Random February

This may possibly be TMI, but I'm pretty excited. My gums have been bleeding and no, that's not why I'm excited, it’s actually quite annoying (and alarming). In the past, a few days worth of diligent flossing has taken care of this issue, but it appears I've finally reached the point of being immunosuppressed where I'm having trouble dealing with the bacteria in my mouth. However! My dentist to the rescue. He prescribed Perio-Gard, told me to rinse with it twice a day for a month and whereas I can honestly say that this tastes nasty - and I do mean really, really nasty - it pretty much worked instantaneously. The first day, my gums felt all tingly for hours, as if something was really working at them and they’ve felt all tight and perky since (I can't wait for the person who thinks they're going to find porn from a Google search involving the word 'perky' to find this paragraph). Today's health tip.

In the news: and they say there is no more need for feminism, part 247. As well, I just read an article the other day in which doctors call for warnings on certain types of foods that can present a choking risk to small children, in particular calling for a redesign of the hotdog. Good point and all that, but the line that made me laugh for a really long time is the following “… children are much more likely to put food in their mouths than a toy.” No, really?

A totally wonderful clock and with no reasonable segue whatsoever Trevor contributes the Canadiana of this post in honor of the Olympics: Tom Brokaw explains Canada to Americans and milk in bags. Also Stephen Hawkins in Lego, an article about the Diagram Prize celebrating odd book titles (my favourite is Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes) and I think I need to mention the following is from The Onion, Denmark introduces harrowing new tourism ads. I howled. Scandinavian humour - be warned.

John/TinkPapa sent me this link to some really funny readerboards and LynnM contributed interactive birdsong (particularly helpful for those of us who are in the depth of winter and haven't heard a bird singing for months), a wonderful essay on deliberately seeking out boredom and a tutorial on how to report the news.

In the past month, David has been a constant source of entertainment - I don't know how finds these links, but I'm glad he does. A pictoral explanation of why people pirate movies, Ringo in a drop of water, a NSFW follow-up to last month’s explanation of the differences of the Scandinavian countries and the T-shirt war.

Getting aquatic, take a look at the blob fish, also called the world's most miserable looking marine animal, a fascinating piece about how the impoundment of water affects the earth’s spin and a great story called Three Men in a Boat.

Breathtaking pictures of two European fire festivals, how the gunfights in Westerns can teach us about world peace, a meta post (you have no idea how meta) and remember when I was looking for a wife? I'm not the only one. And lastly, a real treat. An Esquire article about Roger Ebert - in depth, beautifully written and containing a quote from Ebert that is a most wonderful way of summing up a life philosophy: "we must try to contribute joy to the world." If only more people thought like that…