Mike

kmelion @ 11:33pm: I am so disgusted reading threads from moms who are giving cereal and fruit and veggies to their 3 and 4 month old babies(especially when 99.9999% of them have no medical reason for it, like failure to thrive issues).

And then they post about how their littles are constipated or throwing up and ask if it could MAYBE be the rice cereal or the sweet potatoes... YA THINK??

silvia_tamburu @ 7:51pm: Twilight- the book review

In three words- boring and annoying

The main plot is: girl meets boy, girl likes boy but thinks boy doesn't like her, girl finds out boy totally loves her, girl still believes she is not worthy.

 Here are the main conversations of the book:

Teen snack: you're so beautiful
Pathetic vampire guy: no, you're beautiful
Teen snack: you're so perfect
Pathetic vampire guy: I love you
Teen snack: I love you
Pathetic vampire guy: you're so beautiful
Teen snack: no, you're beautiful
…
Me: I want to throw up

Pathetic vampire guy: try not to get hurt.
Teen snack: I'll do my best. Oops, I hurt myself. Thank you for coming to my rescue. I love you, never leave me.
Pathetic vampire guy: I love you, I can't leave. Try not to get hurt.
…
Me: AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! How much more of this can I take?!?!?!?!??!?

 

( For the Full review: )

 

 Some eyebrow-raising stuff:
1. The pathetic vampire guy is 100 years old, and a virgin. Never even kissed a girl. WTF? Am I supposed to believe that crap? Him being so perfect, and beautiful, never even kissed a girl? Not even before he died at the age of 17? Not likely.
And from my point of view, as a former teenager, not attractive. The whole attraction of older guys was that they knew what to do, that they have already done it and had the confidence to do it again.
Is this supposed to bring back the innocence factor to the book? It's OK to date a pedophile, if he says he's a virgin? Or is it OK to date a pedophile if you like old-people music and know how to cook for yourself?

2. More on the subject of innocence, the term "marriage" appears in the book, but not in the white dress and exchanging rings sense. I had to read an entire page again, after I finally realized that they where talking about sex.
She is 17, he is 100, they are completely in love and want to spend eternity together. He already spent the whole night in her room (him in a chair, her in bed, no touching). Why do they have to use marriage as a euphemism? What, the stork story isn't good enough for them?

3. But on the other hand, I had some problems keeping a straight face for some truly innocent words like "hard" and "coming".
The situation was that Edward was trying very hard not to bite Bella while they were kissing. And she asks him "is it hard?" I really think proper English would have been more appropriate here, something like "is it difficult for you?" The word "hard" kept on appearing in much the same context for a while, and it was never substituted with "difficult".
After some more heavy kissing, they are discussing what Edward's vampire family thought of her, and that they were placing bets that she wouldn't come back alive from a day alone with her vampire boyfriend. He says something like "they though you weren't coming". The final word of that line was "coming". Not "coming back", not "returning", but "coming". While they sit alone in the dark kissing heavily, trying to be innocent with the marriage thing, the word "coming" is what the author chose to use. I'm surprised she didn't follow that with "but I did come".

 

lovechilde @ 2:54pm: ( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

lahedge @ 10:38am: אבולוציה.
יש קטע מוזר כזה, כשמדברים על תדמית הגוף הנשי, להביט על שערים של מגזינים כמו ווג ואחרים, ולהסיק מהם דברים על הרזון החולני של הדוגמניות כמודל לחברה. לא ברור לי מי קוראת את ווג, ולא ברורים לי עוד דברים.

אבל הפוסט הזה הוא על משהו קצת שונה. עבודתו של הר דוקטור פרופסור האריסון פופ, שעסק בנושאים בוגרים ביותר. צעצועים:

מה שרואים בתמונה, בהנחה ורואים אותה, זה המראה של ג'י-איי-ג'ו אקראי, לאורך השנים.

פה תוכלו למצוא גם תמונות של האן סולו, לוק סקיווקר, ובטמן -
http://www.ergogenics.org/gijoe.html

מה אני מסיק מזה? כלום. מה הסיק מזה פרופסור פופ? לא יודע, לא קראתי את המחקרים שלו. אבל התמונות מגניבות.

lahedge @ 4:38am: ושוב במשימתי להביא כבוד למשפחה ולעם הציוני.

רוביק רוזנטל ענה על שאלתי בטור שלו.
כמו תמיד, אתם יכולים להיות בטוחים שבעניינים שברומו של עולם עסקינן.
(וכן, היתה שם שאלה, וכן, מסתתרת תשובה בדבריו.)

avgboojie @ 2:00am: רצח אופי

lahedge @ 1:07am: כתבי הקודש היהודיים.
בשיחה עם ר' וז' , נתקלתי בחוסר אמונה כאשר טענתי בתוקף שאפילו בשבת מותר להם להרוג חילוני שכמוני. ובכן, טעיתי. לא רק שבשבת מותר, אלא שאפילו ביום הכיפורים מותר, ואפילו אם אותו יום כיפור נופל על שבת.
וכך אומר התלמוד:

"אמר רבי אלעזר עם הארץ מותר לנוחרו ביום הכיפורים שחל להיות בשבת אמרו לו תלמידיו ר' אמור לשוחטו אמר להן זה טעון ברכה וזה אינו טעון ברכה"

זה היה יכול להיות מצחיק, אלמלא לקורפוס האמור היתה מיוחסת חשיבות אדירה כל כך, וקבלה ע"י שכבות רחבות מדי בחברה. כן, חילונים, הדתיים מורשים לחסל אתכם לכשיבוא להם. עמי ארצות אנחנו.

femme_phoenix @ 12:28am: The old city and my nephew
I went to a tour with Nessja and Batsheva in the old city (Jerusalem). It was wonderful. We went through Mamila to Jaffa gate then to the Arab market, to the Kardo and from there through many allays to the West Wall and to David's city and Yad Avshalom.

Although Batsheva was leading, we managed to find something new to see for all three of us. There were a lot of new archaeological findings I wasn't aware of, like the protective wall from Hezekiah's reign that was found close to the Kardo (the main road in the Romans' era). It shows very clearly that houses were ruined in order to build it, exactly as stated in Isaiah prophecy. Also a few restoration stories I didn't know were told on the way.
Nessja knows the place a lot less than I or Batsheva, so there were a lot of new things for her.

We also went to Yad Avshalom and to Zechariah tomb. She never went down there to see it from close by. It's amazing - from David's city it looks like a small house, but when you're close, it's huge. The first step there is as high as I am.
Having such a wonderful time in spite of the cumbersome heat and relentless sunlight we decided we should do another tour to some archaeological parks and places around there that we didn't have the money or time to see.

When I came back Yehuda had the idea of checking if we can arrange for a West Wall Tunnels LARP. How neat can that be... My boyfriend, the genius...

Also, my oldest nephew, whom with I am in contact only sporadically, found out this week that I actually do meyau and bark. Being young (15) he thought there are a handful of people who do that. I told him he doesn't know enough of my friends.
I am hoping that he will come here for a couple of weeks this summer, after his final exams. It was really nice to talk to him.

filkertom @ 5:35pm: Off To LibertyCon
Already there, actually. ;) Opening ceremonies at 6:00, a concert tonight at 11:00, a kids' concert at 1:00 tomorrow, and another set 1:00 Sunday. And I'll be selling out of my room (213). Sadly, two guests will not be here; Chris Christopher cancelled just this afternoon, and Artist GOH Darrell K. Sweet could not make it, as his wife had a heart attack earlier this week. She should recover; we wish them both well. Fortunately, the con got ahold of Beth Willinger to fill in, and her husband B.J. is coming along. I haven't seen them in years.

Who else is gonna be there? Or, if not, what are you doing this weekend?

silvia_tamburu @ 8:31pm:

A 100-year-old virgin vampire!?!?!?!?!?!?

WTF!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

 

Like it wasn't bad enough that he's a vegetarian.
Could this Twilight crap get any more pathetic?

More ranting to come when I finish the book.

filkertom @ 11:43am: Pharmacists Can't Refuse To Hand Out Plan B
Frickin' well about time. Here's the money quote:

The right to freely exercise one's religion "does not relieve an individual of the obligation to comply with a valid and neutral law of general applicability," the 9th Circuit panel wrote.

"Any refusal to dispense -- regardless of whether it is motivated by religion, morals, conscience, ethics, discriminatory prejudices, or personal distaste for a patient -- violates the rules," the panel said.

Thanks to filkerdave for the heads-up.

avgboojie @ 11:53am: OMG

filkertom @ 9:34pm: They're Baaaaaaack
Who? Guybrush, Elaine, and LeChuck, of course. In Tales of Monkey Island. The first chapter, "Launch of the Screaming Narwal", is available now. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, go here or here, and then go here.)

lahedge @ 3:24am: גם גלקסיות יכולות להפליץ!

trempnvt @ 7:21pm: I gave Chaya a nectarine and when she finished it, she asked for another one...but now she's just playing with it like it's a ball.

( Here, have some pictures. )

filkertom @ 8:20am: Changing Topics Completely....
This one's for lukeski:

What do you think would be cool when said by a giant robot?

filkertom @ 7:53am: "Other Species... Other Ethnics"
See, this kinda thing is why I find it very hard to take these morons seriously, or show them the respect they somehow fancy is their due.

filkertom @ 6:30am: Google Chrome OS
This should be interesting.

shmuelisms @ 1:16pm: My son, the Paratrooper
So last week, Malachi set about demonstrating what a Tough [Little] Guy he was. He was playing nicely outside, within eyesight of Anat, when he climbed some steps to nearby garden terrace, stepped out onto the terrace wall, and... jumped! The wall being about 150 cm! (~5'), he proceeded to land on his head. [ We don't actually know exactly what happened, because no-one saw him. He may have actually tripped, hit the low wall with his back (minor scrape) and fallen over. ]

He was rather dazed for about twenty minutes, whimpering and breathing roughly for twenty minutes, before falling asleep. Anat DID take him to the closest thing to a doctor, an expert of Chinese Medicine, that we have locally (our doctor is 20 min away (by choice)), and Anat DID wake him up. BUT I was NOT taking any chances with no head injuries! So as soon as I dropped everything I was doing (shopping) and got home, I took him to the ER. After some X-Rays and blood-tests, it appeared that Nothing Was Wrong. Thank G-d! While Malachi was Not Very Happy about it, they kept us overnight just to be sure.

[ As an aside, regarding health-care systems, Anat had called our health-care provider, because the local doctor (who wasn't in) is from another HMO, and she needed a form faxed that they'd cover the visit. Miss HMO called back later to say that IF Malachi was hospitalized, we needn't worry, even about the paper-work, because they automatically covered the ER visit and stay. ]

Malachi, I am VERY proud of you, all of the time. Really. I'll be more than glad if someday you join the Paratroopers. But please do so when you're 19 years old, NOT 19 months. And while we may have red-neck ancestors, please don't do no jumping without a 'chute!

ladyqkat posted the following clip which MUST be shared: Extreme Shepherding (AKA Highlanders can be Geeks too).

lovechilde @ 2:26am: ( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

nightface @ 12:44am: Today was the last class of my MA.
Frakkin` awesome.
A few exams, a few papers and I am free.

silvia_tamburu @ 11:45pm: The demon tree and the giant moth

I've noticed the Demon Tree a few months ago. It did the strange noises and creepy shadows thing through my bedroom window. I even jumped the first time it did that.

But later I thought we became more neighborly. He understood I would cause problems if he tried to eat me and began to smile more and growl less.

But last night, a full moon night, I made a mistake. I talked to the Demon Tree. I was in a loopy mood after studying for an exam, and I just babbled on for while about human sacrifice and such. At the end I told him that if he just stayed on his side of the window, everything will be fine and no one would get hurt.

And then I made my second mistake. I left the window open.

The damned Tree sent one of his minions after me, in the form of giant moth! It was huge, like mutant huge, like a full-grown-vampire-trying-to-shapeshift-into-a-moth-but-not-managing-to-fit-all-his mass-into-the-normal-size-of-a-moth kind of huge.

Unbeknown to me, the Demon Tree sent his minion at night, but when I awoke in the morning I didn't see him. I closed the windows before I went to work in the morning, and I only saw the moth when I came home this evening. At first I though it was kind of pretty, in a giant moth sort of way. I didn't know it was demonic then. And I didn't want to kill it, just wanted to gently nudge it out of my bedroom. So I poked it with a stick, and the battle began.

I'll spare you the details, just say that the moth chose the usual tricks, of hiding inside my lamp and behind my dresser, but eventually, and with a grave heart, I killed that brave and beautiful warrior.

My dog and I gave him a proper burial in the great green dumpster if front of my house, and then went around the back to mock the Demon Tree for his failed murder attempt.

 

*I am currently reading Twilight (the pathetic teen angst/vampire novel), The Twilight Watch (the not-bad Russian novel, with vampires in it), and watching Split (or "Half-Blood", the pathetic Israeli teen angst/vampire series), and Buffy (The totally awesome vampire slayer!).

This might explain a few things. But it never explains everything.

 

**I will review Twilight, the novel, soon.

I managed to get to page 60 before I was overcome with a great desire to beat the main character to death with Bram Stoker's Dracula.

I kept on reading, not sure why, and it only gets worse.

I'll stop here, but you will have the full rant soon enough.

kmelion @ 10:10pm:

kmelion @ 9:42pm: The girls will be going to my cousin for Shabbat. Not the best timing, but whatever. I think they'll have fun.

After we move I plan on inviting my aunt and uncle to spend Shabbat with us (12 years in this country and they've never come).

I bought a turkey breast at the supermarket on sale so I'll be making that for a meal. I'll marinade it in soy sauce, olive oil, brown sugar, black pepper, minced onion, minced garlic and minced fresh basil. Pour it into a pan over onions, potatoes and carrots and voila!

I was planning on making the kebab wrapped in chicken for the other meal, but now I'm not sure. Maybe I'll see if we can go out for lunch...

kmelion @ 9:10pm: EasyJet adds services to Israel, Morocco
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31564894/ns/business-msnbc_wire_services/

LONDON - Low-cost carrier easyJet PLC said Wednesday that it will open new services from London to Israel and Morocco later this year.

The airline said it will launch services six times a week from Luton Airport, just north of London, to Tel Aviv from November. A twice weekly service from London's Gatwick airport to Agadir, in southern Morocco, will begin in the same month.

EasyJet, which doubled its losses in the first six months of the financial year, is seeking to expand its routes and compete with traditional carriers.

The airline said it was adding a total of 23 routes in 2009, adding services across the Mediterranean and Middle East. It currently flies to 111 airports in 28 countries.

"Israel seemed the next logical step as part of that expansion," said easyJet spokeswoman Samantha Day. "It'll introduce a whole new market. It makes Israel more accessible to a whole new range of travelers."

EasyJet chief executive Andy Harrison said easyJet will be the first low-cost airline to operate between London and Israel.

"This is a major breakthrough," he said. "For the first time the traveling public in the London area has the choice between a high-cost traditional airline and a low-cost alternative."

One-way fares to Tel Aviv will be priced from about 72 pounds ($115.95), one-way fares to Agadir will cost from about 35 pounds ($56)

In May, the airline posted a net loss of 85.9 million pounds ($114 million) for the six months to the end of March, compared with 43.3 million pounds a year ago. It said fuel hedge contracts had kept it from benefiting from falling oil prices.