Saw it yesterday and thought it was quite good. Thought the Madagascar penguins short in the beginning was not very good. Being British in background, I've seen other W&G shorts and I was really looking forward to this - it didn't disappoint.
I hate to jump into the fray more, but...
As a member of Planned Parenthood, I often get sent stories of young women who are denied Emergency Contraception ("Morning After Pill") by pharmacists who are morally and religiously opposed to abortion. Often, these women describe driving around to pharmacy after pharmacy trying to get the drugs they need before it is too late (72 hours). Ocassionally, the pharmasist will refuse to return the prescription as well as fill it. Imagine for a second if that was you (or your daughter, sister or best friend).
Currently, Roe v. Wade protects a woman's right to choose to end a preganacy. O'Connor upheld that right, writing:
Roe's essential holding be retained [505 U.S. 833, 834] and reaffirmed as to each of its three parts: (1) a recognition of a woman's right to choose to have an abortion before fetal viability and to obtain it without undue interference from the State, whose pre-viability interests are not strong enough to support an abortion prohibition or the imposition of substantial obstacles to the woman's effective right to elect the procedure;....
Now, whether or not you think such things should be decided by the courts, or Congress, I don't know. Currently, we have a decision that says, yes it is protected. A lot of people think that it shouldn't be, so I am extremely reluctant to open it up for debate now in the legislature.
It's when I think of those girls and women who had their choices taken away from them that I sign those checks to Planned Parenthood, make sure to never forget to take my birth control every day and always make sure that I have codoms in my drawer.
OK - I don't want to ruin the surprize, but I can't not mention it. I emailed your info over to Adam Kuban, squidranch, more notably of sliceny.com, and more relevantly of ahamburgertoday.com, which does hamburger reviews for LA, NYC and a few other places. His west-coast correspondent is "all about" doing a story - so stay tuned for that.
The brain is kind of amazing. When I started learning Czech, I always wondered why, when I didn't know a word, my brain would automatically subsitute the French word, rather than the English one. To me that suggests that there's a connection in the brain between all the new languages that you learn, regardless of whether they're similar in any way or not, as distinct from your native language.
In terms of women's bathroom actions - I too have been struck by the fact that some will STOP PEEING when you enter. Or people who flush the toilet to cover the sound of urination. Okay, some people are nervous pee-ers, but still.
Another etiquette point - I've always felt that if you're going to carry on a conversation with someone while you pee (in seperate stalls, obvs.), it should be someone you know fairly well. It's always interesting to see which coworkers and casual aquaintances will initiate or continue a conversation while we're in the stalls and which ones won't.
cabingirl - I cannot describe how much I hate that commerical. That woman is offensive to me in so many ways.
Look, diamonds are shiny and pretty. But the whole manipulative buy-me-things-so-I-know-you-love-me thing? Feh. If I want pretty shiny things I will buy them for myself. Now, if you DO get me something shiny, I will be flattered and appreciative.
DeBeers is an evil monopoly anyway - let's stay away fromconflictdiamonds.
I recommend both Portugal and the Czech Republic - like everyone else. I had the greatest times in both places. Either way, airfare is a doozy, but the rest is cheap. I guess it really comes down to - which would you rather be drinking? Good, cheap beer or good, cheap wine?
I couldn't agree with this commentor more:
Wow, this will be like watching a couple of concert pianists blunder into a mosh pit. I wonder how long they will be able to stand it.
Seriously, though, this will be cool.
My aunt has it - basically, she's very hyperthyroidic, so she doesn't gain weight, she very active and has lots of energy. And the rest of in the family thought that was just her personality! She's known about it for a while, been through remission, and now it's back again. The only difference I see is that she has to be careful to take her medication, which she sometimes jokingly refers to as her "fatty pill," otherwise she may lose too much weight.
Apparently, people who have her hyperthyroidic symptoms sometimes have trouble sleeping too, but she's never had that problem.
Saw it yesterday and thought it was quite good. Thought the Madagascar penguins short in the beginning was not very good. Being British in background, I've seen other W&G shorts and I was really looking forward to this - it didn't disappoint.
posted by nicola 19 years ago
In "U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor calls it quits."
I hate to jump into the fray more, but... As a member of Planned Parenthood, I often get sent stories of young women who are denied Emergency Contraception ("Morning After Pill") by pharmacists who are morally and religiously opposed to abortion. Often, these women describe driving around to pharmacy after pharmacy trying to get the drugs they need before it is too late (72 hours). Ocassionally, the pharmasist will refuse to return the prescription as well as fill it. Imagine for a second if that was you (or your daughter, sister or best friend). Currently, Roe v. Wade protects a woman's right to choose to end a preganacy. O'Connor upheld that right, writing: Roe's essential holding be retained [505 U.S. 833, 834] and reaffirmed as to each of its three parts: (1) a recognition of a woman's right to choose to have an abortion before fetal viability and to obtain it without undue interference from the State, whose pre-viability interests are not strong enough to support an abortion prohibition or the imposition of substantial obstacles to the woman's effective right to elect the procedure;.... Now, whether or not you think such things should be decided by the courts, or Congress, I don't know. Currently, we have a decision that says, yes it is protected. A lot of people think that it shouldn't be, so I am extremely reluctant to open it up for debate now in the legislature. It's when I think of those girls and women who had their choices taken away from them that I sign those checks to Planned Parenthood, make sure to never forget to take my birth control every day and always make sure that I have codoms in my drawer.
posted by nicola 19 years ago
Supreme Court: What You Can Do RIGHT NOW [DailyKOS]
posted by nicola 19 years ago
In "Help a monkey out"
OK - I don't want to ruin the surprize, but I can't not mention it. I emailed your info over to Adam Kuban, squidranch, more notably of sliceny.com, and more relevantly of ahamburgertoday.com, which does hamburger reviews for LA, NYC and a few other places. His west-coast correspondent is "all about" doing a story - so stay tuned for that.
posted by nicola 19 years ago
In "Fat Britney Chosen for new Holostamps"
Watch out for the audio - nothing like having 'Surgery Required for New Sexual Position" come blasting out of the speakers.
posted by nicola 19 years ago
In "Flickr Related Tag Browser"
this is cool
posted by nicola 19 years ago
In "SXSW is coming."
Can't go in real life - try this excellent blog: See You in the Pit
posted by nicola 19 years ago
In "The virtual locust effect ... "
this could also help too.
posted by nicola 19 years ago
In "Straight Outta Compton (mp3)"
(This perfectly syncs with the theme of my MoFi CD Swap mix.)
posted by nicola 19 years ago
In "Curious George: Bored kitty. "
Sounds like you need: Confuse-A-Cat!
posted by nicola 19 years ago
In "MonkeyFilter CD SWap III"
yay! After seeing everyone's fantastic taste in music here at MoFi over the last year, I can't NOT be in.
posted by nicola 19 years ago
In "Qu'est-ce que the hell? Lessons in Franglais."
The brain is kind of amazing. When I started learning Czech, I always wondered why, when I didn't know a word, my brain would automatically subsitute the French word, rather than the English one. To me that suggests that there's a connection in the brain between all the new languages that you learn, regardless of whether they're similar in any way or not, as distinct from your native language.
posted by nicola 19 years ago
This reminds me a little of my college french classes, where a student once asked, "Can we ouvre une fenettre? It's a little chaud in here."
posted by nicola 19 years ago
In "Work Poopers of the World, Unite!"
In terms of women's bathroom actions - I too have been struck by the fact that some will STOP PEEING when you enter. Or people who flush the toilet to cover the sound of urination. Okay, some people are nervous pee-ers, but still. Another etiquette point - I've always felt that if you're going to carry on a conversation with someone while you pee (in seperate stalls, obvs.), it should be someone you know fairly well. It's always interesting to see which coworkers and casual aquaintances will initiate or continue a conversation while we're in the stalls and which ones won't.
posted by nicola 19 years ago
In "One man's raunchy rant."
cabingirl - I cannot describe how much I hate that commerical. That woman is offensive to me in so many ways. Look, diamonds are shiny and pretty. But the whole manipulative buy-me-things-so-I-know-you-love-me thing? Feh. If I want pretty shiny things I will buy them for myself. Now, if you DO get me something shiny, I will be flattered and appreciative. DeBeers is an evil monopoly anyway - let's stay away from conflict diamonds.
posted by nicola 19 years ago
In "Worldwide Pants"
Also - Jetblue flys to Puerto Rico, the Bahamas and the Dominican Republic.
posted by nicola 19 years ago
I recommend both Portugal and the Czech Republic - like everyone else. I had the greatest times in both places. Either way, airfare is a doozy, but the rest is cheap. I guess it really comes down to - which would you rather be drinking? Good, cheap beer or good, cheap wine?
posted by nicola 19 years ago
In "Becker and Posner Conquer the Blogosphere:"
I couldn't agree with this commentor more: Wow, this will be like watching a couple of concert pianists blunder into a mosh pit. I wonder how long they will be able to stand it. Seriously, though, this will be cool.
posted by nicola 19 years ago
In "Curious, George: Graves Disease"
My aunt has it - basically, she's very hyperthyroidic, so she doesn't gain weight, she very active and has lots of energy. And the rest of in the family thought that was just her personality! She's known about it for a while, been through remission, and now it's back again. The only difference I see is that she has to be careful to take her medication, which she sometimes jokingly refers to as her "fatty pill," otherwise she may lose too much weight. Apparently, people who have her hyperthyroidic symptoms sometimes have trouble sleeping too, but she's never had that problem.
posted by nicola 19 years ago
In "If I was going to spend $450.00 on an iPod, this is the one."
over at Slashdot, they decided to coin a new phrase: "Free as in iPod".
posted by nicola 19 years ago
(limited to the most recent 20 comments)