As seen elsewhere on the webbertubes: Links found today January 12, 2012
Abobo’s Big Adventure – A Tribute to 80’s Video Games:
The Blogess – How To Make Your Husband Think You’re a Witch:
When I was in HR we had swear jars to keep us from cursing. I liked the concept but I always thought it would be better used to stop people from saying more uncomfortable phrases than “douche-nozzle” and “hell-biscuits.” That’s why I want to make my own swear jars and make my husband use them ALL THE TIME.
The Guardian – Curvy + hairy + size 10 = real woman:
There is no real woman. She is a backlash, albeit an understandable one, against the super-slim ideal of the past decade plus. She’s not like the real man. He’s redolent of spanners, chest hair and sweat. He may glower, but he’s kind to his mother. He’s defined by what he does, not what he isn’t – he’s not in opposition to slightly podgy man, or hunch-shouldered man.
The real woman, however, is defined in opposition and bitterness. Her vagueness contrasts with the specificity of what she is not: beanpole, waif, stick insect, undernourished. At the extreme is Platell, howling: “No breasts, no curves, so desiccated by starvation they’d be unable to have a child even if they wanted to.” Even leaving aside the implication that you’re not a real woman if you can’t conceive, or choose not to, this is still an insidious way to talk about thin women. (And to desiccate means to remove moisture, not food.)
The creators of the real woman purport to promote good body image, particularly for those of “average size” and above. To a certain extent, they’re succeeding. But, under cover of deliberately vague language, they’re also creating a new pariah: “unreal woman”. There’s no place in journalism for linguistic cowardice, even less so when it’s born of casual bigotry. Writing should be done with honesty and clarity – especially when the subject is as delicate as body image.
The New York Times – Grief Can Cause a Heart Attack:
In a large new study, scientists have confirmed what the medical world has long suspected: The so-called broken-heart syndrome is real. The study, published on Monday in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, found that a person’s heart attack risk is 21 times higher than normal the day after a loved one dies.
Retroist – Knight Rider Becames Robert:
The trouble is that there are very, very few people who can experience a story without bringing in their own personal context. You’d have to either be wildly imaginative or somewhat delusional to ignore your real-world experiences completely.
Big Fat Blog – Diabetes Expert Disses Weight-Loss Programs:
The disconnect between Kahn saying " community programs are ineffective at achieving weight loss" and "raising the price of all food except for fruits and vegetables, and offering financial incentives to people who can keep weight off, while penalizing overweight people with higher insurance premiums" is staggering. Does he realize how two-faced he sounds? Does he realize what an asshat that kind of thinking makes him? "Weight loss is nearly impossible, but if you don't lose weight and keep it off, you're going to pay more for your insurance, even though it's not your fault and there's nothing you can do about it, we're going to fuck you over anyway because you're fat and we think you should be thin because only thin people are healthy."
Digibattle – Crotch versus Boobies? Which One Is More Offensive (Or It’s All a Prank):
A few days ago Namco Bandai surprised many with its very edgy and possibly NSFW Soul Calibur V promotional poster. They got plenty of attention, and tried the trick once more, with another edgy render of one of the in-game characters. But it appears that they took it too far this time. The poster was published on their Facebook page, and apparently it was so offensive that many folks complained. And Namco took it down.