In yet another opportunity for our readers to compose their own cheap jokes, those rascally researchers have more news on the mental health effects on men and women of relationships and marriage (highlights: women do best to avoid entanglements altogether; but once entangled, are happier with a ring. Men do best when co-habiting. More failed relationships are worse for everybody. Women take longer than men to get over a break-up). As with all "women be different from men" results, I wonder about the assumptions (beyond the apparent assumption that everybody’s straight). I suspect the actual study is more illuminating than popular press summaries.
Essence of Nerd
Sarah Vowell understands the deep and beautiful essence of the nerd:
“Being a nerd, which is to say going too far and caring too much about a subject, is the best way to make friends I know.”
from “The Nerd Voice” in Partly Cloudy Patriot
Marriage Poll
The American Family Assn, an organization supporting religious political extremism, has a poll on one of its sites, asking people how they feel about gay marriage and/or civil unions. The URL is http://www.afa.net/petitions/marriagepoll.asp (not linked because I’d just as soon not show up in their referrer logs). As amusing as I find the notion of their promised report to Congress showing widespread support for extending the benefits of a state-sanctioned committed relationship, equal rights is not an issue that should be subject to popular opinion. Still, I voted (in favor of gay marriage), and I even used my real name.
Won't Crack Your Head (Unless You Are Very Creative)
Make your own motorcycle, from things you have around the house (paper).
This is not a urinal
In unsavory regional news, people are dumping their shit (and urine) on the side of the road. My favorite quote: "I don’t know what the answer is. People are getting more out of control."
Futurama a Rama
Here are the rest of the matches we’ve found between Futurama posters and WPA posters. I (which is to say, Craig, editing Sarah’s earlier post) am not wholly convinced about the "Unite" match, but it shares enough elements in common that I think it’s the right one. I just wish it were more of a slam-dunk.
It’s also a bummer there won’t be any more dvd commentaries, so David X. Cohen can’t mention us and make us famous.
Blog promo
From a friend of the Collective: Square Eyes, mostly movie reviews from a guy who sees a lot of movies (his slogan appears to be "I’m gonna watch it anyway. I’m sick like that. Why not let me tell you if it sucked?"). Rumor has it the blog will be moving away from TypePad at some point. The reviewer is more forgiving than I am (we’ve gone a number of rounds on how I shouldn’t have expected Spider-Man to do anything other than sit on my chest and poke me in the eyes), but the reviews are entertaining even if his threshold for suckage is different from mine.
The Future was Then
Don't Get Grease in Your Hard Disk
I don’t know if this is a good thing or a bad thing, but I’m happy that geeks can consume more than Mountain Dew when chained to the computer.
Update: Turns out that I’m an April Fool. But I am pleased to live in a world where the reality and the parody of technology look so similar.
Audio for the Blind
Remember that episode of Seinfeld when George pretended to be blind to get his books read for him? You won’t feel as guilty if you just listen to the archives of the Radio Information Service. Hear rank amateurs give it a go on some of the programs at the Alabama Print Information Center. Google has other listings as well.
And if you want to give back, you can do that, too. Check your local United Way for details.