published by Jonathan on Wed, 10/10/2007 - 23:12
Here is a list of what I've been watching. Obviously, I'll have to drop a bunch of these...some sooner rather than later (Torchwood, for example). My favorites of the new-ish batch so far are Damages, Aliens in America, The Minor Accomplishments of Jackie Woodman, and Five Days.
published by Jonathan on Wed, 10/10/2007 - 22:42
An article of the same title in today's NY Times by Kim Severson places the blame for your kids picky-eating habits:
Researchers examined the eating habits of 5,390 pairs of twins between 8 and 11 years old and found children’s aversions to trying new foods are mostly inherited.
The message to parents: It’s not your cooking, it’s your genes.
According to the report, 78 percent is genetic and the other 22 percent environmental.
Most children eat a wide variety of foods until they are around 2, when they suddenly stop. The phase can last until the child is 4 or 5. It’s an evolutionary response, researchers believe. Toddlers’ taste buds shut down at about the time they start walking, giving them more control over what they eat. “If we just went running out of the cave as little cave babies and stuck anything in our mouths, that would have been potentially very dangerous,” Dr. Cooke said.
One of the most interesting aspects of the article is the trickery that Jerry Seinfeld's wife uses with their kids:
Mrs. Seinfeld, the wife of the actor Jerry Seinfeld and the mother of three young children, became fed up with trying to get her children to eat fruits and vegetables. The oldest, Sascha, who is 6, is so picky she used to dictate what the rest of the family ate.
Her new book, “Deceptively Delicious” (Harper Collins), outlines a series of recipes based on fruit and vegetable purées that are blended into food in a way that she says children won’t notice. Half a cup of butternut squash disappears into pasta coated with milk and margarine. Pancakes turn pink with beets. Avocado hides in chocolate pudding and spinach in brownies.
Some experts don’t buy the method...hiding foods doesn’t help a child learn to appreciate new tastes...
published by Jonathan on Wed, 10/10/2007 - 22:27
That's what the city of London spends each year to remove chewing gum from subway trains and stations. U.K.-based Revolymer is developing a new kind of chewing gum that will wash easily off of any surface. From an article on TechnologyReview.com:
The gum easily comes off roads, shoes, and hair, and it barely sticks at all to some surfaces.
About 600,000 metric tons of chewing gum are manufactured in the world every year, Pettman says. A large percent of that ends up on streets and pavements, becoming a pollution issue.
published by Jonathan on Tue, 10/09/2007 - 22:30
For those of you already subscribed to all of my RSS feeds, this will mostly be duplicates. For the rest, you might want to keep an eye on my tumblelog.
It basically aggregates Google Reader Shared Items, Facebook status updates, and other random stuff that I feel like putting there instead of on blogmower.
published by Jonathan on Tue, 10/09/2007 - 22:12
An interesting Time mag article about two new professional football leagues that are about to launch in the US is here: link
The eight-team United Football League (UFL), brainchild of financier and former USFL minority owner Bill Hambrecht, will play games during the NFL season on Fridays, when the NFL, and most colleges, are idle. The league will have teams in large metropolitan areas that have no NFL franchises, places like Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and maybe even Mexico City or London.
The other upstart, the fledging All American Football League (AAFL), has a very different model. Funded by San Diego entrepreneur Marcus Katz, the AAFL will play in college football hotbeds on otherwise sleepy spring Saturdays, and feature alums from big-time schools like the University of Florida and University of Tennessee on its pro teams. Katz, who made his fortune in the student loan business, grew up an avid University of Georgia football fan, and he's trying to profit from the love fans have for former college players. Since there aren't enough NFL spots for all the talented University of Florida football players, the thinking goes, why not have some of them come to Gainesville, suit up in Gator blue, and play for the Florida AAFL team? They'd face off against teams from Tennessee and Alabama, just like the good old days.
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