My son's shirt

My son has a t-shirt that reads "Every day I think people can't get more stupid. Every day I'm proven horribly wrong".
And he's right. Check this out:
http://www.patentlysilly.com/

Judy Blume: Pervert

Could it be that the saccarine-sweet author of Superfudge, Double Fudge, and Fudge-a-Mania is a pervert?

Well, probably not. But let's face it, I primarily know Judy Blume as the author of such delightful childhood tales as Freckle Juice; Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret; Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing; and the aforementioned Superfudge. In spite of the kind of homogenous uniformity of shmaltzy childhood literature, these books tend to stand out. Maybe not as focal points, but at least as memorable titles. Even if you yourself didn't read them, you sure as hell know someone who did.

Being a boy, I spent far more time talking about how Spider-Man could totally kick Batman's ass than seeking out new Judy Blume books. But in spite of my limited exposure, I honestly thought it was the same kind of watery tripe you'd find in, like, The Babysitter's Club, or Flowers in the Attic. So I was very surprised to find Blume's Forever listed in Playboy's top 25 sexiest novels, and I was even more surprised to read this:

Not surprisingly, since every post-Boomer generation can pinpoint its first sexual memory in the pages of Forever, it is also the title most frequently challenged by fundamentalists, prudes and puritans.

Sweet little Judy Blume is banned? And this book is a seminal, if you'll pardon the pun, sexual icon? Still, I don't think I'll read it. The text is a little juvenile, based on the except, and I think I'm more of a Tropic of Cancer or An American Dream kind of guy these days. The book may have inspired a generation in its day, but reading about "Ralph" tonight only made me chuckle.

Link to Playboy's Sexiest Novels
Link to Forever on Amazon

Edit: Thanks, hilariously to Judy Bloom who pointed out that I was misspelling Judy Blume's name. I'm likely to get fewer hits now, but at least I'll look more professional.

Grow Your Own Pineapple!

Regular readers know that I love pineapples. Of course, the only regular readers this blog has also happen to live in my house. But this does little to invalidate my original statement.

Imagine my surprise when I learned I can grown my own pineapples! You Grow Girl has a brief but easy to follow tutorial on producing your very own pineapple plant from the discarded crown of the fruit. The best part is that it says all you need is lots of sunlight and a moderate indoor climate, two things which I think Saskatchewan can provide.

The downside of this scheme is that it takes two years to produce any fruit. There's a section that tells you how you can fool your poor plant into producing fruit after one year, but if the plant finds out it was tricked and comes after you with a cleaver or something, it's not my fault.

Link (via Kiddly)

Ice Shot Glasses

Elephant Staircase has two quick-and-dirty methods for making ice shot glasses for your next party.

Link

Lightsaber Building Tutorial

Alas, no blade. But the instructions for the handle are easy, cheap, and provides a fairly reasonable facsimile of the real thing. I mean, I'd buy one of these if I had the money, but this seems like a fun project and will go well with the Jedi costume Heather's supposed to be making for me. Until I get it, I don't think Hobo Jedi is going to be as big a hit on the Hallowe'en party circuit as I'm led to believe.

Link

Gross-out Twofer

After having read a recent story about a man who cured his asthma through regular infestations of hookworms, I was reminded of the story I read about a man who trepanned himself that made me pass out. I had the same effect from reading The Hot Zone when I got to the part describing how ebola victims bleed out, but I wisely stopped before I lost consciousness. Apparently I don't deal well with these sorts of things.

At least the hookworm story is an interesting treatment of the procedure and apparently provides some positive benefits, like the elimination of asthma and hayfever. Trepanation only gives you a good story for family reunions and first dates.

Link to hookworm story (via K5)
Link to trepanation story (via BME)

They're Made Out of Meat!

The post about Terry Bisson's short story on Boing Boing really brough back memories. I first read it about ten years ago. I love this story: it's haunting, it's poingant, it's brilliant, and it's short. It reminds me a lot of myself, actually. Without the glasses.

What I didn't know is that ths story is in the book Bears Discover Fire, and that you can buy this book for your handheld in a number of different formats. All you luddites can buy it in paper form, too. (FWIW, I feel comfortable bugging you about this as the last five books I've read have all been on my handheld.)

Link to text of story (via Boing Boing)

NO, not for the fashion

I am no fashion maven (as anyone who has heard my eleven year old daughter advise me on what to wear can attest to) but when a site has humour that appeals to me, who cares about the why. So here ya go:
http://gofugyourself.typepad.com/

Sex as a road to peace

I have an acquaintance that has this weird theory: if everyone in the world could have sex as often as they wanted or needed to, there would be world peace. He thinks that all conflict has to do with not getting any. I think his conflict has to do with not getting any, and that global military conflict has to do with power. His counterpoint to that is that the desire for power is part of the need for sex.