3 Ring Binder

See? I recycle.

Stephen and I watched this show On Demand last night and it did not disappoint.  Zooey Deschanel is so damn cute that even if the writing wasn't good, I still might like the show.  But it was hilarious!  A lot, but not all of the hilarity can be seen in this 160 second trailer.  I recommend it. Premiering September 20th on Fox after Glee. Damon Wayans, Jr. is so much like Damon Wayans (love him) and the Schmidt guy is a total. . . well. . . douche; the third character is iffy, but Deschanel is pure delight. Bonus for me: she completely reminds me of the some of the best quirky bits of both of my daughters. 

(found at The Clothes Make the Girl )

Goofball educational film from the 70s: Fifteen year-old gets her first period and her slacker boyfriend writes a report about it. His ability to withstand her constant chatter about her period is more convincing when we see him have to carry home a partially bagged jumbo Kotex package for his mother. Despite the goofiness of the missing wastebasket “problem,” the pharmacist who lays out all the feminine protection choices, and the pony-tailed man who would like to have his period, the movie ends up being able to impart some decent information about menstruation in an oddly humorous and matter-of-fact manner. From the Prelinger Archives

How does one train a dog to show its teeth against the glass or blow air bubbles out of its nose? This certainly does look like one happy dog (except when the other dog is taking it for a walk). (via The Bark )

Do you have a Bacon Number ?  I do. A Bacon Number is not about how much you love bacon - then I would be a one - but about the fewest number of movie/show links that will connect the actor Kevin Bacon and any other actor.  Or extra. As a sophomore in high school I was an extra in a B horror flick called, at the time, The Coming . It was about the haunted life of a descendant of the Salem witch accuser Ann Putman , played by Susan Swift.  I was the girl's classmate and sat next to her on the bus. I got paid $25 a day and spent a night inside the Witch Museum for filming, an entire day in a cemetery , and a few days hanging around the set on  Chestnut St. And, I didn't have to go to school those days. It was a really fun experience. I think I am in the film for 2.4 seconds. After a name change to Burned at the Stake , the movie went directly to cable. Despite being an amazingly bad movie (I did see it at one point), in it I am rocking the bad perm, gradient ...

I know it has made the rounds already, but really, it's that good.  (I couldn't help but notice that its production values are better than those of a much maligned, but nonetheless entertaining, movie I'd seen lately.) It really is very, very clever. Note the end result of the bout: Who wins and who is declared the winner by the government and acknowledge by the press? Even Keynes is surprised by the declaration! You bail out the losers, there's no end to the cost!  My favorite touch is the cornermen: Ickes (?), Malthus, Say, and Mises. The civility of discourse is simply delightful against the background of what I generally find to be ugly yelling to rhythmic base line. The boxing - not to mention dancing! - economists are priceless.

Actually, I could care less about holding the fort , and it bothers me that I've used it incorrectly in the past,  but I won't make that mistake again. It's the  could care less  that makes me crazy when I hear it!

By the way things look, as well as the way they perform, our homes acquire new grace, new glamor, new accommodations expressing not only the American love of beauty, but also the basic freedom of the American people which is the freedom of individual choice.  Is it any wonder that I love mid-century modern design? Yes, the very idea that Americans have cornered the market on love of beautiful design is ridiculous, but the pride in having the freedom of choice and the embrace of modern convenience is what makes me want to tie on my polka-dotted apron and celebrate it every time I encounter it. Some of the cool beans designs shown: Ericofon  (Swedish) Bertoia chairs Eames rocker and chairs  (and cards ) Barcelona chair (German) Troppo table (looks like a new design) And tons of other Danish designs. And then there's Zooey Deschanel. Click on the speaker icon to hear my favorite designer  (clip can be viewed if you click on her words).

Thanks to a commenter , I found this awesome series of commercials in which inspiring poems (or parts thereof) are read by famous people for the Union Bank of Switzerland under the unifying title: Thoughts that Transcend Time .  And these certainly do. Hello. Maggie Smith anyone? by Ella Wheeler Wilcox One ship drives east, and another west With the self-same winds that blow; 'Tis the set of the sails And not the gales That decides the way to go. Like the winds of the sea are the ways of fate, As they voyage along through life; 'Tis the will of the soul That decides its goal, And not the calm or the strife. Does it get any more elegant than that?

I had no idea the motion of its tongue was so complicated! It’s no wonder that when I tried to imitate the action as a little kid pretending to be a dog, my forward lapping thing seemed so inadequate. What I thought was a simple roll of the tongue to scoop the water into its mouth is really a shallow front roll and big back of the tongue curled lift motion. Two scoops! I’m not sure it’s any more efficient than my earlier efforts, however, it certainly explains the splash range around the water bowl. Since I’m guessing that some of you are trying to mimic that motion right now, I’ll tell you while all mammals may have the same set of tongue muscles, I don’t think we can make that shape .  If you want to test your ability to identify the name and placement of Canine Tongue Muscles – and who wouldn’t—here’s a little quiz for you.  I got a 28%.  Go me. See other fun PurposeGames and test your knowledge.

Here’s a little morality tale called Frank and His Dog (Prelinger Achives) from 1952. The moral of the story:  Cats are bad. Maybe that’s what I get out of this video because it strikes a little too close to home.  Maybe I have a distinct dislike of cats coming onto my property and my having to pay for an operation on that trespassing cat because my beautiful and sweet greyhound rescue dog – who was trained in Ireland with live bait – was minding her own business on her own property when live BAIT came into her yard! But I'm not too bitter about it anymore. I've learned from the experience. I've learned that even if your house is cat-free and your yard is fenced in, cats are everywhere! Here are some tips for making your greyhound rescue cat-friendly . Learn from my mistake; even if you don't have a cat, your greyhound needs to be cat-friendly.  They're too damn fast for the cat to get away and for you to intervene in time. While I don’t think I’ll get ...

well . . . you don't have to. Thanks to my youngest's Pandora channel for the reminder of this beautifully sweet song.

A friend sent me this blog for my daughter who hates math. First, a Gaussian Christmath. Eating candy buttons in a mobius strip?!?! What is not to love? I hope you enjoy her work almost as much as my daughter and I have. Have a great weekend.

(From the Prelinger collection at archive.org) Don't bother hitting play unless you have an hour to spend on this delightful slice of 1939 America.  It was fun to watch even if I couldn't stand the kid protagonist. From an original ad for the film, Here's a family of folks you know - friends who live just around the corner from everyone. Doing the Fair - because that's what everyone is doing this year. Thrilled by its beauty . . . amazed at its wonders . . . the Middleton Family, from Everywhere, U.S.A.! There are Babs and Bud, overflowing with the exuberance of 18 and 14 . . . romping through Wonderland like two kittens across a rug. There are Father Tom and Mother Jane, trying unsuccessfully to be calm and judicious about it all. And there's Grandma, whose eyes, bright with the memories of other Fairs, grow brighter still with the vision of a new Tomorrow for her dear ones. Watch the pages of your favorite magazines for the diverting adventures of t...

A different take on that delightful Anne Taintor style. (via Bad Banana Blog )

Here are just a few odds and ends I wanted to share under a title created by one of my new favorite words: pastiche.   I don’t know why I love it so.   It seems the very sound of it simply conjures up its meaning while connoting certain happy conditions. Then again, it could be because it reminds me of pistachios. Speaking of pistachios, did you always know that those nuts were dyed? Despite the fact that my fingers and face got all red (I’ve always been kind of a passionate nut eater), until I was a teenager, I had no idea there was such a thing as not-red, or rather, natural pistachios! It is quite possible that I was never very bright (except when bright red ), but I’d rather think this was a random sort of unquestioned, inconsequential fact that slipped through my otherwise steel-trap of a young mind. Fast Facts Practice This subtitle has alliteration, assonance, and consonance, with the added bonus of making my daughter absolutely crazed for two to five...