Don't Kiss Your Baby

Yes, that's right, mommies and daddies.  Don't kiss your babies.  Because if you do, things are happening that you are totally unaware of.  You are transferring gross disgusting bacteria to your babies.  This article says that kisses on the lips and sharing food can give your baby cavities.  So it's just not candies that are doing it.  Parents across the world are unwittingly passing on Streptococcus mutans, a bacteria that can pass from person to person through the transfer of saliva.  When a baby's teeth first come in, the enamel is very soft and thus susceptible to decay.  The worse news is that the bacteria can thrive for years and affect permanent teeth. 


So this pretty much sucks for parents...especially those who love their babies a little too much.  Ahem, Tina.  Parents can't even kiss your friggin' baby or share food with them.  It definitely makes me think twice about it too.  My poor future babies...no kisses for you.  Sorry.  

Avatar "Blues"

This post is the first post of my new weekly feature on what's in the news.  There's a whole world outside of this blog that I never talk about.  I am learning new things every day.  So I thought I'd share.  And give my appropriately witty or funny comments on the topic.

I fell in love with the movie Avatar and would have recommended it to anyone in a heart beat.  But now I'm not so sure because I don't want to make anybody depressed.  I read a news article recently about post-Avatar depression (and for the life of me cannot find it).  I found this older article instead.  Apparently, after watching Avatar, people became depressed that Pandora and the Na'vi aren't real and that they can't really visit Pandora.  I was drawn to James Cameron's beautiful, utopian world and was a little sad that I lived in this sucky one instead.  But the feeling quickly passed for me.  However, not everyone was so lucky.  Some people are so depressed that they are even suicidal.  There are forums out there for people experiencing post-Avatar depression.

 

(Like my picture?  It's Na'vi Tara.  Haha!)

 

Crazy as it sounds, I think I get it.  Movies nowadays are so realistic (and often go beyond the realm of reality) and can suck you into that fantasy.  I mean, don't we go to the movies to escape in a way?  That's why my favorite books are filled with fantasy and magic.  It's my escape.  In the same vein, it's understandable that some people don't know how to get back to reality.

 

I said that our world was sucky, but I don't really mean it.  I think people lose sight of what's good in this world and dwell on the bad.  But I am forever the optimist.  Sure, we don't run half-naked and barefoot in the forests, have the tree of souls, and ride on giant flying creatures.  But there's still a lot to appreciate in the world they do live.  Hopefully, those suffering from post-Avatar depression will see the light.

 

P.S. On a totally unrelated note, my hair was butchered today!  I am very unhappy with my haircut.  I usually have pretty sideswept bangs.  But the hair dresser chopped them off.  Now they are about half an inch above my eyebrows and totally uneven. Not only that, the rest of the cut isn't much better.  I look hideous and am tramatized!  I'm going to go put on hat and cry now.

Monkey Business at Google

Google is everywhere. It has taken over everything. It's so huge that it became a verb! It is a search engine, blog host, an electronic map, and photo album/sharer. Now Google is looking to get a piece of the social networking action. Last week Google was very excited to launch Buzz to compete with the likes of Facebook and MySpace. Except there was a hiccup. A huge one. And thus can be considered, as Laura would say, an EPIC FAIL.

Last week, when 37 million people signed onto their gmail accounts, they got automatically signed up with Buzz. Probably like most people, I didn't even really think about it. I saw a window that asked if I wanted to check out the new Buzz or just go to my gmail. I just clicked onto gmail, not realizing that I just joined Buzz.

That is not even the worse part. I found out from reading this article that Buzz reviews your contact list and compiles a list of people who you email the most. Then you automatically become their follower. Then they can view everyone I am supposedly following and even get their email addresses. WTF! I don't want people seeing who I contact the most. I don't want people getting my friends' emails without their permission.

I can think of so many ramifications to this. What if I order sex toys or porn through email all the time? What if I had a strange disease and was emailing a specialist about it? What if I was having an affair? What if I had famous friends? (Yeah right.) What if I had criminals for friends? (Like my drug dealer. Haha. Jk.)

This is such an evasion of privacy. It's ridiculous. How did Google think this was okay? Facebook does crap like this, not Google. Now it is in trouble with the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC). And I'm sure many gmail users are pissed off.

Google, you really screwed up!

Please Do Not Pet the Turtles

I was at an aquarium once and saw cute little turtles swimming in a small pool. I reached in to touch them. I looked up to see an employee giving me a stern look. Then I immediately noticed the sign next to the pool "Please Do Not Pet the Turtles." Oopsy. Well, don't be like me! Heed my warning. See how I segued there. Clever, I know.

As some of you may know, I am a turtle lover and owner. I love my turtle, Wasabi, and he loves me too. ;) But I DO NOT recommend keeping turtles as pets, especially the small ones.

You can buy cute tiny red-ear sliders in any chinatown for a couple dollars. But do not be fooled into buying one!

First of all, selling turtles less than four inches in diameter is illegal. The ban was enacted in 1975 because apparently kids were putting the tiny turtles in their mouths. You may not know this but turtles carry salmonella. Yum.

I read this article recently titled "Pet Turtles Sickened Children in 34 States." They said that a couple teenagers thought swimming with their pet turtles was a good idea. Really?! Needless to say, they got real sick. So if just for that reason, don't buy turtles as pets.

Additionally, these tiny turtles don't stay tiny. People forget that they grow. And I mean big. Female red-ear sliders can grow up to 13 inches! That is friggin' huge. Lucky for me, I have a male turtle who can only grow up to 9 inches. Yeah, that isn't small either.

I had Wasabi since he was tiny...like maybe an inch and a half big. My friend gave him to me knowing my love for turtles. I readily accepted but did not realize the hassle. He came in this cute little aquarium. Soon he got too big for that. I had to move him to a 2.5-gallon tank and then a 10-gallon tank. Fast forward 9 years and several hundred dollars later. Wasabi is now living in a 25-gallon tank, and that is probably too small for him. But any bigger, and I wouldn't know where to put the tank.

I probably don't have to mention this. But turtles poop. A lot. And you have to clean that crap. Pun intended.

I don't recommend pet turtles because I love turtles. People who don't will undoubtly get sick of the hassle and the poop and get rid of their turtles. That's really why I am so adamant about this! Oh, and of course children are getting sick, people! Save the children!

What About Flip Flops?!?

A lot of people may not know this about me, but I turned into quite a germaphobe over the years. The commercial about toilet cleaners where they zoom in on the germs skeeves me out. Laura makes fun of me about it. I wash my hands constantly and sometimes have to ask my husband to do the same. "Did you wash your hands when you came home?" "Did you wash your hands after you took the trash out?" "Did you wash your hands at all today?" Sometimes to mess with me, he says no and then proceeds to wipe his germy hands all over my arms and face, whilst I am screaming. Then he'd say he did wash them. Not cool...

So I love wearing flip flops. I liked them before they were everywhere. It is one of my favorite things about summer. I think they are comfortable, goes perfectly with my casual style, and is just easy. Then I read the most horrible article today, titled "Can Your Flip Flops Kill You?" The tagline is "Summer footwear harbor more than 18,000 bacteria, including deadly germ." BUHHHH!! If I had really thought about it, I would have guessed. Flip flops are worn to places they probably should not be and, hence the name, flips up stuff I'd rather not think about. Ahhh, my flip flops are going to kill me! I gotta go right now and disinfect my flip flops immediately. Ack! Okay, I am not really going to...my laziness won out. But I will be SERIOUSLY thinking about it!

Kiefer Sutherland and Designer Jack McCollough Butt Heads--Literally

Keifer Sutherland got in a scuffle with women's wear designer Jack McCollough because McCollough almost knocked Brooke Shields over. And how did Sutherland defend her honor? He head-butted him. Haha! Who does that? That only happens in movies and shows like 24, I guess. Maybe that's where he got the idea. Unfortunately for him, Shields isn't defending his honor and is actually siding with McCollough. How ungrateful! Actually, that's probably smart because she doesn't want to side with a head-butter...even if he is Jack Bauer.

Jon and Kate Plus 8

Last year, I was obsessed with Jon and Kate Plus 8. Jon and Kate have a set of twins and a set of sextuplets (thus, the plus 8). It is TLC's most popular show. It reruns on TLC all the time. So every chance I got, I watched this show until I was literally sick of it. I was fascinated by how a big family like that works. Also, their kids are so adorable and funny.

A lot of people love to hate Kate because she beats up on her husband all the time and is kinda OCD. However, because of her, her household is a well-oiled machine. Jon and Kate have also raised good, well-mannered children. They don't get enough credit for that. Also, it is obvious that they all love each other despite the bickering among the parents and kids and between the parents and kids.

Then my view of Jon and Kate Plus 8 turned upside down when I heard that Jon may be having an affair. See the US Weekly article. Of course, it may not be true, but still!! He was caught at a local nightclub at 2am with a mystery woman while Kate was away promoting her new book. He was heard calling the woman "babe." He was visibly intoxicated and wasn't wearing his wedding ring. This all sounds very suspicious. Jon denies the affair. But I don't know. Jon admitted to poor judgment on his part. Poor judgment, indeed.

Update 5/19/09: News (if you can call it news) came out recently that Kate may be having an affair with their family bodyguard. And Jon and Kate have been having marital problems for a long time. The TLC film crew said they have difficulty getting 15 minutes of good footage without them yelling at each other. And now, they are going to split up and do not even want to work on it! What is going on?!?! The media may be completely full of crap. But this is terrible for the family and especially for those eight kids. And if this is true, shame on Jon and Kate...for shame.

Craiglist Is Evil

Craigslist has spawned a murderer. Have you been following the bizarre story of the Craigslist murders? For some reason, I found it really disturbing (and not just for obvious reasons). This guy was going around answering craiglist ads by women for erotic massages (and we all know what I means). When he meets them, he would tie them up and rob them. One woman tried to fight back and ended up dead. The most creepy part about this is the suspect, Philip Markoff. He is a normal looking guy. He is 22 and a second year med student at Boston University. He is engaged to be married in August. His fiance was defending him to the press, calling him a "beautiful person" and saying he would never hurt a fly. Then more details were uncovered. The police traced emails back to him and found duct tape, restraints and a semi-automatic in this house. They also disclosed that a possible motive is a gambling problem. The police and district attorney are calling him a predator and describing his crimes as brutal, savage and vicious.

You really shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Cliche, I know, but still relevant and true. For a picture of the guy and the latest news, click here. I rather not put a picture of him on this blog because it's creepy.

Oh, and Craigslist should really monitor their ads better. I've read plenty of news stories of people using Craigslist for crimes. So beware of Craigslist! It's evil!

WTF, Jackie Chan!

Celebrities need to learn how to keep their mouth shut. Stay far far away from politics. Stick to safe topics like fashion, crazy vegan diets, absurd baby names, their hate and love relationship with the paparazzi, and whether mom jeans and gladiator shoes are in or not (I really want to know!).

The most recent victim of his own big mouth is Jackie Chan. I grew up watching his movies. He reminds me of my dad a little. I was glad that he was able to transition to American movies and achieve success here. I stuck by him while he was learning the language and when he made corny jokes on The Tonight Show. But I can't defend him when he says dumb things.

On April 18, 2009, at a business forum in Hainan, a southern Chinese island, Jackie Chan was asked whether the Chinese “need to be controlled." He should have politely said "no comment." Instead, he gave a nonsensical response that landed him in hot water. He said, "I'm not sure if it's good to have freedom or not. If you're too free, you're like the way Hong Kong is now. It's very chaotic. Taiwan is also chaotic." He added, "I'm gradually beginning to feel that we Chinese need to be controlled. If we're not being controlled, we'll just do what we want."

WTF!

I'd like to believe that he didn't mean anything by it and really didn't know what the hell he was talking about. But Jackie Chan, what were you thinking? He offended so many people...I mean a whole friggin' race and the most populous country in the world. Again, WTF! Lawmaker Albert Ho said it right, calling the comments "racist" and saying "[p]eople around the world are running their own countries. Why can't Chinese do the same?" Jackie Chan's spokesperson said that the comments were taken out of context and Jackie Chan was really referring to the entertainment industry in China. Yeah...nice try...

Whedon World: One Life, One Death

Good news first: Alyson Hannigan and Alexis Denisof had a baby girl on March 24, 2009. They named her, Satyana Denisof. (What is up with celebrity baby names?) She has been hiding her baby bump on How I Met Your Mother in the past few episodes. Alyson and Alexis met on the set of Buffy. They are so friggin' cute together. They beat the odds in Hollywood and have been married for five years already. Now they welcome a baby to the happy family.

Now to the sad news: Andy Hallett who played Lorne on Angel passed away at 33. He was the green singing demon. He died of heart failure and had been ill for some time.

Cautionary Tale: Cisco Fatty

As social network sites like Facebook and Twitter become more popular, we find more idiots who do stupid things on those sites. I tell Laura all the time that things on the internet will never disappear and may come back to bite you in the butt. That is why we keep this blog as clean as we can. =) Anyway, the latest act of social network stupidity was done by this guy now known as the "Cisco Fatty." After he got a job with Cisco, he immediately went on Twitter and posted this tweet: "Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work." (Sidenote: Shouldn't he be happy to get any job in this economy?). Soon after, a Cisco rep posted this tweet in response: "Who is the hiring manager? I'm sure they would love to know that you will hate the work. We here at Cisco are versed in the web." After seeing that, the guy immediately switched his Twitter account to private and deleted all information from his home page. Did that save him? No, of course not! After this debacle spread throughout the twitter world, his true identity was exposed. So lesson learned! No more half naked pictures, venting about work or ignorant comments on myspace, Facebook or Twitter. Think, people, think.

See the article, Twitter gets you fired in 140 characters or less.

FreeCreditReport.com or Is It?

I am sure everyone has seen those FreeCreditReport.com commercials. Laura loves them and can be found singing the songs from time to time. Sad but true. The jingles are pretty catchy, and the commercials themselves are pretty funny. But there is more to it than that. The FTC has been after the company for deceitful advertisements, namely, that there is nothing "free" about their services. FreeCreditReport.com appears to allow customers to take a peek at their credit reports when, in fact, customers are expected to do and pay for much more than just that. The FTC has gotten a lot of complaints from people who say they are getting charged by the company and cannot cancel the service. In 2005 FTC settled with the company, but the company went right on with the commercials. So in order to fight back, the FTC did a spoof ad. Way to fight back...although they say imitation is the highest form of flattery. So they may be doing the reverse of what they intend.

Tidbit: The singer in the commercials is lip-syncing. He is actually French Canadian too! Laura was so disappointed when she heard that.

Rihanna and Chris Brown

This just in. Rihanna and Chris Brown are back together. This doesn't surprise me in the least. I predicted this would happen when the news first broke about the domestic violence case. It doesn't mean I agree with it. There's no excuse for what Chris Brown did to Rihanna, and he definitely doesn't deserve her forgiveness. But I also think that Rihanna is human. Women have gone back to their men after similar incidents. Except the difference is that Rihanna has the whole world watching. Not only are her family and friends probably questioning her decision, so is the rest of the world. With scrutiny like that, should she be considered strong for it or just weak?

See http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20262240,00.html.

I Think I've Just Been Trolled

I was on failblog.org last night (you should check it out), and I came across this one particular fail called Google Fail. Apparently when you type "I am extremely . . ." One of the suggestions given by Google is "I am extremely terrified of chinese people." This gave me pause of course, and the curious person in me made me investigate further. When I did the search on Google, I got a bunch of results talking about this phenomenon on Google. Then I came across a blog by a person who did exactly what I did. He found that the Google results refer to an article called "I am extremely terrified of Chinese people. But I'm not racist."

So I read the article, and I had a couple reactions. First, I thought the author is completely insane. And second, I thought it was funny because of how ridiculous and ignorant it was. The article basically states how China wants to take over the world and eat you and your babies. Yeah, crazy, right? So I started reading people's comments, and most expressed their outrage. People cursed a lot and said some really mean things about the author. I will refrain from opining on whether they were warranted although I was mentally agreeing with them. ;)

Then I came across several comments that said "Trolled" or "You've been trolled" or "I smell a troll." At first, I ignored them because I didn't know what the heck it meant. But finally after seeing the word "troll" ten times, I figured it was a slang for something. So I decided to look up "trolled" on urbandictionary.com. I found that "trolled" means "anyone who fails to recognize a troll and responds to it with anger or annoyance is said to have been 'trolled.'" Huh?!? So I looked up troll. What I found out hit me like a ton of bricks. I realized I've just been trolled!! Troll means "one who posts a deliberately provocative message to a newsgroup or message board with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument." Haha! That's hilarious! So you see, I was doubly trolled because I went through all that trouble to find that stupid troll! Well, I think it's funny. =p And I learned something new! My lil sis would be so proud of me. She taught me what "fail" meant although I refuse to use the word because it's just not proper English. Those who know the meaning of troll must think I'm an idiot. I am not hip, okay? I admit it.

What Is Wrong with Kids These Days?

I came across an article that just disturbed me. A 13-year-old boy who looked more like 9 just had a baby with his 15-year-old girlfriend. He had sex when he was 12. That is just plain disgusting! I can't find words to describe how I feel about this subject. Kids are having kids now! They can't even take care of themselves, let alone another human being.

When asked what he would do to support the child financially, Alfie asks in a small, high-pitched voice, "What's financially?"

This just makes me really really sad.

Update 5/19/09: Today, a court found that the 13-year-old is not the father! It's actually another kid who is 15 years old. See article. That is still gross, of course.

Joaquin Phoenix Has Gone Completely Nuts

You may have heard that Joaquin Phoenix is quitting show biz to become…drum roll please…a rapper! He says it is his passion now and is basically getting bored with doing movies. People think he's playing a joke on America, and I completely understand why. Let's state the obvious. He's white. And he's an actor. How can he be taken seriously? Remember K-Fed? (Btw, I hate that name).

His first performance occurred a few weeks ago at a Las Vegas club where he jumped up and down, yelled into the microphone and fell off the stage. I am guessing from the lack of headlines regarding his extraordinary hip-hop talent that it didn't go so well. And that falling off the stage wasn't part of the act. Maybe he'll come back to Hollywood one day. But until then the world has yet another actor turned singer…you know how those turn out. Eg. Lindsay Lohan, Russell Crowe, Robert Downey, Jr., Keanu Reeves, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Eddie Murphy.** The list goes on. But at least they didn't try to become a rapper.

**I would have included Paris Hilton because her one song that made it on air was TERRIBLE but I wouldn't consider her an actor. I am mainly pointing this out because her song was terrible! Did I mention that already?

Stephenie Meyer's Biggest Fan v. Stephen King

Alright, I got my brass knuckles on now. I'm about ready to throw a beat down on that old man! Stephenie Meyer is a great writer! She may not be an Award winning novelist, but she writes perfectly well for my taste! Have you read J.K. Rowling's early stuff? They're crap! And yes, I'm talking about Harry Potter I and II! I was about thirteen when I read the first book and I remember thinking, "Holy crap! I can write better than this sh%#!" Yeah, yeah, I know the story was good, but the writing was so incredibly bad that I thought I could write better when I was just a tween! I respect Stephen King a lot for his writing, of course. He's written some great books, but that man better shut his mouth before.. before.. something bad'll happen to him! That was Stephenie's very first book, man! Cut her some slack! She wrote great dialogue and there was really good character development. (Tara of all people should agree with that! She's on Team Jacob. ) I do agree that her writing improved as she wrote more. The 'Fire and Ice' chapter in Eclipse is amazing. All-in-all I think Stephenie will be respected and appreciated or else.

Stephen King Says "Stephenie Meyer Can't Write Worth a Darn."

That's a fight in my neighborhood. No, seriously, that would be a literal fight. Laura would be scratching his eyes out while I try to hold her back. Down, girl, down…especially after what I am about to say. Sorry, but I kinda agree with his statement. But don't get me wrong, I love the Twilight Series. I've read them all twice save the last one. However, the second time around, I paid more attention to the writing. I already knew what was going to happen, so I was not completely and utterly engrossed in the story like I was the first time. Sometimes, I had to reread certain parts to really understand what she was trying to say. The writing was confusing at times. She expressed Bella's love for Edward by literally stating it, instead of making us feel it through subtle writing. She would repeat that all Bella can think about is Edward, Bella needs to be near him at all times, it causes her physical pain when he is not around, she has to spend every waking minute with him. I mean I guess that's what teenage love is about…but do you have to say it a million times? That being said, I think she is definitely improving as a writer. Breaking Dawn and The Host have some pretty good writing in them.

King made other statements about Twilight that I don't agree with. Click here for the article. He said that Meyer is "opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books." That is just weird, dude.

Laura will hopefully give you her take on Twilight because she is a total twi-hard. Yeah, I am down with the lingo.

The Dark Knight Has a Potty Mouth

Turns out Christian Bale can be one mean SOB. A tape turned up today with Bale cursing out a cinematographer during the filming of his new movie, Terminator Salvation, with Bryce Dallas Howard. Supposedly during a scene, the cinematographer walked onto the set behind Howard in Bale's line-of-sight, which is a big no-no. Bale totally went off on him. Click here for some of the dialogue on the tape.

I am one of those people who become disenchanted with celebrities when I hear stuff like this. Am I being too harsh? Don't all people have bad days? Isn't everyone entitled to a pass? Maybe it's that these stories completely validate the stereotypes we have about stars--big-egos and self-important. I guess I'll forget about it soon because really...who cares?

Little tidbit about Bale: He is NOT English! Did anyone know that? He is just proficient at accents and keeps an accent all through filming and even during promotions for the movie. So tricky...