Smart Bitches Trashy Books | All of the romance, none of the bullshit.

Some old-school cover gems from the woman who perfected the “If she can tell the difference between the identical twins, it must be twu wuv!” schtick in Romancelandia.

Did you know there are really about fourteen other pages on the internet? Really, it’s a trick done with mirrors. I’m not sure how. I’m not sure if we even exist. I need to go lie down now.

From Jenyfer Matthews, a silly link courtesy of KY Massage oil: Are you British In Bed? Discover your sexual nationality. I, apparently, am 79% Taiwanese, which is hugely amusing considering that I’m the non-Asian half of the Bitching Duo. I now wonder if I am more Asian than Candy. Probably not.

From Barb Ferrer, a link to her part of the Chica-Lit Blog tour, which contains an excerpt from a previously written piece, and a challenge for commenting. For ever comment she receives to the entry, she’ll be donating an additional $5 on top of her initial $150 donation to a charity which assisted her friends before and after the tragic death of their daughter.

And from Ernmeister, the Icelandic Phallological Museum. Is there a better way to honor the wildlife of your country than to amass “a collection of over one hundred penises and penile parts belonging to almost all the land and sea mammals that can be found in Iceland”? The curator, one Sigurdur Hjartarson, is photographed there next to one prize specimen. Boy howdy, indeed.

In an article that utterly fascinated me, Dan Hurley writes for the NY Times about Dr. Katherine P. Rankin’s study wherein an MRI was used to determine where sarcasm resides - not the ability to create it, but the ability to detect and process it.

According to the article, Dr. Rankin is a neuropsychologist and an assistant professor at the Memory and Aging Center in San Francisco. She developed the idea in response to evidence that people with head injuries and those who lose their ability to discern words and their meanings could not correctly interpret sarcasm.

My favorite part of the article:

So is it possible that Jon Stewart, who wields sarcasm like a machete on “The Daily Show,” has an unusually large right parahippocampal gyrus?

“His is probably just normal,” Dr. Rankin said. “The right parahippocampal gyrus is involved in detecting sarcasm, not being sarcastic.”

But, she quickly added, “I bet Jon Stewart has a huge right frontal lobe; that’s where the sense of humor is detected on M.R.I.”

That’s right. Compliment your man - tell him he has a huge right frontal lobe. Rwor.

There’s nothing sexier than the process of pipetting. No, that’s wrong. How about a ballad touting the sexy miracle that is an automatic pippeting machine?

It’s called EP Motion baby. How can you resist lyrics like:

Pipetting all those well-plates, baby, sends your thumbs into overdrive
And spending long nights in the lab makes it hard for your love to thrive....

DNA
RNA
Proteins
Cell Cultures
Less reagents
Faster workflow
Saves you money
Well, well, well

Well, well, well indeed. Enjoy that, romance science geeks.

But wait, there’s more!

Robert J. Sawyer gave a marvelous ranting talk at the University of Waterloo about science fiction, it’s origins, and what it meant in terms of social relevance. Evan Steacy set them to visual images, and the three part narration is fascinating, particularly the part about Shelley’s Frankenstein.

All you science fiction romance fans, enjoy.

Thanks to Nathalie Grey for the link. 

From Lucinda Betts: a truly fascinating article on why and how our brains are wired to enjoy stories. Seriously - worth a read over your morning weekend coffee.

We tell stories about other people and for other people. Stories help us to keep tabs on what is happening in our communities. The safe, imaginary world of a story may be a kind of training ground, where we can practice interacting with others and learn the customs and rules of society. And stories have a unique power to persuade and motivate, because they appeal to our emotions and capacity for empathy.

Storytelling is one of the few human traits that are truly universal across culture and through all of known history.

If I’d had this when I was taking chem, I’d have had a lot easier time remembering how chemical reactions work. I think it’s the dance music, really.

Thanks to Vera for the link. 

Ever wanted to read an audio book? (I so do, it’s like a fetish almost. I would love to do voice work. It’s bizarre, how fascinated I am with the whole industry.) Or maybe volunteer your time in an entirely new way? Check out LibriVox, where you can volunteer your time, and your sexy voice, to read audio books of works in the public domain. They have a whole process in place where books are announced, chapters are assigned, and voices are collected - so that folks who prefer audio books or who need them for a variety of reasons can access classic writing from poetry to fiction.

So cool. Just as soon as I find the microphone on my laptop and also find a spare hour or so, I am all over that. 

From Rebecca comes this thought provoking link: a Georgian (I think) -era vampire hunting kit sold at auction for $14,850.00 in Natchez, Mississippi. It contained stakes, holy water, Bibles, mirrors, crosses and garlic.

Aside from the question as to whether Colleen Gleason is going to go see it for herself, my query is this: how in the world does 200 year old garlic look that fresh? I mean, I have some garlic that’s past its prime, and it does NOT look like that.

I sense supernatural powers at work.