THE MITES ATE THE CHEESE The Food and Drug Administration proposed recently to limit the quantity of tiny “mites” that could occupy imported cheese, even though living, crawling mites are a feature desired by aficionados. (“Cheese is absolutely alive!” proclaimed microbiologist Rachel Dutton, who runs the “cheese laboratory” at Harvard University.) In fact, cheese is home to … [Read more...] about Cheese Eating Mites and Ironic Gas and Too Much Information
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Well Earned Retirement and Norwegian Wood and Accidental Incest
WELL-EARNED RETIREMENT In March, twin sisters Louise and Martine Fokkens, 70, announced their joint retirement after more than 50 years each on the job as Amsterdam prostitutes. (In February, the minimum age for prostitutes in the Netherlands was raised to 21, but there is no maximum.) The twins estimated they had 355,000 client-visits between them, and Martine noted that she … [Read more...] about Well Earned Retirement and Norwegian Wood and Accidental Incest
IRON MAN 3 New Movie Review
The real hero of Iron Man 3 isn’t Tony Stark but the film’s director and co-screenwriter, Shane Black. Movie buffs know him as the author of the slam bang action classics Lethal Weapon, The Long Kiss Goodnight, The Last Boy Scout and Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. That last film gave Robert Downey Jr. one of his best roles and paved the way for his big comeback as a Marvel super hero. … [Read more...] about IRON MAN 3 New Movie Review
Good News For Vultures and Dog Sex Prosecutions and Stiletto Surgery
GOOD NEWS FOR VULTURES Almost-extinct vultures may be making a comeback within the Parsi community of Mumbai, India, after a pain reliever (diclofenac) nearly wiped it out. Parsis’ Zoroastrian religion requires “natural” body disposals (no cremation or burial) of humans and cattle, and bodies have always been ritually laid out for the hungry birds, but the community has also … [Read more...] about Good News For Vultures and Dog Sex Prosecutions and Stiletto Surgery
The Sessions Film Review
Here’s a true story that shouldn’t work as a movie, let alone a movie this good. John Hawkes stars as Mark O’Brien, a Polio survivor who spends hours of his life in an iron lung and cannot do his day to day activities without the assistance of someone to dress him and push him around on a cart. O’Brien is a poet with a brilliant mind and a healthy, even cynical attitude about … [Read more...] about The Sessions Film Review