Ravenweb Blog

During today's Bills-Panthers football game on CBS, I noticed a number of Walmart spots highlighting "family" moments. Apparently, because you can save money at Walmart and buy more stuff, you're happier and consequently spend more time with your family. The commercials I saw featured family members happily and wholesomely playing video games. The spots I did not see were of Walmart's own employees engaging with their families, happy and living better on a Walmart salary. I also didn't see any commercials revealing the family moments of Walmart's legion of overseas outsourced labor. Maybe we'll see these spots during the holidays.

As someone who believes that effects in our lives are often due to unknown causes that make things seem like chance or luck, this article about behavior affecting luck rang true. Be lucky - it's an easy skill to learn

This is one of those entirely self-indulgent and nonsensical posts, but I was wondering who I would want to play me in a movie. Instead of focusing on actors who look like me or maybe have similar mannerisms, I picked actors who I enjoy, are close to me in age, and who I think in various ways represent my personality. The candidates to play me are: Zach Braff Why? He can likely portray my nerdiness while still being funny. Plus, his star is on the rise, so he would be a big box office draw. John Cusack Why? With The Sure Thing , Better Off Dead , and the classic Say Anything , John Cusack has already played me, or played a version of myself, just as he's no doubt played versions of countless other men who grew up in the 80s. And this was before he did High Fidelity , and anyone who was the lead in that movie would definitely nail the part of me. Joaquin Phoenix Why? The sleeper pick of the bunch, Phoenix brings intangibles and an intensity to his craft that few other actors can mat...

As much as I like our new 2007 Volkswagen GTI , I was surprised and bemused to see that the GTI and VW brand have inspired a PC racing game GTI Racer . Too funny!

As many of you know, my wife and are looking to purchase a house. In the interest of choosing wisely, I wanted to reach out to those of you who own a home and ask for your suggestions and tribal insight. We know the basics, but we were wondering about the lesser known truths, for example, anything you learned about your home or the purchasing process after you bought your home, but that you wished you knew beforehand.

I'm thrilled to report that we now have a new 2007 Volkswagen GTI ! We picked it up a few weeks ago, and it has proven to be a wonderfully designed, feisty vehicle. The GTI is equipped with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine featuring direct injection and a single turbocharger. This translates to 197 horsepower at 5100 rpm and 207 pound-feet of torque at just 1800. So we can now get to 60 mph in about seven seconds. The only problem with the new ride is that both Cecily and I want to drive it all the time!

First, the definition: Main Entry: tryp·to·phan Pronunciation: 'trip-t&-"fan Variant(s): also tryp·to·phane /-"fAn/ Function: noun Etymology: International Scientific Vocabulary tryptic + -o- + -phane : a crystalline essential amino acid C11H12N2O2 that is widely distributed in proteins Source: Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary Tryptophan and turkey: This snippet from a Wikipedia entry on tryptophan offers some evidence that tryptophan in turkey is not likely the soporific that it's commonly believed to be. According to popular belief, tryptophan in turkey meat causes drowsiness. Turkey does contain tryptophan, which does have a documented sleep-inducing effect as it is readily converted into serotonin by the body. However, tryptophan is effective only when taken on its own as a free amino acid. Tryptophan in turkey is found as part of a protein, and, in small enough amounts, this mechanism seems unlikely. A more-likely hypothesis is that the ingestion of large q...

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