Category Archives: history

by | January 5, 2010 · 2:22 pm

we are eating pepper and chips!

Hello, 2010! A lot of bloggers I know (okay, bloggers whose blogs I read whom I feel like I know even though I totally don’t) have been doing recaps of their years and reminiscing on all that happened, etc. etc. Things like that are really hard for me. Seriously. I have problems with nostalgia. I don’t look at old photos often because then I end up spending hours and hours and hours looking at them and feeling emo and yearning for old times and wondering where the time went and then I probably cry. So don’t expect a recap from me. Unless I find myself with hours and hours and hours of time and an excellent emo soundtrack and wine.

All that said, YAY for a new decade. How crazy is that? I’m not one to go gaga over NYE, but it’s frightening to think how long it’s been since 1999. In 1999 I celebrated New Year’s with my parents and I’m pretty sure I was wearing an unironically hideous wool sweater from The Gap. This year, I celebrated with more than a few cocktails (and cocktail weenies) and about 22 of my favorite people in the Poconos. It was amazing, and I have the beer stains on my pajama pants to prove it.

In honor of the new decade, I have to repost one of the greatest things created between 2000 and 2009. Ladies and gentlemen, Kittens Inspired by Kittens (posted first by Kathleen back in April 2009):

Never. Gets. Old.

(Side note: While attempting to watch that video because, like I said, it never gets old, my computer turned itself off. That happens to me sometimes while I’m watching YouTube videos or Netflix movies. Can someone who’s good at computers MAKE IT STOP?! Please?)

My friend Mouse (along with Ewok, owner of the following cat, and Barbie) did a few recreations of the video, and it’s one of the 14 billion reasons that I adore them:

We are in Hawaii!

We are eating pepper and chips!

We are wiiiine bottles!

Double head!

I'm at work!

Wrestling!

As long as things like this and friends like this stay around, I think the next decade will be faaaantastic.

[Posted by Mallory]

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by | November 20, 2009 · 2:19 pm

the things i liked this week.

Happy Friday, readership!

Oh, hello.  Me again.  Since the real job is getting in the way of my bloggy job, I’ve condensed a week’s worth of what I liked into one fabulous Friday post.  Does that work for you?  I sure hope so!

You all know how much I love stories about sci-fi weirdos (apparently the cool way to spell it now is SyFy.  Anybody else notice that the Sci-Fi Channel changed its spelling?).  Well, here’s a good one!  Computational linguistics expert d’Armond Speers spoke only Klingon to his son for the first three years of the boy’s life.  Ummm, WHAT?  He claims it was an experiment to see if his son would learn it like any normal human language in the early developmental stages.

He just confirmed what every child already knows– you are an experiment, and your parents are trying to corrupt you and make you as uncool as possible.

Here is the best quote from the article:

As for Speers, who still gets nostalgic when he recalls singing the Klingon lullaby “May the Empire Endure” with his son at bedtime, the experiment was a dud. His son is now in high school and doesn’t speak a word of Klingon.

Stay strong, young Speers!

Like any good yuppie bleeding-heart liberal, I have an iPhone.  We all know that there is an app for everything, but this new one is so hilarious and wonderful that I have to share it with you.  It’s totally politically nerdy, but it’s a bobble head guide to every single member of Congress.  Here is my favorite member of Congress:

Best 99 cents I’ve ever spent.  Download Bobble Rep.

Speaking of politics, lots of good stuff going on, eh? Lieberman sucks more than ever and the women’s movement took two steps back no thanks to Rep. Stupak.

I also remain perplexed as to how people can manipulate the messages of Christianity in light of healthcare reform.  To me, it seems that giving a little extra so our brothers and sisters will be able to be healthy and able to succeed in life is following that message.  Yet even the Christian right wing (like my girrrrrrl, Michele Bachman) has condemned it as communism, fascism, Marxism and any other ism you can imagine that probably doesn’t make sense.  Grrr.

Hey, speaking of Christianity– I know people are complaining about how early it’s coming, but sweet Jesus I love Christmastime.  And I love the new Gap ads!  Add being a Gap backup dancer to my bucketlist, right after being a Fanta Girl and a dancing iPod shadow.

Sigh.

In other news, Oprah is ending her show in 2011.  I’m not too upset about this.  She’s going to have her own TV station in 2011, and she’ll have 25 years of her show in syndication so I really don’t see the big deal.  They’ll still be enough of O’s wisdom to go around.

Oh, and just in time for a junky fastfood lunch:

But you know where you should really go?  Chipotle.

Okay, I think that’s it for now.  Miss me, because I miss you.

[Posted by Kathleen]

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by | November 9, 2009 · 6:21 pm

finally, an artist that is cool.

I’ll be honest – I hate art.  Most of it makes zero sense to me and I believe that it makes zero sense to everyone…they just want to be pseudo-intellectual by saying how “deep” and “meaningful” the art is.   Really, the artist responsible is laughing at how gullible regular people are.  Yes, laughing at you, pseudo-intellectual.  Kind of like Scientology.

I can barely think back on all the art I saw in Europe without wanting to hyperventilate.  Not because it was memorable, but because I was in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence crying because there was NO way to get out of the endless hallways.  Literally no exit for 1,930,239,048,392,080,438,920,849,302 of the SAME painting.  The painting of the SAME ugly woman with the SAME ugly, naked baby.   Gross.

renaissance-art-04

Ew.

This artist (Kevin Van Aelst) makes art that is interesting from real life things.  And I like that.

Heart-thumb

apple globe-thumb

Here’s his website.

*Sidenote:  This commentary is a knock on art, not religion.

[Posted by Shannon]

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by | November 4, 2009 · 10:47 pm

today is a google holiday, hooray!

Picture 2

Today’s Google Holiday: 40th Anniversary of Sesame Street. What a fun one, right?! My two tipsters were both all “AHHH such a cute Google Holiday today!” And it is a cute Google Holiday! Big Bird, people! Who was your favorite Sesame Street character? Mine was Snuffaluffagus:

snuff

Though my mom claims my favorite was Grover:

grover

But come on, what do moms know?

Also, speaking of Sesame Street, several of my friends — including Worthless Guest Blogger Shannon — worked as the characters at Sesame Street in high school. As in they wore things like full Elmo costumes and danced around. True story.

What I was Googling: IPPE

I have lots of other things to write about, but Top Chef is on soon. Let’s just say I had a bizarro day, which has culminated in my drinking red wine and (you guessed it!) wearing my flannel nightgown.

[Posted by Mallory]

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by | October 23, 2009 · 3:20 pm

i want to be an obama!

Today the White House released the official portrait of the First Family taken by Annie Leibovitz.  My first thoughts were “My GOD what a beautiful family” and “Where should I photoshop myself in?”  Creepy?  Yes.  True?  …Yes.

Official Obama Family portrait

And First Dog Bo wasn’t left out of the action.  In fact, Bo had his own set of White House portraits done, although Annie Leibovitz didn’t stick around to take those photos.  Malia and Sasha didn’t even get that honor.

No, this isn't the official White House portrait. I just like it a lot.

No, this isn't the official White House portrait. I just like it a lot.

Click here for the real one.

[Posted by Shannon]

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by | October 22, 2009 · 10:05 am

youtube clip of today: philip spooner.

Awww, shucks.  This made me tear up a bit.

Philip Spooner, a lifelong Republican and WWII veteran, makes the case for gay marriage at a meeting in Maine.  I can really picture my grandfather, who was also a Republican and WWII vet, saying these exact words.

Happy day before Friday!

[Posted by Kathleen]

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by | September 21, 2009 · 2:23 pm

today is a google holiday, hooray!

HGWells

This morning, whilst perusing her Facebook news feed, my officemate counted no less than six references to the age-old irritating phrase, “a case of the Mondays,” made truly infamous by everyone’s favorite movie about how boring jobs are:

“A case of the Mondays” is right up there with “hump day,” but we’ve already made hump day better by instituting a less-than-regular Hump Day Cry Face, so it’s okay. The point is, no one needs to have a case of the Mondays today, because it’s not just a Monday: it’s a Google Holiday!

Today’s Google Holiday: What would have been H.G. Wells’ 143rd birthday. (I did that math myself. Without a calculator. Don’t say I never did anything for you.) H.G. Wells was a writer and an outspoken socialist, just like Barack Obama! Not gonna lie, I’ve read zero of Wells’ books, but Wikipedia did just teach me some interesting facts about him:

  • H.G. stands for Herbert George, so the birthday boy was called “Bertie” as a child. How unfortunate.
  • Bertie first married his cousin (ew!) but then left her for one of his students (double ew!). He had lots and lots of affairs in his life, just like Don Draper.
  • Bertie was once sued for plagiarism, but the court found him not guilty.
  • He had diabetes, and a cool moustache.
  • Wells wanted his epitaph to say “I told you so. You damned fools.” I love that.

What I was Googling: cdr associates

h.g. wells

Enjoy what’s left of your Monday, kids!

[Posted by Mallory]

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by | August 25, 2009 · 9:17 am

today is a google holiday, hooray!

I had a FEELING today would be a Google Holiday, and hooray, I was right!

Today’s Google Holiday: The 400th anniversary of Galileo’s telescope. According to this exceptionally that’s-what-she-said-y sentence in The Guardian, the telescope was “a refinement of models first devised in the Netherlands [and] Galileo’s slim, brown stick was puny even by the standards of something one might buy in a hobby shop today.” Italics mine because REALLY?! Poorly chosen wording aside, this telescope thing is responsible for much of our knowledge about the solar system. With Galileo’s slim, brown stick, the world learned that the moon is not completely smooth, that Jupiter has moons, and that the Earth just might not be the center of the universe. Obviously, the Catholic church was pissed off, but we are eternally grateful, eh? Thanks, Galileo! [Somewhat unrelated side note: my fifth-grade science fair project was all about Pluto, and now that Pluto has been demoted, I feel like such a fraud.]

What I was Googling: georgetown yates field house

august 25

Also, did you know that other people (like The Guardian) call Google Holidays “Google Doodles”? WHATEVER, PEOPLE.

And while we are just throwing side notes left and right, number seven on today’s list of hot Google Trends is “how to make shake and bake meth.” Funny, because that’s what I Googled right after “georgetown yates field house.”

[Posted by Mallory]

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by | August 14, 2009 · 9:38 am

today is a google holiday, hooray!

Man, two Google Holidays in one week! I can hardly believe our luck. I think this means I am going to win the lottery tomorrow. (I did buy a ticket. If I get the $213 million, I’ll send you each a $20. You’re welcome.)

Today’s Google Holiday: Hans Christian Ørsted’s birthday. (Um, YAY?) Basically he began the study of electromagnetism, which means we can thank him for the fact that there’s light when we flick a light switch. Thanks, Hans!

What I was Googling: tube TV

tube tv

And really…if anyone knows what a tube TV is, please let me know. Google kind of failed me on that one.

[Posted by Mallory]

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by | July 31, 2009 · 10:01 am

oh girls, we keep getting prettier.

Good news, ladies!  From Britain’s Times Online…

For the female half of the population, it may bring a satisfied smile. Scientists have found that evolution is driving women to become ever more beautiful, while men remain as aesthetically unappealing as their caveman ancestors.

Absurdly pretty.

Absurdly pretty.

The reason, you ask?  Because pretty people have more babies than ugly ones.  And pretty people tend to have pretty babies.

And, according to this new study, the majority of those pretty babies are girls.  So those pretty baby girls turn into pretty women.  And that’s why we keep getting prettier. Duh.

In fact, University of Helsinki reasearcher Markus Jokela found that attractive women had up to 16 percent more babies.  Sixteen percent?!  What a random number.

In men, by contrast, good looks appear to count for little, with handsome men being no more successful than others in terms of numbers of children. This means there has been little pressure for men’s appearance to evolve.

Not pretty.

Not pretty.

And we all know they aren’t going to take the initiative.  I can just hear it now, “Honey, I want you to WANT to evolve!”

Read the whole story here.

And guys, even though you may continue to look (and act) like a bunch of cro-magnons, we still love you.

[Posted by Kathleen]

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