Wanted to turn you all on to a pretty cool site I discovered called SongFacts.com. Lots of in-depth trivia about your favorites, including this 10,000-word tome on The Who's "Baba O'Riley" (That's "Teenage Wasteland" to you and me.) For instance, did you know that the name "Baba O'Riley" originates from two of the song's influences; Meher Baba, the Iranian-Indian spiritual leader and Terry Riley, the American minimalist composer? (That would... READ ON

Although I haven't done graduate work in the social sciences, I've always been fascinated to learn about the different rituals with which people were raised. I'm weird: I love hearing people's dreams--no matter how seemingly mundane--and I love hearing the bedtime stories people's parents told them (or, I suppose, didn't). My own father had a knack for always saying goodnight right after the first or second act of his long-running bedtime series, The Raccoons. It was kind of like Watership Down meets... READ ON

I've expressed my appreciation for Jonathan Coulton previously, and he continues to deliver, including an ongoing US tour. I've recently come across several blogs posting live performances from his one-man shows, and thought I'd post a roundup here of some greatest hits. Re: Your Brains: Five more videos after the... READ ON

Superdad Every roving bachelor has the fear that he's got a son out there. But hey, it could be worse. Just look at Genghis Khan, who spawned enough children that he is now related to 16 million men in Central Asia. The great warrior was legendary for having his way with women, but the scope of his exploits was never fully realized until now. A team of geneticists studying Asian men found that a number of them had similar DNA, which they managed to pin on Khan. From this they realized that 1 in... READ ON