War Dances:
“I wanted to call my father and tell him that a white man thought my brain was beautiful”. Sherman Alexie doing his thing in The New Yorker, excerpted from his upcoming book (
early review; interview
1,
2.)
posted by Non Prosequitur
on Oct 5, 2009 -
45 comments
One in 8 Million "New York is a city of characters. On the subway and in its streets, from the intensity of Midtown to the intimacy of neighborhood blocks, is a 305-square-mile parade of people with something to say. This is a collection of a few of their passions and problems, relationships and routines, vocations and obsessions. A new story will be added weekly."
A photo and audio series from the
New York Times.
[more inside]
posted by ocherdraco
on Aug 22, 2009 -
53 comments
"Their idea is, in broad outline, straightforward. Dr.
Crespi and Dr.
Badcock propose that an evolutionary tug of war between genes from the father’s sperm and the mother’s egg can, in effect, tip brain development in one of two ways. A strong bias toward the father pushes a developing brain along the
autistic spectrum, toward a fascination with objects, patterns, mechanical systems, at the expense of social development. A bias toward the mother moves the growing brain along what the researchers call the psychotic spectrum, toward hypersensitivity to mood, their own and others’. This, according to the theory, increases a child’s risk of developing
schizophrenia later on, as well as mood problems like bipolar disorder and depression."
posted by grumblebee
on Nov 11, 2008 -
43 comments
Father Ted Festival: 9 years after
Father Ted aka
Dermot Morgan suddenly died, a weekend festival, based on the Father Ted series is taking place (will include such events as the Father Jack cocktail evening, Buckaroo speed dating, a cleaning fluid drinks reception, the Inis Mór lovely girls competition, and the drafting of the island’s Eurovision entry).
Two Aran Islands,
Mór and
Oirr, are
at loggerheads over the right to host it.
This will culminate in a five-a-side football match, and Paddy Power is taking more bets on this than on yesterday’s
England Ireland six-nations championship game (which Ireland won, just saying).
posted by Wilder
on Feb 25, 2007 -
32 comments
Milkmen. "David could do it simply through suggestion. He began telling himself that he would lactate, and within a week, one of his breasts swelled up and milk began dripping out." (SFW, but not for my sense of genetic order)
posted by adamms222
on Sep 23, 2004 -
31 comments
The only thing that masks the pain is sleep, but even that's hard to come by. I've occasionally checked in with 17 y.o. Markelle's blog for a year or two now. While I don't know her personally, I'd consider it unlikely that she's making this up. I'd guess it's more likely that her dad actually did commit suicide. "Best of the web?" Honestly, I don't know. Perhaps it's just a glimpse at a life that might benefit from your good thoughts.
posted by scarabic
on Aug 1, 2004 -
56 comments
"Jody Has Two Daddies" -- The literal remix. Scientists are making egg cells now, raising the (eventual) possibility of one guy providing the genetic material to raise a crop of eggs, while the other guy provides the crop of sperm (no extra work necessary). Just add one surrogate mother and there you have it: Yet another fundamentalist nightmare, in cute infant "Adam and Steve" form.
posted by jscalzi
on May 2, 2003 -
27 comments
Sperm donor is the legal dad? Hmmm, because this guy donated his goods to a lesbian couple, he is the biological father of three children... but now that the couple broke up, the mother wants child support and took him to court.
He fought it, but she won...
posted by darian
on Feb 1, 2002 -
19 comments
This story of a whiz kid who vanished raises all kinds of questions. Sufiah, a 15-year-old student at Oxford University, disappears; then, her father receives an e-mail, supposedly from her.
The e-mail claims that she ran away from her father's abusive high-pressure learning techniques;
the father claims that she must have been kidnapped and brainwashed. The police aren't sure how to handle this situation, as there's no way to
prove that the mail is really from the daughter. Finally, the father has called in the media to present
his side of the story, since Sufiah has threatened to go to the media with hers.
posted by harmful
on Jul 6, 2000 -
11 comments
