Conservation!

Conserve, damn it!

Want to help the country save a quick million barrels of oil a day? Drive 5% less. Slow down. Inflate your tires.

Those three steps would reduce U.S. oil consumption by 1.3 million barrels a day immediately, according to the Alliance to Save Energy, a conservation group running an efficiency campaign backed not only by environmental groups but also the auto and oil industries.

That's nearly twice the estimated daily oil production that could come from drilling in the Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, according to the government's Energy Information Administration.

Hilarious

Wear Science!

Hypothesis: Over 99% of prehistoric animal species are now extinct, many of which were no doubt delicious. By mastering advanced cloning techniques we can incorporate these long dead animal species into a unique and scrumptious BBQ experience.

Result: The T-Rex proved delectable, but our 'Kiss the Cloner' apron failed to deliver.

I know what I'm asking for on my birthday!

Elected Official-dom

About a month ago, my parish requested that interested individuals submit their name for consideration for a position on the parishes school board. I had been looking for ways to become more involved in my parish, and figured with all the recent ruckus about meddling with curricula and the like, that I'd throw my hat into the ring. I offered my services and it appears that I was nominated and then elected to the school board for a two year stint.

I didn't actually think that I'd be selected. I don't have a very high profile at my parish (though I do lector once a month at the Saturday Mass), and I don't have children, so I figured I'd get passed over. But I must admit that I think it's kind of cool. I don't believe I'll be shaping the minds of our youth, directly ... but it's a responsibility I plan on taking seriously. First order of business, as far as I imagine, is to get a feel for what the budgets and curricula look like, and see if anything patently absurd is present. I hope I don't see anything mentioning Intelligent Design.

Wish me luck!

Currently ...

Listening To

I'm baaacck!

After a few days away from the blogosphere I almost wondered if I should return. Of course, I couldn't let my faithful readers down, so here I am. It was a rather eventful few days, culminating in the wedding of my little sister (of which I'm still in denial, both of her not being so little anymore, and of her getting married). Anyways, the science blogging (or lack thereof) will now commence.

Buh Bai XP

Microsoft gets ready to deep six XP.

I'm not sure how I feel about Vista. Everything I have heard indicates that Vista is an unmitigated disaster. Maybe my new computer will be a Mac.

If I happen to attend Olberman's funeral ...

... I'll be sure to bring ketchup.

What a rube.

Maybe I'll travel first class to really stick it to him.

Why Japan didn't invade Iraq ...

... they were too busy sitting on the toilet.

Japan actually has the following two committees/councils:

1. Electric Toilet Seats Evaluation Standard Subcommittee
2. Warm-Water-Shower Toilet Seat Council

I guess their bum-washing toilets are a problem though ... they consume 4% of an average Japanese households energy. Holy crap! Talk about flushing energy down the drain! The top models go for $4k! Not cheap ... and it's altering male behavior ... with more men sitting down to urinate. Supposedly to cut down on "urine splash". Wouldn't want to dirty the porcelain throne ya know.

Hey, dude ...

... if you really think the world is coming to an end in 2012, why are you stocking up on emergency supplies?

Something to think about ...

... when considering all that flooding in the Mid-West over the past couple of weeks.

We may have brought this upon ourselves.

And no, I'm not talking about global warming. It may be attributable to overdevelopment.

About those digitial converter boxes ...

... that we've heard about ad nauseum for the last several months. Chances are, you don't need it. If you have cable, or digital television, save your money. Only if you're still using rabbit ears, will you need to get a converter box.

The following article explains that, as well as a recent scam you should avoid.

By now you know that TV is changing next year. Starting Feb. 17, 2009, local TV stations will turn off their analog transmitters and go all digital.

If you have cable or satellite you don’t need to do anything. But if you have an analog TV and get your signal with an antenna, you’ll need a digital converter box or your TV won’t work.

Bold emphasis mine.

GenBank is Broken

Meet GenBank. As NCBI explains GenBank, it is: the NIH genetic sequence database, an annotated collection of all publicly available DNA sequences.

GenBank might be annotated, but it certainly isn't curated. As I'm going to research blog, eventually, GenBank contains many incorrect sequences. One example is the multitude of chimeric 16S sequences found scattered amongst the sequences of the GenBank database.

The question is ... what to do with them? Sandra, over at DigitalBio has written several blog entries to this effect lately. As someone who is critical of GenBank (who have a non-redundant ("nr") library which they admit is no longer non-redundant), I offered my own solution.

Appointed editors.

Here is what I wrote (slightly edited to make my point clearer).

Does GenBank need to be fixed? Yes, at least in the sense that sequences which are clearly proven to be erroneous (such as chimeric 16S sequences) need to be marked as such. I wouldn't necessarily remove them, because they can still serve a useful purpose (such as being test samples for chimeric sequence detectors). However, they need to be re-annotated.

My recommendation? Have GenBank editors, members of the scientific community, who field reports on sequences from the scientific community and make determinations as to the "final call" on a particular reported sequence. This process should be non-anonymous, and it should be documented in the gene record (to avoid constant reporting of the same sequences). Someone spots a problem, they file a report. The report is handled by the editor who then contacts the individual who submitted the sequence (i.e., the submitter). The submitter can then defend their submission, or admit the error. If they defend their submission, the editor gets to make the final call, weighing all the evidence. This way it doesn't fall on the GenBank staff to handle everything, and also gives people in the community a chance to put something else on their CV.

Sandra (who liked the idea), described it as follows:

Temporary editor positions could be analogous to being a program officer at the NSF, or serving on a study section or being on committee for reviewing grant proposals.

Which is exactly what I had in mind. A large portion of the scientific community already volunteers their time in such fashions, this would be nothing extraordinary.

Animal Rescue

I'm an easy mark for dogs. Act all cute, look lost ... and I'll fawn all over you. A couple of days ago, this fellow (pictured above) showed up at my door. He had appeared once before, but he had gotten out of my backyard (the wife has seen his fence jumping skills in action). Well, approximately three weeks later, he showed up again. This time I was smart and placed him on my dog run. He hasn't gone anywhere since ... unless I've been with him and he's been on a leash, in a crate, or in my house.

I adore the guy. I do have people putting feelers out to see if anyone wants to adopt him, but honestly ... I want him to go to a great home, and I don't trust anyone but me to do the job properly. I already have two dogs, and it's not as if they're cheap to take care of ... if you plan to do it properly. So I don't know what I'm going to do. I do know I have plans to build a kennel in my backyard if we do keep him, but I also had plans to build a Chimney Swift tower ... and it's not as if my backyard is HUGE.

The one thing that was very distressing though was calling the dozen or so no-kill rescues in the area I live around (plus ~200 mile radius), only to hear they are all full. They said they've been making rescues from pounds/shelters at an alarm rate. It's a shame. These guys don't deserve to live a life of abandonment, not knowing the love of a family (their pack). They deserve forever homes. The only way to ensure that more of this doesn't happen ... spay/neuter your dog. This helps keep the populations down, and keeps strays to a minimum. The fewer dogs in the pound, the fewer that need to be put to sleep.

Please, spay/neuter your pets.

Remember when I said ...

... that we could look into the future? It seems as if bacteria can too.

Microbes may be smarter than we think. A new study by Princeton University researchers shows for the first time that bacteria don't just react to changes in their surroundings -- they anticipate and prepare for them. The findings, reported in the June 6 issue of Science, challenge the prevailing notion that only organisms with complex nervous systems have this ability.

I knew it!

Bad guys get all the girls.

Uhhh, she's 15 inches tall ...

Sony makes robot that can "act like a real girlfriend".

"She's very lovable and though she's not a human, she can act like a real girlfriend."

Did I already mention she's 15 inches tall? I'm sure most people have dated women who weren't exactly tall, but 15 inches would be a tad too short by just about everyone's standards.

Pet cloning

Over at Digital Bio, Sandra is writing about the phenomenon of pet cloning. My take on it? Waste. Of. Money. With the amount of cute, lovable, and totally perfect dogs and cats in shelters waiting for a forever home and loving owners ... cloning a pet is, as far as I am concerned, ethically reprehensible. It's a status symbol move, and while it could be borne out of grief, that doesn't make it acceptable. And boo to those who have sold out and provide these services. Jerks.

Here is the thing: The clone WILL NOT be your old pet. It won't look identical, it will not behave identically either. It certainly won't have the memories your old pet had, and it won't have the same likes/dislikes. It probably won't have the cute little mannerisms you came to love in your old pet either. People who clone their pets are bound to be disappointed when they find these things out ... the hard way. You should love your new pet because of who they are, not what your old pet was. That's the only fair way. Besides, your cloned pet will have a shorter lifespan, not to mention other problems. Remember Dolly? She lived to be six years old, only half of the average lifespan of a sheep. Thing is, she was cloned from a six year old sheep herself, so at one year of age ... genetically, she was seven. You want to pay for that?

Adopt. I did.

This is Casey, my GSD. She's adopted, and I wouldn't trade her for anything.

Fortunately ...

... I don't have children, so I don't have to worry about being a chaperone. Though this comment really irks me:

"If you're a good parent, you're not going to have problems," said Krueger, who has handled numerous cases of children injured while in the custody of someone other than their parents. "If you're a crappy parent, you are."

I call bull on that. This is funny, especially considering that Kreuger is the lawyer who represented the parents of the girl who died (due to alcohol consumption). So tell me, were the Crossan's good parents? Their 16 year old was the one drinking, and there is a good chance it probably wasn't the first time. If someone raises their child like crap, there is no way a chaperone (who isn't the parent) should feel as if they will "not have problems", even if they're a good parent. At least not on a short trip. Plus it's a lose/lose situation for the chaperone. If the child acts like a little snot, and the chaperone imposes a curfew or punishment, you know the child will call the parents and the parents (who probably spoil the little snot) will complain. If the chaperone doesn't do a thing and the child gets hurt, the parents will raise a stink. Nevermind that I can hear the "You're not my mom/dad!" screams when the little brat doesn't get their way.

I guess I'd rather hear someone complain than sue me, because frankly I could care less about people whining and moaning ... and I'd be safe legally. I think. Next thing we know people will sue because their "experience" was ruined.

Currently ...

Listening To

Colony Collapse Disorder? Yeah right ...

... not for these folks. Their walls oozed honey, due to having over 60,000 bees inside the walls of their house. Goodness gracious!

Chaetura pelagica

About a week and a half ago, as my wife and I were sitting in our living room reading, we heard some chittering and fluttering coming from the chimney. I figured a bird had flown into, and then gotten stuck in our chimney. Fortunately (for the birds), it was late in the evening and I couldn't call anyone to come take a look.

The following day, I decided to browse the internet to see how I could safely get the bird out of my chimney myself. I guess I'm too miserly to pay someone to do a job which , at first glance, appears rather easy to do. Of course that's gotten me in trouble in the past ... like the time I wanted to change the radiator in my car ... and probably will get me in trouble in the future. As I was checking things out, I noticed a few pages which talked about Chimney Swifts (Chaetura pelagica). I had never heard of them before. One of the links brought me to eNature, which has a series of pictures and audio for a variety of birds. I clicked on the audio for the Chimney swift. Lo and behold, that was what was in my chimney!

They're a very beautiful bird, IMO, and their call is nice as well. It's certainly much more melodious than the sqwak which comes from the Blue Jay.

Well, last night as my wife and I were arriving home from my parents I heard several Chimney Swifts in our tree and saw several birds with the characteristic swept back wings flying overhead. It was at that point that I saw one bird fly towards our house, make a ninety degree turn downwards and shoot straight down into our chimney! I was stunned, and it was an awesome sight.

So, I'm the proud supporter of at least one family of Chimney Swifts. You can click here to read more about them.

Also, if you feel that you might have Chimney Swifts in your chimney, you're stuck with them for the season. Chimney Swifts are protected by State Wildlife Codes and Federal law under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1916. If you don't want them to return the following year, simply place a cap on your chimney. As for my wife and I, I think we'll be happy to have them return year after year. After all, they eat 1/3rd of their weight in insects each and every night.

Keyword of the Day

Panties.

More specifically ones which come in wadded or micro form.I don't know how or why, but it seems to bringing in the traffic. So, I'll roll with it. I'm not even going to touch the platapuss one though.

h/t to Illusory Tenant for the keyword idea.

The pain ...

... it continues. So it's actually been, like, three whole days in a row! that I've biked into work. The morning commute, not so bad, especially after I bought a pair of bar ends, which allow me to achieve a more comfortable, forward-leaning position. The ride home, almost totally unbearable. The heat washes up from the asphalt, there is a dry, hot, stiff wind that blows in my face almost the entire time ... and all the loonies are out in full force. You'd think people have never seen a bicyclist before. Anyways, I also bought a rear light while I was at it, and not a moment too soon as I had to ride into work in some heavy fog this morning. The most difficult part is still dragging my ass out of bed at 5:30 am. Fortunately I've been making lunch the night before, so all I have to do is get dressed, pack up the bike, let the dogs out to pee, put them back in, and then head on down the road for my 35 minute ride.

Who knew reducing your carbon footprint would be such a pain in the ass?

Smile ...

... you're on camera.

Observing ovulation in humans is extremely rare, and previous images have been fuzzy. Donnez captured the event by accident while preparing to carry out a partial hysterectomy on a 45-year-old woman. The release of an egg was considered a sudden, explosive event, but his pictures, to be published in Fertility and Sterility, show it taking place over a period of at least 15 minutes.

Shortly before the egg is released, enzymes break down the tissue in the mature follicle, a fluid-filled sac on the surface of the ovary that contains the egg. This prompts the formation of a reddish protrusion, and after a while a hole appears, from which the egg emerges, surrounded by support cells. It then enters a Fallopian tube, which carries it to the uterus.

Not pink but, definitely ...

... a unicorn.

The 1-year-old Roe Deer — nicknamed "Unicorn" — was born in captivity in the research center's park in the Tuscan town of Prato, near Florence, Tozzi said.

To the car-bound ...

Listen, the road wasn't made JUST. FOR. YOU. A whole lot of people use it, some for the same purposes as you, some for others ... but it really makes no difference. Contrary to what you might think, you DO NOT own the road. I don't care if you're drive a Volkswagen or a F250, the road IS NOT yours. Capische?

Now that we have that settled, let me learn you on something else. Not every vehicle on the road has four (or more) wheels. Some have two. They go by the names motorcycle, moped, and bicycle. THEY TOO are allowed on the road. They have just as much a right to be there as you, whether you think so or not. Got it?

It would behoove you to give them wide berth. Not only is it the courteous thing to do, it's also very wise (something you wouldn't know about yet) and is a safe practice. You never know when a bike chain might break spilling the bicyclist onto the road. If that happens, and you're right on his/her ass, you're going to run them over. It'll probably kill them, and yes it'll probably inconvenience you too. It's definitely going to slow you down from your mad rush to wherever the hell you're going, oblivious to the rest of the road/world.

To the owners of big 2-ton trucks, especially those with trailer side mirrors ... you know the ones that hang out from your truck about two extra feet. IF I CAN SEE MY REFLECTION IN YOUR MIRROR AS SOON AS YOU PASS ME ... YOU'RE TOO DAMN CLOSE! And to those who seemingly refuse to give bicyclists any room when passing, and there is no traffic coming the other way ... you're just an asshole. Why can't you move your vehicle halfway into the other lane? Other than the fact that you're a lazy piece of crap? Well, there is no other reason. Piss off you wanker.

Listen folks, bicycling to work isn't exactly my favorite thing to do at 6:00 in the morning, neither is bicycling home from work at 4:00 in the afternoon which is just about the hottest part of the day. So while I'd like to cut down on my fuel expenses ... I'd rather not lose my life in the process. I'm doing everything I can to make sure I do my part to make the life of myself and everyone else on the road safe and easy. If you think I'm too far over on your side of the white line, it's probably because I don't have anywhere else to go ... and rest assured, when I do have room to move over, I most certainly will. Don't ride my ass, or honk your horn ... I know you're there, I'm not deaf.

And then, when it comes time to talk to your local politicians ... tell them to make all our lives easier and invest in better public transportation and biking lanes on the roads. That way we're all safe and happy.

Fuel prices have people running for ...

... mass transit enmasse.

Problem is, mass transit can't keep up. Why? In part because our infrastructure sucks.

While many major cities cities have invested heavily in mass transit over the past 15 years, many more have not. Now that people are demanding service, there isn’t the infrastructure to provide it.

Get with it America. Oh, and while you're at it, put bike lanes on the roads, 'k? Thanks.

They're out there ...

... the question is, just how many are "they"?

Estimates range from 10,000 to over a 1,000,000 species of bacteria. At the moment, we really don't know. "A lot" often serves as a good answer.

WWMD?

What would macaques do?

But he said it showed a side of the monkeys that is well-known to researchers — an ability to adapt to the changing environment and shifting food sources.

"They are a survivor species, which has the knowledge to cope with difficult conditions," Meijaard said Tuesday. "This behavior potentially symbolizes that ecological flexibility."

I wonder how macaques would go about adapting to and/or solving our current energy and food crisis. They probably wouldn't have allowed it to get to this point though.

Currently ...

Listening To

Oceans To Go Acidic - Species Object

Coral not happy.

The notion that the oceans will become more acidic as CO2 concentrations rise is well understood. By the year 2100, ocean acidity is predicted to be 7.8 pH, compared to 8.2 pH in 1900.

Why is a pH of 7.8 significant?

At a pH of 7.8, the team noticed a marked change. Populations of coralline algae, which hold reefs together, suddenly crashed. Sea-urchins also disappeared.

Not good.

Tired of Your Milk Going Bad Before You Get to Drink It?

It's because of the way it's been processed.

The process that gives the milk a longer shelf life is called ultrahigh temperature (UHT) processing or treatment, in which milk is heated to 280 degrees Fahrenheit (138 degrees Celsius) for two to four seconds, killing any bacteria in it.

Compare that to pasteurization, the standard preservation process. There are two types of pasteurization: "low temperature, long time," in which milk is heated to 145 degrees F (63 degrees C) for at least 30 minutes, or the more common "high temperature, short time," in which milk is heated to roughly 160 degrees F (71 degrees C) for at least 15 seconds.

... the difference between UHT and normal pasteurization comes down to ...

The different temperatures hint at why UHT-treated milk lasts longer: Pasteurization doesn’t kill all bacteria in the milk, just enough so that you don't get a disease with your milk mustache. UHT, on the other hand, kills everything.

So, with UHT milk, you can buy it and then store it for up to 6 months in some cases. So if you want to make a run on milk, UHT is probably the route to go. Now, be warned ... all bets are off once the milk is opened. As long as it is properly sealed it's sterile, but once you open it and expose it to the environment it's going to get contaminated. It may take longer than regular, pasteurized milk would to spoil, but it will go bad eventually ... so thinking that you can buy your UHT milk tomorrow, open it up, and then drink from it for the next 6 months isn't going to be feasible.

Dude, where's my parachute?

Not on your back, Dude.

That's going to leave a mark. It certainly did on the house he landed on top of.
ETA: It's been ruled a suicide.

RIP Caribbean Monk Seal

Extinct.

It also looks like a couple of related species are also on the ropes.

The federal agency says there are fewer than 1,200 Hawaiian and 500 Mediterranean monk seals remaining, and their populations are declining.

... and ...

Monk seals are particularly sensitive to human disturbance. And the sea creatures have been losing their food supply and beaches, officials say.

"Once Hawaii, the Caribbean and the Mediterranean were teeming with fish, but these are areas under severe fishing pressure," Cornish said. "They'll eat almost anything — shellfish or finned fish — but their food supply is waning and they're in competition with man."

Do people realize that, when an animal loses their food supply, the chances are extremely great that our food supply is going to be threatened as well?

Germany bombs England!

Of course, the German-made bomb was dropped a little over 65 years ago.

It's not uncommon for World War II-era bombs to be unearthed in Europe. In London, which suffered the aerial bombardment of the Blitz, bombs are uncovered two or three times a year, Saunders said.

Wow. The scars of war take a long time to fade, eh? Makes you wonder just how long the Iraqi's will have to deal with their scars long after we're gone.

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Listening To

Stay away from Hartford, Conn

Especially if you love your life.

Pretty. Frickin. Cool.

Introducing, the Aptera.


I want one. Now. Currently estimated MPG, 120.

Cheney to scientists: Nyah, nyah, nyah!

I can't hear you!

Because this animal is an endangered marine mammal, NMFS, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, is charged with designing a recovery plan for them.

More than four years of NOAA research showed that speed kills whales. Above a speed of about 10 knots, a right whale's encounter with a large ship would likely be fatal.

NOAA is in charge of the scientific aspects of these types of rules, the federal Office of Management and Budget must weigh in on their economic impact. The OMB was supposed to make a decision on the rule last year -- but there is still no indication when it might act on it.

... and ...

Whale experts say they are frustrated by the amount of time the proposal has languished without a "yea" or "nay" from the Office of Management and Budget.

Rep. Henry Waxman said the long, drawn-out process within OMB and Vice President Dick Cheney's office is demoralizing career government scientists.

"I think many of the scientists who work for the government are very frustrated, and scientists outside of government are astounded to see the scientific method so abused by this administration. There's been a politicization of science to either ignore the science, rewrite it, or to suppress it," said Waxman, chairman of the Oversight and Government Reform Committee.

Waxman said the Bush administration thinks the "science shouldn't bind them. They're going to do what industry wants."

So, if it's not bullying government scientists into reporting/spinning things into a form that the administration deems acceptable (and in the best interests of the special interest groups they support and/or protect), they're burying scientist recommendations in red tape. This is, as far as I can tell, the most anti-intellectual administration I've ever seen. At least they were the best at something, right?

Ouchie

MSNBC blog blogs about PZ Myers. One of the commentators (Paul Lurquin) rips PZ Myers a new one (on page two of the comments).

You mention that PZ Myers is a well known evolutionary biologist. This is incorrect. In fact, Myers has not published any peer-reviewed work in over 10 years. He teaches at the very small branch campus of the University of Minnesota-Morris, which offers no graduate degrees in biology.

However, Myers is well known for his constant ravings against religion. This is what his so-called science blog "Pharyngula" is mostly about. While I share Myers' views about science and religion, I have nothing but contempt for his ruthless self-promotion and the vulgarity of some of his comments (and even more so, those of his storm troopers).

Let us not forget that Myers was paid to appear in "Excell." In my view, Myers is not an active scientist and he does not represent science in any way shape or form.

He said it. Not me.

The false dichotomy of the atheists who have hijacked Darwin also appears in this blog entry.

"I personally feel that religion itself is a lie and a danger," he said. In his view, even those who hold to religious faith at the same time that they hold to evolutionary theory are being "wishy-washy" in one way or another.

One questioner asked Myers whether that meant Brown University biologist Ken Miller, who has often said his passionate defense of evolution doesn't conflict with his religious beliefs, was being a wishy-washy scientist?

"No," Myers answered wryly, "I think Ken Miller is a wishy-washy Catholic."

Translation: If you believe evolution, you cannot possibly remain truly religious.

What a total load of horse crap. It's obvious that this is what Dr. Myers wants to believe, but that doesn't make it true. The Catholic Church has no problem accepting evolution as true. It does object to talk about the evolution of the soul, and it holds very strongly that Adam and Eve were actual individuals (i.e., it objects to polygenism [which I'll go into at some other time, and which can I believe be put into a proper scientific framework]), but other than that what's the fuss?

Before I head out to play softball ...

... I'll leave this for people to read. Biofuels: What do the experts think?

Some good comments in there. I might expand on this entry tomorrow as time permits.

I can see into the future ...

... and so can you. Of course it's only for 1/10th of a second, but ...

Scientists already knew about the lag, yet they have debated over exactly how we compensate, with one school of thought proposing our motor system somehow modifies our movements to offset the delay.

Changizi now says it's our visual system that has evolved to compensate for neural delays, generating images of what will occur one-tenth of a second into the future.

R.I.P. Bo Diddley

Bo Diddley dead, at age 79.

I've got a tombstone hand and a graveyard mind, I'm just twenty-two and I don't mind dyin'

Who do you love?

Shrink your carbon footprint ...

... move to a large city.

"Large metropolitan areas give their inhabitants smaller carbon footprints," says energy policy expert Marilyn Brown of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta (ranked 67th), lead author of the study. "Footprints are the smallest in areas with high density and good rail transit."

"Faith" is a fine invention

"Faith" is a fine invention
When Gentlemen can see—
But Microscopes are prudent
In an Emergency.

by: Emily Dickinson

Life Down Deep

Another press release from Science News about the deep sea microbial diversity study that I blogged about last week.

I still intend on doing a blogging research entry on it soon. I promise.

Ladies, I Don't Want To Hear It

So, this weekend I earned from serious credits with the wife by attending the Sex and the City movie with her. I've never seen the show so I was a bit lost about all the relationships, but being the smart cookie I am, I managed to figure out enough to make sense of the movie.

But I don't want to talk about the movie. I want to talk about the women (the audience was about 90% female, the other 10% being husbands, boyfriends, or guys trying to impress a particular girl to become her bf) who came to see the movie. I have never, ever seen so many black dresses in my life. My better half informed me that such getups were no doubt a homage to the Season One DVD. My reply: Dorks. All. Of. Them. More then a few also smelled of alcohol, probably from all the Cosmopolitans they downed prior to driving their drunk asses to the movie theater. Still dorky.

At any rate, I never want to hear a woman mock the dweebs who attend Star Wars movies dressed as Stormtroopers, Darth Vader or C3PO. I don't want to hear them make fun of a guy who wears a comic book-themed t-shirt to his favorite comic book-inspired movie. Yes, those people are dorks too ... but now women don't have the moral authority to express that opinion.

Amazing how a single movie can level the playing field, eh?