Half Past Noon

Just in case you forget. See you August 1st.

My sister, a faithful HPN reader, turns the big 2-1 today.
Happy Birthday, sis!

Now, this is for Frank.

Warning: NSFW ’70s Pop Hits!

Michael Pollan debunks the idea of the “French Paradox” and says it is we as Americans who are indeed paradoxed:

Americans are fixated on nutrients, good and bad, while the French and Italians focus on the whole eating experience. The lesson of the “French paradox” is you can eat all kinds of supposedly toxic substances (triple creme cheese, foie gras) as long as you follow your culture’s (i.e., mother’s) rules: eat moderate portions, don’t go for seconds or snacks between meals, never eat alone.
…
There is no French paradox, really, only an American paradox: a notably unhealthy people obsessed with the idea of eating healthily. So, relax. Eat Food. And savor it.

My new favorite Country Music metaphor:

She’s an earthquake and you’re the faultline.

- She’s So California, Gary Allan

President-elect Obama has an impressive repository of tunes, penned in his honor. A quick re-cap:

This was catchy.

This had a hott backbeat and lots of strings, but only one actual lyric and less English than the first one.

This was downright creepy. Especially the frenetic chanting at the end.

And now that Barack has been elected, the formerly-hologrammed will.i.am was supposed to release a third song, titled “It’s a New Day” here, yesterday. He has failed to produce, but I’m looking forward to hearing what he comes up with.

I heard this on NPR this morning, from a voter in Cincinatti:

Overall, I would prefer a check. And that may be what ends up swinging my vote back to McCain, ’cause I don’t want an all Democratic…everything.

Both D & F think that because the temperature dipped below freezing last night they are allowed to listen to Christmas music. It is waaaaaaaaaay to early for that, sez I.

I know my protesting isn’t going to stop them, so my only demand is that they listen to some Seasonal Classics whilst they are at it.

WARNING: NSFW Holiday Cheer!

Though D would contest, I’m sure, that every day is a good day to be a Chicagoan, today is truly a good day to be living in ChiTown — especially if your house is getting foreclosed upon. The Sheriff there has taken the law into his own hands, so to speak, and enacted a small-scale bail out of his own. He has told all of his deputies that they shall heretofore serve no evictions on foreclosed homeowners.

Fast-forward four years. Make that 3 years, 9 months. Summer, 2012. My prediction?

Michael Phelps abandons other Summer plans to join Sarah Palin on the campaign trail as the VP half of the GOP ticket. Seems Sarah became the first woman president when, somewhere in 2010, the elected President mavericked his last.

Why the Phelps pick? The campaign cites his foreign policy experience. “He’s been to lots of foreign countries,” says Palin. Speculation runs wild, however, that she just wanted someone else who had their swimsuit photos posted on the internet.