CBB doesn't believe the twins rumor: [link]

But if you go to some of the later entries, OMG, Gwyneth has totally popped.

Anxious fathers increase birth-pain levels, study says.

Scientists found a woman's level of fear and anxiety about surgery was likely to be raised if their birth partner was anxious too.

This increased their pain levels, potentially affecting recovery, and compromising breastfeeding and bonding with their newborn child.

The UK study features in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.

I have a question for all you classy people out there. Say you're going out to a very class-ay restaurant with a pricey tasting menu of, say, seven or nine courses. There's an additional wine pairing for an astronomical charge. Are those full pours? It's not seven or nine glasses of wine, is it?

Timelies all!

Well, I finally got off my ass and went to the local swim center to do laps. Ok, I only did 3 laps, but its a start, isn't it?

It's certainly a start, Sheryl!

Hi.

I've been out of bed for 7 hours now, and I am pretty sure I'm not fully awake yet. I hope no one notices.

This is one of the best essays on politics and media that I've read in a long time: [link]

THE TRIANGLE: Matthews, Moore, Murtha, and the Media: What's the common thread running through the past half-decade of Bush's presidency? What's the nexus between the Swift-boating of Kerry, the Swift-boating of Murtha, and the guilt-by-association between Democrats and terrorists? Why has a seemingly endless string of administration scandals faded into oblivion? Why do Democrats keep losing elections? It's this: the traditional media, the trusted media, the "neutral" media, have become the chief delivery mechanism of potent anti-Democratic and pro-Bush storylines. And the Democratic establishment appears to be either ignorant of this political quandary or unwilling to fight it.

There's a critical distinction to be made here: individual reporters may lean left, isolated news stories may be slanted against the administration. What I'm describing is the wholesale peddling by the "neutral" press of deep-seated narratives, memes, and soundbites: simple, targeted talking points that paint a picture of reality for the American public that favors the right and tarnishes the left.

You’ve heard the narratives: Bush is likable, Bush is a regular guy, Bush is firm, Bush is a religious man, Bush relishes a fight, Democrats are muddled, Democrats have no message, national security is Bush’s strength, terror attacks and terror threats help Bush (even though he presided over the worst attack ever on American soil), Democrats are weak on security, Democrats need to learn how to talk about values, Republicans favor a “strict interpretation” of the Constitution, and on and on.

...

These narratives are woven so deeply into the fabric of news coverage that they have become second nature and have permeated the public psyche and are regurgitated in polls. (The polls are then used to strengthen the narratives.) They are delivered as affirmative statements, interrogatives, hypotheticals; they are discussed as fact and accepted as conventional wisdom; they are twisted, turned, shaped, reshaped, and fed to the American public in millions of little soundbites, captions, articles, editorials, news stories, and opinion pieces. They are inserted into the national dialogue as contagious memes that imprint the idea of Bush=strong/Dems=weak. And they are false.

Are those full pours? It's not seven or nine glasses of wine, is it?

No it'll be like a flight of wines. Well, not a flight, but the amount you get in a flight. So about half a glass I expect.

Still in love with the Batfacts. One of mine's at six! I think the six hours of eye-closing will remain my favourite.

EW said offhand that Bradley Cooper and Seth McFarlane should be on a TV show together, playing friends. How intensely delightful an idea.

I could have sworn they said that about BC and Seth Green. Weird.