Becky

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Sorting Through the Words and Terms of '07

The SFGate recently crowned "subprime" the 2007 Word of the Year, over "surge" and the terms "carbon footprint" and "wide stance." Merriam-Webster, as we reported, picked the interjection "w00t" and the new Oxford American Dictionary chose "locavore." And on January 4th the American Dialect Society will vote for their pick of '07; among the finalists: "astronaut diaper," "bacn," "earmarxist" and "smeet." Also a bunch of other more sexist, racist, and otherwise offensive terms (though definitely circulating... READ ON

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Magicians as victims

Remember those salad days when we thought we could all be Houdini or, well, Dorothy Dietrich? (there just aren't that many noted female magicians from which to choose; even the ones on display in Vegas seem pressured to veer burlesque). Kid magicians are a dime a dozen. I know I certainly thought I was one--always filching hardboiled eggs and begging my mother to buy me dramatic kerchiefs. The easiest tricks to learn were always thanks to some bullet-pointed recipe, and usually came out with variegated... READ ON

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School for Santas

If you're a little heavier and more hirsute than you intended for the holidays, perhaps you're considering stumping as a Santa. There are a ton of makeshift to full-fledged institutions out there that purport to help you pull off such an extreme identity, including: "School 4 Santas--International University of Santa Claus" (IUSC) "Santa School" ("Home of Canada's Top Santa") The Charles W. Howard Santa Claus School ("The World's Oldest"--est. 1937 The Ministry of Fun--it includes a "Santa's... READ ON

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Bacteria, please save our planet

There's been a lot of excitement recently over methane-chomping bacteria currently being studied in New Zealand. These methanotrophic bacteria act like catalytic converters on the methane they ingest from toxic environments; they can transform methane to carbon dioxide, which, as greenhouse gases go, is 20 times less powerful. University of Calgary biology professor Peter Dunfield and colleagues discovered a methane-eating microorganism in the geothermal field known as Hell's Gate, near the city of... READ ON

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Voice mail greetings: chipper, brusque, or designer?

M... READ ON

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Starbase Dental, or: when your doctor's office has a theme

Back when I was getting paid to scour the earth for Trekkies, I naturally tried looking up the cast of the 1999 documentary, Trekkies. There were many stand-outs who were lovingly showcased in all their fan-tastic glory, but perhaps none so brilliantly as the Orlando-based dental office, Starbase Dental, where the hygienists have been known to rock Enterprise jumpsuits and you can watch sci-fi films as your molars are tapped for... READ ON

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Job Search Nadirs

In a city (LA, holla) overflowing with strikers and "collateral damage," unemployment is on the agenda. After a period of what production people call hiatus (e.g. show canceled, creative differences, internal restructuring, blah blah blah: no work), I'm back on the TV show wagon again, and it feels good to leave the fetid batting cage of the for-all-practical-purposes unemployed. But lest I soon forget what it's like to be, um, radiating lack, I thought I'd take a poll and see if anyone else out there... READ ON

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When canines are private investigators, or just pretend they are

So this week I met a woman who works as a narcotics detective and also heads the canine unit. She loves her job--mainly because her black lab accompanies her everywhere. How much more agreeable would your work day become if you could look down and see your doggie curled up at your power strip, commiseration reified as you yip and yap into the phone? When this woman heads to the park, she brings a plastic baggie like everyone else, but she also brings a small suitcase filled with drug samples--a little... READ ON

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The various costs of losing bets

Earlier this week, I encountered a man who boasted of having run naked (and through sprinklers) across the 18th green. It was the agreed-upon tax of a lost best. I have no interesting bet stories to divulge, probably because I've already willingly engaged in the kinds of activities (the predictable ones, at least--the legal but insane ones) that are smoldering at the ends of well-placed bets; my little brother bet his friend $20 to eat a AA battery once, but they were intercepted before it ever went too... READ ON

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Children and money

Ok, so I'm going to consider this a corollary to yesterday's consciousness post. The relationship kids have to money has always fascinated me. Change seems paramount--it's shiny and can seem very much like loot. It makes chiming sounds and shrines called piggy banks are constructed to house it. I do blatantly wish that I still had the awe and respect for money that I rocked throughout my childhood. And I also wish that I could hit up those initial revenue streams that were only available to me then. I had... READ ON

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