holidays!

Hi guys! GUESS WHAT?! I OFFICIALLY GOT GRADUATED! After three hours of wearing polyester and sitting in the most miserable heat (let’s just say my “friend” who was sitting next to me kept saying things like, “Um, Mallory, the sweat is dripping down your legs. Again.” And I was like, “Want me to wipe it off with my hand and rub it on your face?” And he was like, “Want me to MURDER you?” Stuff like that…), I was given a diploma and partied the weekend away with my parents (who are cooler than me) and my friends (who agree that my parents are cooler than me). Point is, with all of the chaos leading up to the big graduation day, I missed a few Google holidays. Without further ado:

That day’s Google Holiday: 170th Birthday of Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Insert some cool facts about ballet here.

What I was Googling: NOTHING, OKAY? I was in a hurry to get a screen shot.

That day’s Google Holiday: Mother’s Day. Yay! We all love mamas, although I also love Anne Lamott, and she wrote a great article on why she (a fellow mama) hates Mother’s Day.

What I was Googling: keep calm love blogs

That day’s Google Holiday: Pac-Man’s 30th Anniversary. This was easily one of Google’s best. It was a real game, and come on, who doesn’t have fond memories of playing Pac-Man at the local pizza shop? (I might be confusing my childhood with the movie version of my childhood, but I did love that game.)

What I was Googling: crumping. Turns out, it’s krumping. Thanks, Google!

And speaking of Google, remember how much I love Google’s predictive feature? Whelp, I stumbled upon another excellent one, and I thought I’d share:

Never fails. Have a good Monday, everyone! (I know you will, because you’ve already said your daily affirmation.)

[Posted by Mallory]

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by | May 10, 2010 · 2:26 pm

youtube clip of today: super brontës!

Happy Monday, readership! To kick off your work week, here’s a fake TV commercial from 1998.  According to its creators, it was “made in 1998 for a series of educational shorts about action figures based on historical figures. Its educational value was somewhat suspect. It was never aired.” Bummer. Best part? THE BRONTESAURUS! RAWR!

As a side note, I know a girl from Massachusetts that would have given ANYTHING to have these dolls growing up…

[Posted by Kathleen]

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by | March 24, 2010 · 2:21 pm

youtube clip of today: a BFD.

Oh FINE.  Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve seen it (and certainly heard it) by now, but here is everyone’s Uncle Joe dropping the F bomb on live TV.

I think he’s the greatest.  He’s just so lovably inappropriate!  You know he was sitting there thinking to himself, “What powerful words can I say to B that he will remember for the rest of his life?” Well, he certainly found the words to say. Perhaps he just forgot that there were 250 hot mics around.  Regardless, I’m glad it happened, and here’s why: it’s been lightening up the health care debate and people have been having some fun with it.

Yup.  School House Rock got BFD’d.

But back to Biden. As Press Secretary Robert Gibbs tweeted, “And yes, Mr. Vice President, you’re right“. Because he is.  It IS a big deal.  And it’s long overdue.

PS- Here is a great tool to see how the health care legislation will affect you.  Super easy– just put in your marital status, if/how you have health care and what you make.  Click here.

[Posted by Kathleen]

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by | March 23, 2010 · 4:14 pm

just six words and a picture.

A note left by Rep. Patrick Kennedy on his father’s grave (Ted Kennedy). Warning: if you have a bleeding liberal heart, this may make you weep. This picture comes from the White House’s Flickr stream.

“Dad, the unfinished business is done.”

[Posted by Kathleen]

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by | March 4, 2010 · 10:47 am

today is a google holiday, hooray!

Today’s Google Holiday: Anthony Vivaldi’s birthday. He would have been 332! You know our boy Vivaldi for The Four Seasons (WALSH!) and his striking good looks:

His Wikipedia page has this interesting opening paragraph about his childhood:

Antonio Lucio Vivaldi was born in Venice, the capital of the Republic of Venice in 1678. He was baptized immediately after his birth at his home by the midwife, which led to the belief that his life was somehow in danger. Though not known for certain, the immediate baptism was most likely due either to his poor health or to an earthquake that shook the city that day. In the trauma of the earthquake, Vivaldi’s mother may have dedicated him to the priesthood. Vivaldi’s official church baptism (the rites that remained other than the baptism itself) did not take place until two months later. Cool!!

Cool!! indeed. (Wikipedia’s editors clearly aren’t doing their job.)

What I was Googling: jcrew rose vines romper. And here’s why:

[Source]

See now, that doesn’t count as clothes. J.Crew tells us to “think poolside parties and chic beach soirees” and to pair “this fashion-forward silhouette with an extra-long cardigan and loads of accessories.” Now, I’m all for wacky fashion, J.Crew, and even rompers, when done well. But this is just a swimsuit that you can’t swim in. I’m having a hard time wrapping my mind around it, because I can’t imagine a time when you’d be at a “chic beach soiree” (I already have like eight of those on my calendar for the summer) or a pool party and wouldn’t want to be wearing either a swimsuit or some form of clothes. I just had this conversation with my coworker, who happens to work at J.Crew, after I showed her this “romper”:

Her: Cute! That’s a swimsuit, right?

Me: NO! It’s a ROMPER.

Her: Oh god, nevermind. Did you see the other romper, with the pants? We got one in the store…and nuh-uh.

Here it is styled, which is even more mind-boggling:

Can someone please help me understand? Is it just a swimsuit? This website and this website seem to think so. But if it’s a swimsuit, why are they calling it a romper? I’m so confused. Hailp!

[Posted by Mallory]

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