Jonathan Mann has written a song a day for 1500+ days.

Today’s song is about Gary, a walrus with ADD. It’s quite catchy.

image credit: david goehring

Among satire site The Onion's Oscars-related tweets last night was one that seems to have missed its target. Somewhat ironically, the intended target inferred a different intent of the joke, resulting in a frenzy of online outrage.

For those who may not have seen it, this is the offending tweet:

I think it's reasonable to find a tweet about a nine year old being considered a cunt unnecessarily offensive. Most people would agree that it was, minimally, crude and in poor taste.

Still, based on people's reactions, I'm getting the impression that a majority of those vilifying The Onion don't understand the joke or even understand that it was a joke.

More to the point, The Onion was not calling a nine year old (or anyone) a cunt.

Personally, I think it was a meh joke made with a poor choice of words and poorer choice of “target” (using quotes because the actual target(s) were those not mentioned in the tweet).

The Onion's target is not Quvenzhané Wallis. We are the intended target. The target is those responsible all the catty tweets and snarky comments aimed towards actresses.

If The Onion had used a less-loaded word than “cunt” and/or had named a celebrity who is not a child who happens to also be a person of color, or a celebrity with household name recognition who is known for their unfailing geniality, it probably would have gone relatively unnoticed.

The way I read it, the intent was something akin to saying: “Betty White is a slutty bitch”.

Not Really a slutty bitch

Since we all know Betty White is The Best and a national treasure, and not at all a slutty bitch, it would be obvious that was meant as a joke.

Since Quvenzhané Wallis is not only a nine year old, but also a newcomer to the whole Hollywood/celebrity universe, there's not as strong a frame of reference to realize exactly how ludicrous the description is, making it a somewhat less obvious joke.

Then again, I also love Seth MacFarlane's humor and think anyone taking it seriously just validates the point of his jokes. I'm not looking at the tweet through the same lens as those who considered his George Clooney joke to be “sexualizing” a nine year old. (I also thought his Lincoln joke was pretty funny.)

Not really my legs.

I don't consider myself a feminist (the only statement my hairy legs and armpits are making is that I keep forgetting to buy new razor blades). Even so, in the context of all the complaints about last night's rampant overt misogyny, The Onion's statement strikes me as a satirical message that actually leans towards a feminist point of view.

MaryAnn Johanson, whose self-described hairy legs (not sure about her armpits) do reflect her feminist point of view, has written a blog post that articulates what I'm getting out much better than I could (or at least better than I would, because my focus is waning and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to wrap this up) so I'm going to point you towards her article for more explanation: a feminist film critic defends the Onion’s Quvenzhané Wallis tweet

You can also read a former The Onion writer's take on the tweet here: Comedian (And Former 'The Onion' Writer) Baratunde Thurston Responds to Wallis Insult Controversy

[update] Another post that does a better job of explaining what I'm getting at here: Why The Onion’s C-Word Tweet Was Well-Intentioned — But Wrong (wired.com)

As (almost) always, I'd love to hear your thoughts – so please share in the comments below!

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Yesterday's massacre at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, is so vile and heartbreaking; I honestly can't find words to …. I just don't know what to say.

I haven't let my mind go even close to thinking fully about the living nightmare that the students, parents, faculty, families and first-responders are suffering through.

My imagination stretches to some extremely dark and morbid places, yet even letting my mind travel to those furthest corners is merely a vantage point from where I might see a glimpse of the reality that is their lives.

And I just can't bring myself to even look that far.

Tethered though my mind may be, my heart is filled beyond its fullest expanse with love, compassion, sympathy and prayers for everyone whose lives were so unfairly changed by yesterday's tragedy.

To Everyone Else:
Hug your loved ones a little tighter, say “I love you” an extra time, spoil your kids a little bit extra during the holidays (and every other chance you get).

We can't protect the people we care about from everything out there. But we can take every opportunity there is to help them feel safe, loved and secure.

xo

thank you to @ChristianMesser for sharing the Santa picture with me

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Who among us hasn't wished to see sky-diving cats spell out our name in the sky while R Kelly's 'I Believe I Can Fly' plays in the background?

For a woman named Eva, this wish came true [via Orange]:

A Swedish insurance company has made an ad featuring sky-diving cats after asking its customers for ideas.

As a co-operartive, Folksam is owned by its customers so asked them how best to advertise its services.

And the first idea it followed up was by a woman called Eva who has her pet cat insured with the firm.

She wanted to see sky-diving cats spell out her name in the sky while R Kelly's 'I Believe I Can Fly' played in the background.

No doubt to her surprise, Folksam, Sweden's oldest insurance company, liked the idea and commissioned the ad.

Since everything we see on the internet is real (rolls eyes), naturally animal-loving netizens have their collective panties all in a bunch over the heartless cruelty of dressing cats up in tiny flight suits, teaching them how to pull the ripcord for their tiny parachutes and then launching them out of a plane to free-fall in formation before high-fiving each other with their little kitty paws and plummeting towards the ground, fervently hoping their parachutes work.

In other news, people* are idiots and the video is fake, no doubt because its producers read this PSA from the Seattle Humane Society, so knew better.

*except for us, of course

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click to watch Voldemort in Action

The Goat-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named escaped from his owner to destroy a paper boy's reputation for life.

Pretty sure this kid's morning meets the criteria for “Most Humiliating Day In My Life”:

• Scared shitless by fainting goat
• Flee fainting goat by climbing tree
• Trapped by fainting goat in tree for an hour
• Reported missing by your employer
• Missing child report filed by parents
• Being rescued from fainting goat by police
• Have the story covered by CNN's national news

Somehow the fact that it was a fainting goat makes it even worse.

And you just know it was Goat-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's overly-cheery, Harry-Potter-loving-possibly-obsessed-adult, can't-keep-a goat-locked-up owner who reported this.

But you know what they say: No goats, no glory.

You can watch the video here.

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The American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) just received word from the U.S. Supreme Court that it will discuss whether to hear AFER’s federal constitutional challenge to California’s Proposition 8 at its private Conference on Friday, November 30. The Court will also consider on that date whether it will hear one or more challenges to the so-called Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

Hopefully this brings us a step closer to the day every American is able to marry the person they love.

While we wait, these latest two videos have been making their way around the interwebs in support of marriage equality. The first,”What makes a gay soldier different from a straight soldier?”, is serious and the second, “Gay Men Will Marry Your Girlfriends”, uses humor; both are worth watching.

What makes a gay soldier different from a straight soldier?

Gay Men Will Marry Your Girlfriends

Visit the AFER website for more detailed information on the significance of SCOTUS's upcoming decision and/or background about Prop 8 and DOMA.

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(This is cross-posted from EnjoyToday.com)

Pick pretty much any shirt or dress from my wardrobe, and there's a 99% chance that I've spilled something on it at some point. So when I saw the “No Spill” Kangaroo Cup on KickStarter, it grabbed my attention.

Once I read the background, I knew I wanted a Kangaroo Cup of my very own – not only for the lure of a stain-free future, but because I was so inspired and touched by the story behind it:

The Story

A couple years ago my daughter came up with an invention to help her grandfather (my dad) who has Parkinson's disease, and was frequently spilling his drinks. After a bit of experimentation, she made him a plastic cup that didn't tip and was comfortable. About a year later, she noticed that I had wrecked a keyboard or two with spilled coffee, and she made me a ceramic version at a local pottery studio. Using it, I realized what a great cup it was and I asked her if she wanted to try to bring it to production. What followed was the adventure of a lifetime for our family that had us up to our elbows in clay, traveling to the world's capital of fine porcelain, JingDeZhen, China to prepare for a production run, and culminating in this Kickstarter project.

What started out a simple weekend project has become almost an obsession to build the world's best cup. I've had the time of my life working with my daughter to bring this product to production, and to show her that an idea can become reality.

… This campaign is not just about bringing a product to production, it is about sending a message to every parent and every kid with an invention (which is just about every kid) that in history's blink of an eye, we suddenly find ourselves living in a world where that dream can be made real.

So, to every kid (of any age) with an idea. This project is dedicated to you!

As of the time I am writing this, Lily has three days to raise the $521 needed to reach the $6,000 goal to make her project a success. One Kangaroo Cup costs $17 (shipping included). That's 31 Kangaroo Cups – just over ten cups a day.

Let's help Lily reach her dream! A Kangaroo Cup is the perfect holiday gift for your favorite slob. Even better, you'll be giving a gift with a meaningful, inspirational story behind it.

Click here to support Lily's project and buy your very own Kangaroo Cup.

Understandably, not everyone has money to spare these days – but you can still help. Pledges can be any amount (as low as $1), so you don't need to buy a cup to be a backer.

Even if you can't afford to support the project financially, you can help by spreading the word, and sharing information about the project with as many people as possible in the next three days.

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Congratulations, President Obama. Congratulations, America.

Of all the moments captured on video and shared around the internet, two stand out as my favorites.

The first is the first minute of President Obama's victory speech, watching our First Family take the stage. Especially sweet is at 40 seconds in, when Sasha gently reminds her dad to wave to the crowd standing behind them (which he immediately does). [hat tip to Gawker.com for highlighting this moment - the reader comments are equally heartwarming]

The second is this video of President Obama thanking his campaign staff. After President Obama tells his team that what comes to mind is not how much they remind him of himself, but the fact that they “are so much better than I was in so many ways”, we see him wipe away his tears as he says:

Because what you guys have done means that the work I'm doing is important. And I'm really proud of that. I'm really proud of all of you.

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I think the title pretty much speaks for itself.

[hat tip: Jezebel]

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