- Booing people you disagree with
- Throwing pies at people you disagree with
- Chanting “shame, shame, shame” at people you disagree with
Open for comments...
Monday, July 31, 2006
Tell Tearfree how you really feel
As opinionated as Tearfree is and as happy as she is to see everyone have an opinion, even a completely ridiculous one, here are three things that opinionated people do that really, really bug Tearfree and which she believes merit further discussion.
Open for comments...
Open for comments...
Jacy Here: My Inaugural Post
Even though at the bottom of this post it may look like Tearfree in fact wrote this passionate defence of my hometown, in fact it's me, Jacy, in my inaugural Reject the Koolaid post.
Hello, everyone!
And now, let's get down to business.
I am going to tell you a little story about the first summer I spent in a faraway Quebec enclave filled with Montreal Westmount types. It was a lovely place but one of the first people I met there asked me the following question: "And where do you hail from?" And I replied: "I was born and raised in Toronto." And she said, recoiling in horror: "TORONTO? How unfortunate for you!!"
Now this scorched my pads in an intense way and I am going to tell you why. Firstly, who the hell insults someone's hometown right to their face? How rude is that? Would I say: "Sudbury, what a goddamned cesspool!" to a native Sudburian??? No I would not, not only because it's rude, but because I think Sudbury has its charms, particularly to anyone who spent their childhood there -- every place does. Secondly, Toronto happens to be quite a wonderful city, and I can't tell you how sick to death I am of all the people living here and earning great livings, residing in fabulous homes in beautiful neighborhoods, raising children who are proud Torontonians and who get a lot out of all the things the city has to offer, yet bitch about wanting the hell out of this dreadful place. Not to mention the people who have really barely spent any time here at all who decide they hate it almost sight unseen.
Enough, I say!
Native Torontonians like me would be the first to admit all the ways in which this city is not pretty. Dundas Street and much of Yonge south of Bloor are appalling eyesores. Who's the idiot who decided to cut off the very pretty waterfront from the city's downtown core, I ask? Why the hell can't we invest more in public transit to ease the traffic and gridlock? What the hell was that Mel Lastman period all about?
But here are some great things about Toronto, things that make me proud to live here:
1. The lovely neighbourhoods. I defy you to find neighbourhoods in any city in the world as pretty as the Beach, the Annex, Riverdale, Rosedale, just to name a handful. Any non-Canadian who comes here marvels about our lovely neighbourhoods. My German exchange student thought Glen Manor Drive in the Beach was the most breathtaking spot she had ever seen. So bite me.
2. The multi-culturalism. On any given day on any street in Toronto, you will see faces from around the world living peacefully and happily. My children are completely and utterly colour-blind. They have African friends, Asian friends, Muslim friends, all colours of the rainbow and all religions and they don't notice it in the slightest. They eat Indian, Greek, Japanese and North African cuisine routinely. They are citizens of one of the most international cities of the world and I couldn't be prouder.
3. The true, native Torontonian is NOT one of those "I live in the centre of universe" personalities. In fact, I have found that most people in Toronto with that kind of arrogance actually moved here from elsewhere. The born and bred Torontonian is pretty humble, quite funny and likes to get drunk. We like Montreal and Vancouver as much as we like Toronto. We wish some people would move to Calgary -- it's just too damn crowded here. We remember when we were simply Hogtown, Yonge and Bloor wasn't congested with a million people by noon every day and that was good enough for us.
So back off, Toronto-haters. Let go of the envy or the jealousy or whatever it is. It's tiresome -- as tiresome as the knee-jerk anti-Americanism that Canadians so often exhibit, and cut from the same petty cloth, I believe.
Sorry to be so serious, but if one more person expresses sympathy to me for growing up and loving this dear old town, I cannot hold myself responsible. And to the woman who said: "How unfortunate for you!" as she sits in her Westmount house socializing and vacationing with the same Westmount people year after year after year ... no, my dear, how unfortunate for you.
ADDENDUM: And I didn't even mention the cuisine, the culture and the music scene. I mean all that goes without saying.
Hello, everyone!
And now, let's get down to business.
I am going to tell you a little story about the first summer I spent in a faraway Quebec enclave filled with Montreal Westmount types. It was a lovely place but one of the first people I met there asked me the following question: "And where do you hail from?" And I replied: "I was born and raised in Toronto." And she said, recoiling in horror: "TORONTO? How unfortunate for you!!"
Now this scorched my pads in an intense way and I am going to tell you why. Firstly, who the hell insults someone's hometown right to their face? How rude is that? Would I say: "Sudbury, what a goddamned cesspool!" to a native Sudburian??? No I would not, not only because it's rude, but because I think Sudbury has its charms, particularly to anyone who spent their childhood there -- every place does. Secondly, Toronto happens to be quite a wonderful city, and I can't tell you how sick to death I am of all the people living here and earning great livings, residing in fabulous homes in beautiful neighborhoods, raising children who are proud Torontonians and who get a lot out of all the things the city has to offer, yet bitch about wanting the hell out of this dreadful place. Not to mention the people who have really barely spent any time here at all who decide they hate it almost sight unseen.
Enough, I say!
Native Torontonians like me would be the first to admit all the ways in which this city is not pretty. Dundas Street and much of Yonge south of Bloor are appalling eyesores. Who's the idiot who decided to cut off the very pretty waterfront from the city's downtown core, I ask? Why the hell can't we invest more in public transit to ease the traffic and gridlock? What the hell was that Mel Lastman period all about?
But here are some great things about Toronto, things that make me proud to live here:
1. The lovely neighbourhoods. I defy you to find neighbourhoods in any city in the world as pretty as the Beach, the Annex, Riverdale, Rosedale, just to name a handful. Any non-Canadian who comes here marvels about our lovely neighbourhoods. My German exchange student thought Glen Manor Drive in the Beach was the most breathtaking spot she had ever seen. So bite me.
2. The multi-culturalism. On any given day on any street in Toronto, you will see faces from around the world living peacefully and happily. My children are completely and utterly colour-blind. They have African friends, Asian friends, Muslim friends, all colours of the rainbow and all religions and they don't notice it in the slightest. They eat Indian, Greek, Japanese and North African cuisine routinely. They are citizens of one of the most international cities of the world and I couldn't be prouder.
3. The true, native Torontonian is NOT one of those "I live in the centre of universe" personalities. In fact, I have found that most people in Toronto with that kind of arrogance actually moved here from elsewhere. The born and bred Torontonian is pretty humble, quite funny and likes to get drunk. We like Montreal and Vancouver as much as we like Toronto. We wish some people would move to Calgary -- it's just too damn crowded here. We remember when we were simply Hogtown, Yonge and Bloor wasn't congested with a million people by noon every day and that was good enough for us.
So back off, Toronto-haters. Let go of the envy or the jealousy or whatever it is. It's tiresome -- as tiresome as the knee-jerk anti-Americanism that Canadians so often exhibit, and cut from the same petty cloth, I believe.
Sorry to be so serious, but if one more person expresses sympathy to me for growing up and loving this dear old town, I cannot hold myself responsible. And to the woman who said: "How unfortunate for you!" as she sits in her Westmount house socializing and vacationing with the same Westmount people year after year after year ... no, my dear, how unfortunate for you.
ADDENDUM: And I didn't even mention the cuisine, the culture and the music scene. I mean all that goes without saying.
Sunday, July 30, 2006
Tribute from a staff member
When there is a death in the family of a friend or a work colleague, I might say something like "sorry to hear about the loss" or "my condolences", etc. I at least never feel any great attachment nor loss unless I knew the member personally and the thought of the dead lasts about 1 minute and possibly a couple times later in life when in conversation with a third party I might mention "did you know so and so died?"
Regrettably death struck my family this week-end and it struck right through my heart. A family member died around 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning.
I could go on for hours about her personality and what she was like, but I want to talk about the character and what I will miss.
She had the type of character that was infectious, always happy at first but ready to let you know when she was unhappy by speaking her mind or with a simple ticked off look that she has mastered.
Other family members (including myself) knew and never questioned her authority and that was fine with everybody. Breakfast and dinner time was decided by her and it was not an issue to be discussed nor negotiated. There was never much of a discussion on quiet time so she could sleep either, it just happened naturally. Everybody got quiet and that was that.
The addage "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" was more of a motto for her and she kept herself and surroundings spotless. I loved her for that and worked hard to make her wishes true.
She very much enjoyed working in the garden with my wife and paid very special attention to keeping little vegetable eating critters out. The only payment we had to make was a show of compassion every once in a while and only when she asked for it.
Because of her very social demeanor everybody in the neighborhood knew her name and knew where she lived. People could not help themselves but to ask her if she was enjoying the day and would like to hang out with them for a while.
She was, is and will be loved for many years.
Pinky (the cat) 1996-2006
bayl
P.S.: "Dogs have masters, cats have staff"
Regrettably death struck my family this week-end and it struck right through my heart. A family member died around 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning.
I could go on for hours about her personality and what she was like, but I want to talk about the character and what I will miss.
She had the type of character that was infectious, always happy at first but ready to let you know when she was unhappy by speaking her mind or with a simple ticked off look that she has mastered.
Other family members (including myself) knew and never questioned her authority and that was fine with everybody. Breakfast and dinner time was decided by her and it was not an issue to be discussed nor negotiated. There was never much of a discussion on quiet time so she could sleep either, it just happened naturally. Everybody got quiet and that was that.
The addage "Cleanliness is next to Godliness" was more of a motto for her and she kept herself and surroundings spotless. I loved her for that and worked hard to make her wishes true.
She very much enjoyed working in the garden with my wife and paid very special attention to keeping little vegetable eating critters out. The only payment we had to make was a show of compassion every once in a while and only when she asked for it.
Because of her very social demeanor everybody in the neighborhood knew her name and knew where she lived. People could not help themselves but to ask her if she was enjoying the day and would like to hang out with them for a while.
She was, is and will be loved for many years.
Pinky (the cat) 1996-2006
bayl
P.S.: "Dogs have masters, cats have staff"
RTK Update
As faithful readers know, Tearfree is heading south of the border this week, possibly risking her own personal safety. While she's away, Jacy the first ever COW, will be guest blogging along with permanent but sporadic c0-blogger, 40 and No Boat.
Tearfree is happy to report that she and Jacy met up over a couple of Cosmopolitans in Toronto and discussed many pressing issues including the future of RTK and whatever became of shakes and shingles. Tearfree also unashamedly wore her notorious Rockports so there is now an official blogger witness to testify that they are not that bad.
In other business, AnonymASS, a former COW winner herself, wants to know what is happening with last week's COW award. The answer is nothing since Tearfree was away and unable to judge. As for the week of July 31, it will be up to Jacy and 40 and No Boat to decide whether or not to name a COW.
Tearfree is still planning to check out the Men's Synchro Swimming at the Out Games, but she will not be able to blog regularly over the next 10 days despite the heightened reader interest in Synchro. (Click on the image below to see how the percentage of readers seeking synchro info has completely taken over from the softwood lumber crowd.)
Tearfree is happy to report that she and Jacy met up over a couple of Cosmopolitans in Toronto and discussed many pressing issues including the future of RTK and whatever became of shakes and shingles. Tearfree also unashamedly wore her notorious Rockports so there is now an official blogger witness to testify that they are not that bad.In other business, AnonymASS, a former COW winner herself, wants to know what is happening with last week's COW award. The answer is nothing since Tearfree was away and unable to judge. As for the week of July 31, it will be up to Jacy and 40 and No Boat to decide whether or not to name a COW.
Tearfree is still planning to check out the Men's Synchro Swimming at the Out Games, but she will not be able to blog regularly over the next 10 days despite the heightened reader interest in Synchro. (Click on the image below to see how the percentage of readers seeking synchro info has completely taken over from the softwood lumber crowd.)
Friday, July 28, 2006
Should Tearfree be worried?
She is heading off south of the border next week as soon as she has covered the men's synchro swimming at the Out Games.
It's dangerous being the world's foremost softwood lumber blogger.
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Tune in tomorrow night...
... for the publication of shocking softwood lumber news.
Also coming up: Men's synchro swimming at the Out Games.
BAYT
Also coming up: Men's synchro swimming at the Out Games.
BAYT
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
What is the cut-off point?
Now that everybody knows I was on vacation, I want to talk about something that actually happened while on vacation.
It was just after supper and the gang (9 people, ((yes I consider kids beween the age of 3 to 11 as people)),) decided to go for a swim at the local public beach. Most of us went for the swim but my wife decided to sit on the beach and watch.
During this time my wife met a lady on the beach and they started to talk.
Part of the conversation was about a storm that had recently passed and the damage that it left. The other part of the conversation was about that day was the first day the beach was open because it had acceptable ecoli (spelling?) levels.
I am naturally a doomsday profit and after hearing this I had a lot of questions.
What is the difference to the human body between the maximum allowable levels of bacteria and the minimum non-allowable levels?
Where did the bacteria from the previous day go?
Are the levels allowable for adults compared to kids different?
WILL I LIVE?
Needless to say the following day I got smart and insisted that we as a gang go swimming on the other side of the bay about a 1/4 mile from the day before beach!!!!
bayl
It was just after supper and the gang (9 people, ((yes I consider kids beween the age of 3 to 11 as people)),) decided to go for a swim at the local public beach. Most of us went for the swim but my wife decided to sit on the beach and watch.
During this time my wife met a lady on the beach and they started to talk.
Part of the conversation was about a storm that had recently passed and the damage that it left. The other part of the conversation was about that day was the first day the beach was open because it had acceptable ecoli (spelling?) levels.
I am naturally a doomsday profit and after hearing this I had a lot of questions.
What is the difference to the human body between the maximum allowable levels of bacteria and the minimum non-allowable levels?
Where did the bacteria from the previous day go?
Are the levels allowable for adults compared to kids different?
WILL I LIVE?
Needless to say the following day I got smart and insisted that we as a gang go swimming on the other side of the bay about a 1/4 mile from the day before beach!!!!
bayl
Tuesday, July 25, 2006
So Sorry
Well I made it back from vacation to find I had made yet another faux-pas in the world of blogging.
I did not tell anybody I was going on vacation.
I failed to realize anybody cared. I can't remember the last time the local newspaper published the holiday schedule of their writers, but then I am only just realizing the difference between fun and a root canal.
For the people I am apologizing to here goes:
7:00 am--wake up
7:10 am--outside to spray the various hornet and wasp nests
7:20 am--plug in kettle
7:35 am--tea time
7:50 am--wake-up daughter
8:00 am--defrost bagel and toast--wait spread cheese
8:05 am--eat and talk with lifetime partner and child
8:30 am--start getting daughter ready to take to soccer camp and get
daughter to soccer camp for 9:00 am.
9:05 am--work in yard a bit while waiting for lifetime partner to get
ready for dog walk--check wasp and hornet nests to ensure
complete loss of life in nest
9:30 am--walk dog--usually run into neighbor and talk to neighbor for at
least 20 minutes about "this and that".
10:40 am--check RTK -- I look forward to this and I can not explain why
Perhaps comment or just read
11:10 am--get ready for work and leave
12:00 pm--10:00 pm--work
10:20 pm--watch tv with lifetime partner
11:00 pm--walk dog
11:30 pm--bedtime (invloves pining for affection)
Next day repeat.
Is my apology accepted?
bayl
I did not tell anybody I was going on vacation.
I failed to realize anybody cared. I can't remember the last time the local newspaper published the holiday schedule of their writers, but then I am only just realizing the difference between fun and a root canal.
For the people I am apologizing to here goes:
7:00 am--wake up
7:10 am--outside to spray the various hornet and wasp nests
7:20 am--plug in kettle
7:35 am--tea time
7:50 am--wake-up daughter
8:00 am--defrost bagel and toast--wait spread cheese
8:05 am--eat and talk with lifetime partner and child
8:30 am--start getting daughter ready to take to soccer camp and get
daughter to soccer camp for 9:00 am.
9:05 am--work in yard a bit while waiting for lifetime partner to get
ready for dog walk--check wasp and hornet nests to ensure
complete loss of life in nest
9:30 am--walk dog--usually run into neighbor and talk to neighbor for at
least 20 minutes about "this and that".
10:40 am--check RTK -- I look forward to this and I can not explain why
Perhaps comment or just read
11:10 am--get ready for work and leave
12:00 pm--10:00 pm--work
10:20 pm--watch tv with lifetime partner
11:00 pm--walk dog
11:30 pm--bedtime (invloves pining for affection)
Next day repeat.
Is my apology accepted?
bayl
Thursday, July 20, 2006
While Tearfree's Away...
- Keep reading Ulysses.
- Post comments on topics you'd like to see covered, but be aware comment moderation will be in effect.
- Enjoy the summer.
Alberta Rancher Wins COW
Commenter of the week that is. Originally, Tearfree had disqualified her, but now Alberta Rancher has explained everything so in the further interests of national unity (Remember Westerners, it's us here in Quebec who you have to thank for making Stephen Harper prime minister), RTK is awarding this week's prize to our favourite Albertan, that Oiler-loving. pil-swilling, angry cow-tending good-time gal of a rancher. You go girl.
Congratulations on behalf of all the RTK readers and please be sure to answer the standard COW questions:
1) How did you discover RTK? 2) Who’s your favourite commenter 3) How worried are you about softwood lumber 4) What’s your favourite RTK blogging subject? 5) What do you want as a prize that Tearfree can actually give you?
UPDATE: Alberta Rancher has requested that Tearfree share some insights into Quebec. She promises to do this when she gets back from vacation or possibly earlier. In the mean time though, the key is not to take anything that happens to you when you attempt to speak French personally. Here is Tearfree's account of of learning to speak French, the one that brought in all the porn visitors and caused RTK readership to totally spike like it never has since then.
Congratulations on behalf of all the RTK readers and please be sure to answer the standard COW questions:
1) How did you discover RTK? 2) Who’s your favourite commenter 3) How worried are you about softwood lumber 4) What’s your favourite RTK blogging subject? 5) What do you want as a prize that Tearfree can actually give you?
UPDATE: Alberta Rancher has requested that Tearfree share some insights into Quebec. She promises to do this when she gets back from vacation or possibly earlier. In the mean time though, the key is not to take anything that happens to you when you attempt to speak French personally. Here is Tearfree's account of of learning to speak French, the one that brought in all the porn visitors and caused RTK readership to totally spike like it never has since then.
Vacation etiquette
When you are a blogger or regular blog commenter, it’s important that you keep you readers aware of your vacation plans so that they don’t worry about your unannounced and sudden departure from the blogosphere. Recently, certain people have exhibited bad blog behaviour and just taken off.
40 and No Boat, for example, is on a boat but did not have the common courtesy to inform his readers. AnonymASS disappeared right after winning commenter of the week (COW). How ungrateful is that?
This week, Alberta Rancher is nowhere to be found after she was specifically told she was a COW contender, which, by the way, no longer applies.
Please, all of you, follow Jacy’s and Emily’s good examples. Jacy told us she was off on vacation with a bad dial-up connection and Emily continues to check in and comment despite being on the verge of having a baby.
Tearfree is now officially warning you that she is leaving for some time off and then returning at the end of the month to blog the men’s synchro swimming at the Out games. She’ll be gone again the first week in August. She may or may not blog while away depending on whether or not she has anything good to say. Last vacation, she is proud to report, she didn’t check her e-mail for an entire week.
P.S. While Tearfree is away she will use comment moderation just to ensure things don't get out of control
40 and No Boat, for example, is on a boat but did not have the common courtesy to inform his readers. AnonymASS disappeared right after winning commenter of the week (COW). How ungrateful is that?
This week, Alberta Rancher is nowhere to be found after she was specifically told she was a COW contender, which, by the way, no longer applies.
Please, all of you, follow Jacy’s and Emily’s good examples. Jacy told us she was off on vacation with a bad dial-up connection and Emily continues to check in and comment despite being on the verge of having a baby.
Tearfree is now officially warning you that she is leaving for some time off and then returning at the end of the month to blog the men’s synchro swimming at the Out games. She’ll be gone again the first week in August. She may or may not blog while away depending on whether or not she has anything good to say. Last vacation, she is proud to report, she didn’t check her e-mail for an entire week.
P.S. While Tearfree is away she will use comment moderation just to ensure things don't get out of control
Life imitates art
Nine Pound Dictator: Wednesday July 19
I mean, it's Starbucks for godssake, otherwise known as stroller central. Starbucks is THE place for new mothers to hang out in, and bored mothers to hang out in, and, well, let's just say there's one Starbucks in Toronto, on Avenue Rd (you know the one I mean?) which, I swear to god, men go to oogle the all the yummy mommies who hang there.
Reject the Koolaid: Sunday July 9
I like to ooogle myself
Tearfree believes this is the word you want:
I mean, it's Starbucks for godssake, otherwise known as stroller central. Starbucks is THE place for new mothers to hang out in, and bored mothers to hang out in, and, well, let's just say there's one Starbucks in Toronto, on Avenue Rd (you know the one I mean?) which, I swear to god, men go to oogle the all the yummy mommies who hang there.
Reject the Koolaid: Sunday July 9
I like to ooogle myself
Tearfree believes this is the word you want:
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Who's your type?
Comparing Jack Bauer and Dr. Oetker. RTK takes credit for the high level of interest in Dr. O in Toronto.
New RTK Feature: Is it just me?
Is it just me or when the whole crazy Bugaboo fad started did anyone else say to themselves, “Hey, if small front stroller wheels are such a hot idea, why didn’t someone figure it out before now?” I mean it’s not like they didn’t get the whole bicycle wheel thing sorted out more than a century ago.
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
Time for a little controversy (or two)
Dr. Oetker Baking Powder Invention Dispute: Tearfree has been saving this for a slow blogging day and today's it. Over at Wikipedia on Dr. Oetker's talk page, a concerned Wiki reader asks: "Did he actually invent baking powder (which Wikipedia otherwise attributes to Alfred Bird) or simply popularise it in Germany?" Please, please don't tell us that the Oetker family's billions were built on some kind of intellectual property violation.
Mummy Blogging Wars (again): Looks like Tearfree is being blamed for a Mummy Blogger's "frustration with blogging induced by a confusing comment tussle." Geez, said comment tussle was about as mild-mannered as you can get but take a look yourselves if you don't entirely trust Tearfree's judgment yet and report back on what you think. (Here is the background on Tearfree's long, complicated and inharmonious relationship with Mummy Bloggers.)
Mummy Blogging Wars (again): Looks like Tearfree is being blamed for a Mummy Blogger's "frustration with blogging induced by a confusing comment tussle." Geez, said comment tussle was about as mild-mannered as you can get but take a look yourselves if you don't entirely trust Tearfree's judgment yet and report back on what you think. (Here is the background on Tearfree's long, complicated and inharmonious relationship with Mummy Bloggers.)
Maybe, this is the wrong job for you
For years, Tearfree has subscribed to The Globe and Mail and, with the exception of one period of several months where she had a delivery man who couldn't get up on time, the paper has always been there bright and early in time for morning coffee.
Then last week problems started. On Friday, Tearfree discovered the Korea Times on her doorstep and no Globe and Mail. And today it was Le Devoir.
Given that this kind of screw-up has never happened before, Tearfree has some serious questions about the new delivery person's suitability for this job. She hopes this is merely the vacation replacement.
Then last week problems started. On Friday, Tearfree discovered the Korea Times on her doorstep and no Globe and Mail. And today it was Le Devoir.
Given that this kind of screw-up has never happened before, Tearfree has some serious questions about the new delivery person's suitability for this job. She hopes this is merely the vacation replacement.
Monday, July 17, 2006
Memories may be beautiful and yet...
Tearfree has been doing household and personal finances all day long in the sweltering heat, only taking time out for a cat/Oetker photo session. Although it is her firm belief that you only get to complain about one season -- and Tearfree has chosen winter as her season -- she thought this would be a good time to show you the photo of a downtown ice bar she visited last March.
The red-gloved hand belongs to Tearfree who likes the look of blue drinks but doesn't much go for the taste even though she sometimes forgets the latter. Tearfree definitely should have had the Martini like the mysterious young woman she is toasting.
Stuff on MY cat
Ok, it's time to do something really sensational here at RTK because traffic is really bad today. Maybe it's just too hot or everyone's on vacation but still. This blog needs visitors so it's time for Stuff on My Cat: the RTK version. The goal was to put Dr. Oetker stuff on Tearfree's cat, but we needed do some lighting testing so Tearfree warmed him up with something else.
Unfortunately when Tearfree started styling the Dr. Oetker shoot, he moved despite the heat so we will have to try again later -- possibly with the neighbour's less skittish cat.
UPDATE: He was so tired he caved. Unfortunately the results were better when he was awake. Oh well, Tearfree will keep trying until she gets the photo that will turn him into a Stuff on My Cat calendar boy.
Unfortunately when Tearfree started styling the Dr. Oetker shoot, he moved despite the heat so we will have to try again later -- possibly with the neighbour's less skittish cat.
UPDATE: He was so tired he caved. Unfortunately the results were better when he was awake. Oh well, Tearfree will keep trying until she gets the photo that will turn him into a Stuff on My Cat calendar boy.
Monday Morning Mailbag
Welcome back everyone and hope you all had a good weekend. To start the week off right and answer our readers’ most pressing questions, we have the RTK Monday Morning Mailbag.
Tearfree, I am really upset that there’s so much Dr. Oetker stuff as of late and nothing on Jack Bauer?
I sincerely apologize for the lack of Jack Bauer blogging, but there just hasn’t been that much Jack Bauer news since the end of season five. Plus, every time I mention Jack, someone leaves season five spoilers in the comments section. And I still haven’t seen season five so that's a really mean thing to do. However, for all of you that have, here’s an article you might like.
I would also like to make the point that we can have both Dr. Oetker and Jack Bauer. It’s not an either/or situation. And you should be aware that there is indeed high reader interest in Dr. Oetker. Just yesterday a reader arrived at RTK after the google search shown below:
Her curiosity piqued, Tearfree did a little further research and discovered that the Oetker men are, from a financial point of view, what might be considered a great catch. (Click on the image to read about their Euro billions)
Furthermore, there continues to be strong interest in the Dr. Oetker taste test so many thanks to the reader who shared her insights into Dr. O's Streusel. (Scroll down to the bottom of the comments.)
Have you found out what happened to AnonymASS?
Yes, she’s back, which means I’m going to have to read Knocked Up. I was just starting to see the bright side of her departure.
This softwood lumber thing is looking pretty precarious and now with everything that’s going on in the middle east, I can’t find any news about it. Can you help?
Yes.
Talking about the middle east, do you plan to blog about that?
Only if I have something new to say.
Has Emily had her baby yet?
There's nothing posted on her blog yet. And as of last night she was still commenting, showing the kind of dedication it takes to be Commenter of the Week. Future aspirants, take a leaf out of her book. We'll be naming another COW on Friday.
Tearfree, I am really upset that there’s so much Dr. Oetker stuff as of late and nothing on Jack Bauer?
I sincerely apologize for the lack of Jack Bauer blogging, but there just hasn’t been that much Jack Bauer news since the end of season five. Plus, every time I mention Jack, someone leaves season five spoilers in the comments section. And I still haven’t seen season five so that's a really mean thing to do. However, for all of you that have, here’s an article you might like.
I would also like to make the point that we can have both Dr. Oetker and Jack Bauer. It’s not an either/or situation. And you should be aware that there is indeed high reader interest in Dr. Oetker. Just yesterday a reader arrived at RTK after the google search shown below:
Her curiosity piqued, Tearfree did a little further research and discovered that the Oetker men are, from a financial point of view, what might be considered a great catch. (Click on the image to read about their Euro billions)
Furthermore, there continues to be strong interest in the Dr. Oetker taste test so many thanks to the reader who shared her insights into Dr. O's Streusel. (Scroll down to the bottom of the comments.)
Have you found out what happened to AnonymASS?
Yes, she’s back, which means I’m going to have to read Knocked Up. I was just starting to see the bright side of her departure.
This softwood lumber thing is looking pretty precarious and now with everything that’s going on in the middle east, I can’t find any news about it. Can you help?
Yes.
Talking about the middle east, do you plan to blog about that?
Only if I have something new to say.
Has Emily had her baby yet?
There's nothing posted on her blog yet. And as of last night she was still commenting, showing the kind of dedication it takes to be Commenter of the Week. Future aspirants, take a leaf out of her book. We'll be naming another COW on Friday.
A Synchro Mom answers your swimming question
A worried mother has written to Tearfree pleading for advice on the best way to teach her daughter to swim. Since Tearfree is not only the mother of a synchro swimmer but a former lifeguard, she has agreed to answer this distraught mother’s questions as well as to share her general expertise on the subject of kids and swimming.
Tearfree, should I take my baby to those Mommy and me swim classes?
Baby swim classes don’t make the slightest bit of difference to a child’s swimming abilities in later life. If your idea of fun is hanging out with a baby in a chilly YMCA pool in February – and don’t even get me started on all those people who wear their boots in their locker room – sure, go ahead and do it. I personally never did this because it sounded like a horrible experience. Also, being the mean person that I am, I experienced great schadenfreude years later, when I saw that the kids of Mummies who had dutifully taken part in these awful classes were no more advanced than mine.
So what age should I start swimming classes?
I’m with the American Academy of Pediatrics on this one. They recommend age four and that’s what worked for me.
But won’t my child be scared of water if I wait that long?
I’m not saying don’t swim with your babies and kids. We swam a lot but in the summer and in Florida and on family vacations, which are a good opportunity to swim with your kids.
What if my kid is an exceptionally talented water nymph. Should I put her in swim classes early?
No. Our local Y offered swim lessons and it said on the brochure ‘NO KIDS UNDER FOUR.’ So imagine my surprise when we arrived at lesson number one to find four kids aged four and up, one three-year-old, and a mother with a baby insisting her kid loved the water and would do just fine even though he couldn’t even talk.
The swim-teaching staff at this Y was notoriously clueless about managerial issues and instead of calling in someone older and wiser to deal with this obviously ridiculous situation, they just proceeded with the lesson. The baby proved to be a baby and his mother, to her credit, realized she’d had a bad idea and de-enrolled herself and the kid. The mother of the three-year-old, on the other hand, chose to ignore the very obvious fact that because her kid was too scared to get in the water, four other kids spent 90% of the lesson shivering in the shallow end while the instructor spent almost all her time trying to coax the three-year-old to get in.
When the same thing happened at lesson two, we moms of the kids who were the correct age (as set out in the pamphlet) complained and got the three-year-old booted out of the class so that the other kids could actually start to learn how to swim two lessons late. And, yes, the mother of the three-year-old was really, really pissed off, but so were we.
Which do you recommend: Red Cross or Olympic Way?
I honestly don’t know. Sports-teaching seems to be incredibly faddy. Everything I learned as a kid seems to be bad for you now. Just go with what they’re offering unless it sounds as crazy as swimming with a baby in Canada in February.
Also, be cautioned if you do end up in a Red Cross program that swimming instructors aren’t always that good with the paperwork. And your kid can think they’re in level nine and end up weeping because at the end of lessons, they get a level eight certificate. And when you tell your kid, it’s not the level that matters but the great progress she's made, it won’t have the slightest effect.
Tearfree, any tips from your lifeguarding days?
Yes, look out for the kid whose reach exceeds his grasp or who thinks he’s Superman. On those rare occasions when I had to perform a dramatic rescue, leaping off my chair, it was always some kid who didn’t know how to swim who’d gotten ambitious and jumped off the diving board. And, sorry, if you think that’s sexist, but it was always boys.
Tearfree, do you recommend synchro swimming as an activity?
Yes, but you must be prepared for the jokes. And if your daughter (sorry if that’s sexist) keeps it up, be warned that the boy swimmers like the synchro girls a lot better than the freestyle and butterfly girls.
Tearfree, should I take my baby to those Mommy and me swim classes?
Baby swim classes don’t make the slightest bit of difference to a child’s swimming abilities in later life. If your idea of fun is hanging out with a baby in a chilly YMCA pool in February – and don’t even get me started on all those people who wear their boots in their locker room – sure, go ahead and do it. I personally never did this because it sounded like a horrible experience. Also, being the mean person that I am, I experienced great schadenfreude years later, when I saw that the kids of Mummies who had dutifully taken part in these awful classes were no more advanced than mine.
So what age should I start swimming classes?
I’m with the American Academy of Pediatrics on this one. They recommend age four and that’s what worked for me.
But won’t my child be scared of water if I wait that long?
I’m not saying don’t swim with your babies and kids. We swam a lot but in the summer and in Florida and on family vacations, which are a good opportunity to swim with your kids.
What if my kid is an exceptionally talented water nymph. Should I put her in swim classes early?
No. Our local Y offered swim lessons and it said on the brochure ‘NO KIDS UNDER FOUR.’ So imagine my surprise when we arrived at lesson number one to find four kids aged four and up, one three-year-old, and a mother with a baby insisting her kid loved the water and would do just fine even though he couldn’t even talk.
The swim-teaching staff at this Y was notoriously clueless about managerial issues and instead of calling in someone older and wiser to deal with this obviously ridiculous situation, they just proceeded with the lesson. The baby proved to be a baby and his mother, to her credit, realized she’d had a bad idea and de-enrolled herself and the kid. The mother of the three-year-old, on the other hand, chose to ignore the very obvious fact that because her kid was too scared to get in the water, four other kids spent 90% of the lesson shivering in the shallow end while the instructor spent almost all her time trying to coax the three-year-old to get in.
When the same thing happened at lesson two, we moms of the kids who were the correct age (as set out in the pamphlet) complained and got the three-year-old booted out of the class so that the other kids could actually start to learn how to swim two lessons late. And, yes, the mother of the three-year-old was really, really pissed off, but so were we.
Which do you recommend: Red Cross or Olympic Way?
I honestly don’t know. Sports-teaching seems to be incredibly faddy. Everything I learned as a kid seems to be bad for you now. Just go with what they’re offering unless it sounds as crazy as swimming with a baby in Canada in February.
Also, be cautioned if you do end up in a Red Cross program that swimming instructors aren’t always that good with the paperwork. And your kid can think they’re in level nine and end up weeping because at the end of lessons, they get a level eight certificate. And when you tell your kid, it’s not the level that matters but the great progress she's made, it won’t have the slightest effect.
Tearfree, any tips from your lifeguarding days?
Yes, look out for the kid whose reach exceeds his grasp or who thinks he’s Superman. On those rare occasions when I had to perform a dramatic rescue, leaping off my chair, it was always some kid who didn’t know how to swim who’d gotten ambitious and jumped off the diving board. And, sorry, if you think that’s sexist, but it was always boys.
Tearfree, do you recommend synchro swimming as an activity?
Yes, but you must be prepared for the jokes. And if your daughter (sorry if that’s sexist) keeps it up, be warned that the boy swimmers like the synchro girls a lot better than the freestyle and butterfly girls.
Friday, July 14, 2006
If you miss the soccer hotties...
LDSM Soccer Mom is tracking the post-World Cup news. Check it out. And have a good weekend. See you all back here next week.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Conspiracy theories: The DIY version
Since we've been discussing conspiracy theories this week, here's part of a DIY conspiracy theory that Tearfree got from her daughter, who, of course, got it from another tweenie girl, etc., etc.
Open Microsoft Word and do the following:
1. Type in capitals Q33 NY. This is the flight number of the first plane to hit one of the Twin Towers.
2. Highlight the Q33 NY.
3. Change the font size to 48.
4. Change the actual font to the WINGDINGS
What do you think now?!!
Tearfree will kindly save you the work:
The whole thing would be laughable if it weren't for the Star of David. Here's the Snopes debunking.
Open Microsoft Word and do the following:
1. Type in capitals Q33 NY. This is the flight number of the first plane to hit one of the Twin Towers.
2. Highlight the Q33 NY.
3. Change the font size to 48.
4. Change the actual font to the WINGDINGS
What do you think now?!!
Tearfree will kindly save you the work:
The whole thing would be laughable if it weren't for the Star of David. Here's the Snopes debunking.
Howdy Cowboy
So some guy (or maybe gal) in Texas googles the phrase, softwood lumber scandal, and guess what happens. Looks like we've made it and no quotation marks were even necessary.
Not to mention that other google search, this time by someone in Arizona who was looking up Hottie Moms and also hit RTK on page 1.
As you can also see we're still getting the Mauro Camoranesi fans and the soccer mom info. seekers from Wikipedia.
Dr. O traffic, on the other hand, has tapered off considerably. Wonder why?
Not to mention that other google search, this time by someone in Arizona who was looking up Hottie Moms and also hit RTK on page 1.
As you can also see we're still getting the Mauro Camoranesi fans and the soccer mom info. seekers from Wikipedia.
Dr. O traffic, on the other hand, has tapered off considerably. Wonder why?
Commenter of the Week
Yes it's one day early, but we're in a very special and delicate situation here. Emily of Jack Rules the Universe could give birth any moment now and, yet, all this week she's taken time out to contribute her expertise on the BTK serial killer to RTK. If that doesn't deserve Commenter of the Week, what does?
Anyway, Emily, if you're still around, could you please answer the standard COW questions:
1) How did you discover RTK? 2) Who’s your favourite commenter 3) How worried are you about softwood lumber 4) What’s your favourite RTK blogging subject?
Tearfree and all her readers wish you a quick and easy birth and a happy, healthy baby.
Anyway, Emily, if you're still around, could you please answer the standard COW questions:
1) How did you discover RTK? 2) Who’s your favourite commenter 3) How worried are you about softwood lumber 4) What’s your favourite RTK blogging subject?
Tearfree and all her readers wish you a quick and easy birth and a happy, healthy baby.
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Ulysses Blogging: Nestor
As Tearfree was reading (well, actually rereading) Ulysses for the RTK Book Blogging Club, all of a sudden she had a stunning insight, which she couldn’t possibly have had the last time she read Ulysses because that was back in the pre-blog era.
Tearfree realized that James Joyce was the first blogger and that Ulysses was the first blog.
Everything that blogging was to become is all there in Ulysses written almost 100 years ago. The disjointed text, the off-the-cuff musings, the long boring self-involved soliloquies, the sleep-inducing descriptions of the most mundane aspects of daily life, the porn, the toilet talk, the controversies over religion, anti-Semitism and sick cows. Yep, every single one of these things can be found in Ulysses, which was the first ever blog. Without James Joyce, we wouldn’t know blogging as it is today. Tearfree probably wouldn't be here.
Now if a theory like that doesn’t get Tearfree her very own university chair, nothing will.
----------
Inspired by CBC Radio's "Canada Intends to Read" feature.
Telemachus, first meeting of the RTK Boook Blogging Club
------------
james joyce cbc book clubs
Tearfree realized that James Joyce was the first blogger and that Ulysses was the first blog.
Everything that blogging was to become is all there in Ulysses written almost 100 years ago. The disjointed text, the off-the-cuff musings, the long boring self-involved soliloquies, the sleep-inducing descriptions of the most mundane aspects of daily life, the porn, the toilet talk, the controversies over religion, anti-Semitism and sick cows. Yep, every single one of these things can be found in Ulysses, which was the first ever blog. Without James Joyce, we wouldn’t know blogging as it is today. Tearfree probably wouldn't be here.
Now if a theory like that doesn’t get Tearfree her very own university chair, nothing will.
----------
Inspired by CBC Radio's "Canada Intends to Read" feature.
Telemachus, first meeting of the RTK Boook Blogging Club
------------
james joyce cbc book clubs
Let me ask you
I am trained as a warranty specialist and a closer. Now unlike the closer one would find at a car dealership, the guy who says things like "What do I have to do to make this deal today?" (super pushy guy), I close work orders for customers . I decide who pays what; and there are 3 possibilities.
1. The customer
2. Warranty or
3. Goodwill.
My budget for goodwill is at par with other departments, and I tend to use it for the new customers, as an effort by me to keep them coming back. When I close a bill, I do my best to write a breif description of the work including cause, complaint, correction, who pays and why.
On Monday I closed one bill, with a value to my work of $350, completely into warranty with a total charge to the customer of $0. As well on Monday I closed a second invoice for the same customer (a small cement company) and put about $225 into goodwill. Both these invoices were clearly written using plain english as to why each decision was made. I do this so my boss can read the bill just like the customer when the customer goes over my head to complain about the billing to my boss and I don't have to answer dopey questions from 2 people.
Today I received a call from the customer demanding to explain why he had received 2 invoices and each of the charges. Some people are thicker than others, I guessed. I stopped what I was doing and started to explian the individual charges. The charges he was responsible for, I had very little friction, but the free stuff he just could not believe and asked me every question he could think of about them. The customer was just not willing to accept the fact there would be no charges for more than 2/3 of the total of the 2 invoices. I could not believe my ears and was getting frustrated to the point where I had to put this guy on hold, yelled outloud an obsenity, and then went back to talk to him to convince him that indeed there would be no charges.
This is an extreme case, but this type of thing happens once in a while.
Does this mean that as a society we are so used to being charged and then haggling (Monty Python did a skit on haggling in the movie Life of Brian), and still paying in the end, that when we are told it is free there is an instant mistrust? Would I have had greater luck if I had just charged full price?
When I get something for free, I say thank-you and leave.
Am I alone on this?
bayl
1. The customer
2. Warranty or
3. Goodwill.
My budget for goodwill is at par with other departments, and I tend to use it for the new customers, as an effort by me to keep them coming back. When I close a bill, I do my best to write a breif description of the work including cause, complaint, correction, who pays and why.
On Monday I closed one bill, with a value to my work of $350, completely into warranty with a total charge to the customer of $0. As well on Monday I closed a second invoice for the same customer (a small cement company) and put about $225 into goodwill. Both these invoices were clearly written using plain english as to why each decision was made. I do this so my boss can read the bill just like the customer when the customer goes over my head to complain about the billing to my boss and I don't have to answer dopey questions from 2 people.
Today I received a call from the customer demanding to explain why he had received 2 invoices and each of the charges. Some people are thicker than others, I guessed. I stopped what I was doing and started to explian the individual charges. The charges he was responsible for, I had very little friction, but the free stuff he just could not believe and asked me every question he could think of about them. The customer was just not willing to accept the fact there would be no charges for more than 2/3 of the total of the 2 invoices. I could not believe my ears and was getting frustrated to the point where I had to put this guy on hold, yelled outloud an obsenity, and then went back to talk to him to convince him that indeed there would be no charges.
This is an extreme case, but this type of thing happens once in a while.
Does this mean that as a society we are so used to being charged and then haggling (Monty Python did a skit on haggling in the movie Life of Brian), and still paying in the end, that when we are told it is free there is an instant mistrust? Would I have had greater luck if I had just charged full price?
When I get something for free, I say thank-you and leave.
Am I alone on this?
bayl
Commenter of the Week
Traffic is pretty good this week but the comments are way down. AnonymASS has disappeared, Jacy didn't show yesterday for the first time ever, Riyadh Synchro Swimmer hasn't been around in more than a week, etc.
The only contenders so far are Alberta Rancher and Emily for their contributions on serial killers.
C'mon everyone, let's get the comment threads happening. That's what RTK is famous for.
The only contenders so far are Alberta Rancher and Emily for their contributions on serial killers.
C'mon everyone, let's get the comment threads happening. That's what RTK is famous for.
Guten Tag Dr. Oetker Besuchern
As you can see from the data presented on your left, we have had a sudden surge of visitors from Dr. Oetker's German headquarters so wilkommen Alles an Reject the Koolaid.
Wonder if they'll consider hiring Tearfree as a brand consultant after all the work she's done on the company's behalf.
P.S. Tearfree hopes she hasn't screwed up the German plurals and prepositions
UPDATE: No more Dr. O traffic. Either it was a few rogue employees reading the blog or the lawyers are planning their next action and Tearfree will be hearing from them soon.
dr oetker branding
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
How do you say loser in French?
Well, since you asked, it's "perdante," but in this specific situation I think the mot juste is "conne."
Afterall, it's not as if Tearfree didn't warn you.
Afterall, it's not as if Tearfree didn't warn you.
The Mummy Wars
I am coming late to this issue not because I haven’t followed it but because I wasn’t sure I had anything new to add to it – and perhaps I still don’t, but here goes.
I continue to be amazed at and puzzled by the scorn heaped on both Caitlin Flanagan and Linda Hirshman for doing little more than expressing their opinions. The basic negative reaction to Flanagan, whose main crime seems to be telling women that “when a mother works something is lost,” and to Hirshman, whose transgression was telling privileged, educated women that they have a duty to work and not to opt out, seems to be a combination of “I hate you because you hurt my feelings” and “Where do you get off telling me how to run my life?” A chorus of angry wounded women want revenge on Flanagan and Hirshman for daring to question their personal “choices.”
The reaction of Jen Lawrence, who interviewed Flanagan for the website Literary Mama, is a pretty typical one. She is upset that Flanagan writes to “incite rage, generate buzz, increase her stock" while caring little that "her words leave deep wounds among her fellow mothers."
First of all I disagree that Flanagan writes to "incite rage" and what writer out there does not want to generate buzz? (OK, Kafka) But most problematic of all to me is this idea that it's normal to be deeply wounded just because Flanagan says, "When a mother works, something is lost. Children crave their mothers, they always have and they always will."
Honestly, is there a mother out there who didn’t already know this? And are we working mothers so fragile that we can’t bear to hear it said? There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that my daughter, now 11, would have preferred me to be a SAHM, but, alas, that wasn’t the hand she was dealt. Instead, she got a working mom who pays her plenty of attention and would go out of her mind with boredom staying home. Because working is and always has been a financial necessity for me, I don’t have to justify my decision with aphorisms like “what’s best for the mom is best for the child,” however, had I had a choice, I can’t imagine not opting to work.
Yes, something has been lost by my working, no question, but something is lost, too, for the child who sees a mother incapable of functioning autonomously in the world outside the home. All major life decisions are complicated and something is almost always lost along the path not taken.
In none of the work I have read by Flanagan, however, does she actually tell a woman who wants to work to stay home. She’s more of a social critic commenting on the tendency of the upper middle class woman to hypocritically hire an illegal nanny and, as she puts it, “squeal in indignation (if you) tell her she can't have something.” I’ve got to say that pretty much jibes with my experience of the social class she describes, and if that’s all you have to say to get yourself branded a provocateur these days, the threshold seems pretty low.
Hirshman is definitely more outlandish, suggesting, among other things, that women “marry down,” have just one child and opt for careers that pay serious money. She states unequivocally that that we should care about the opt-out trend seen among privileged educated moms because “what they do is bad for them, is certainly bad for society, and is widely imitated… This last is called the “regime effect,” and it means that even if women don’t quit their jobs for their families, they think they should and feel guilty about not doing it.”
She also writes: “The family -- with its repetitious, socially invisible, physical tasks -- is a necessary part of life, but it allows fewer opportunities for full human flourishing than public spheres like the market or the government. Like the right to work and the right to vote, the right to have a flourishing life that includes but is not limited to family cannot be addressed with language of choice.”
This message that a woman should be able to earn a living and that family life is not everything seems to have come as a heavy blow for women who need desperately to believe that you can be a feminist and stay home. They are apoplectic that anyone dare to question their “choices.” But as they vent their rage over Hirshman’s polemic, there is something deeply contradictory about so many women insisting so loudly that their choices are their own, yet, with their enraged reactions, showing that they do indeed believe that one writer’s opinion can matter.
The question that reaction raises for me is if one writer’s words matter so much to others and contain so much power to wound and outrage, how can it be then that one woman’s actions matter so very little that no outsider may dare to so much as even comment on them?
---------------------------
mommy wars caitlin flanagan linda hirshman
I continue to be amazed at and puzzled by the scorn heaped on both Caitlin Flanagan and Linda Hirshman for doing little more than expressing their opinions. The basic negative reaction to Flanagan, whose main crime seems to be telling women that “when a mother works something is lost,” and to Hirshman, whose transgression was telling privileged, educated women that they have a duty to work and not to opt out, seems to be a combination of “I hate you because you hurt my feelings” and “Where do you get off telling me how to run my life?” A chorus of angry wounded women want revenge on Flanagan and Hirshman for daring to question their personal “choices.”
The reaction of Jen Lawrence, who interviewed Flanagan for the website Literary Mama, is a pretty typical one. She is upset that Flanagan writes to “incite rage, generate buzz, increase her stock" while caring little that "her words leave deep wounds among her fellow mothers."
First of all I disagree that Flanagan writes to "incite rage" and what writer out there does not want to generate buzz? (OK, Kafka) But most problematic of all to me is this idea that it's normal to be deeply wounded just because Flanagan says, "When a mother works, something is lost. Children crave their mothers, they always have and they always will."
Honestly, is there a mother out there who didn’t already know this? And are we working mothers so fragile that we can’t bear to hear it said? There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that my daughter, now 11, would have preferred me to be a SAHM, but, alas, that wasn’t the hand she was dealt. Instead, she got a working mom who pays her plenty of attention and would go out of her mind with boredom staying home. Because working is and always has been a financial necessity for me, I don’t have to justify my decision with aphorisms like “what’s best for the mom is best for the child,” however, had I had a choice, I can’t imagine not opting to work.
Yes, something has been lost by my working, no question, but something is lost, too, for the child who sees a mother incapable of functioning autonomously in the world outside the home. All major life decisions are complicated and something is almost always lost along the path not taken.
In none of the work I have read by Flanagan, however, does she actually tell a woman who wants to work to stay home. She’s more of a social critic commenting on the tendency of the upper middle class woman to hypocritically hire an illegal nanny and, as she puts it, “squeal in indignation (if you) tell her she can't have something.” I’ve got to say that pretty much jibes with my experience of the social class she describes, and if that’s all you have to say to get yourself branded a provocateur these days, the threshold seems pretty low.
Hirshman is definitely more outlandish, suggesting, among other things, that women “marry down,” have just one child and opt for careers that pay serious money. She states unequivocally that that we should care about the opt-out trend seen among privileged educated moms because “what they do is bad for them, is certainly bad for society, and is widely imitated… This last is called the “regime effect,” and it means that even if women don’t quit their jobs for their families, they think they should and feel guilty about not doing it.”
She also writes: “The family -- with its repetitious, socially invisible, physical tasks -- is a necessary part of life, but it allows fewer opportunities for full human flourishing than public spheres like the market or the government. Like the right to work and the right to vote, the right to have a flourishing life that includes but is not limited to family cannot be addressed with language of choice.”
This message that a woman should be able to earn a living and that family life is not everything seems to have come as a heavy blow for women who need desperately to believe that you can be a feminist and stay home. They are apoplectic that anyone dare to question their “choices.” But as they vent their rage over Hirshman’s polemic, there is something deeply contradictory about so many women insisting so loudly that their choices are their own, yet, with their enraged reactions, showing that they do indeed believe that one writer’s opinion can matter.
The question that reaction raises for me is if one writer’s words matter so much to others and contain so much power to wound and outrage, how can it be then that one woman’s actions matter so very little that no outsider may dare to so much as even comment on them?
---------------------------
mommy wars caitlin flanagan linda hirshman
Emergency preparedness
Yesterday there was a power failure at Tearfree's house. It reminded her of how she needed to buy batteries for the flashlight and water and other supplies to store for emergencies. This photo shows the sorry current state of the Tearfree household's emergency supplies.
The emperor has no clothes
Over the weekend, Tearfree watched a DVD of The Aristocrats, a really bad movie that got very strong reviews (especially from the top so-called cream-of-the-crop critics) and was supposed to be hilarious
Then yesterday while she was reading the comments of new media guru Jeff Jarvis about the changing role of critics in the Internet era, Tearfree got the bright idea to use The Aristocrats to test out Jarvis’ theories and see what the non-critic masses had to say about it.
Satisfaction came within seconds of googling “aristocrats completely unfunny.” The first comment on the list just about summed up Tearfree’s reaction: “Completely unfunny potty humor that any 4th grader probably outdoes in the gross department on any given day, at any given elementary school, at any given recess.”
That googling also brought up a real critic reflecting on why other critics enthusiastically praised the movie he called a “truly dreadful, sophomoric, and almost completely unfunny film… Critics were perhaps afraid to tell the truth about because they feared that their disapproval would make them look repressed, uncool, and unsexed.”
Well, either that or there are just a whole lot of people out there who find potty humour really, really funny. Sure, in this particular case, the everyday Joe was more in sync with Tearfree’s opinion than the critics, but she’s still surprised that so many everyday Joes liked this appalling movie. Maybe the box office receipts and DVD sales should stand as the ultimate test.
Here are the stats for those of you who are interested and please comment if you saw this film:
Critics Tomatometer 79%
Cream of the Crop 86%
IMDB User Rating 6.6
Amazon 54 out of 223 readers hated it
---------------------
aristocrats critics movies
Then yesterday while she was reading the comments of new media guru Jeff Jarvis about the changing role of critics in the Internet era, Tearfree got the bright idea to use The Aristocrats to test out Jarvis’ theories and see what the non-critic masses had to say about it.
Satisfaction came within seconds of googling “aristocrats completely unfunny.” The first comment on the list just about summed up Tearfree’s reaction: “Completely unfunny potty humor that any 4th grader probably outdoes in the gross department on any given day, at any given elementary school, at any given recess.”
That googling also brought up a real critic reflecting on why other critics enthusiastically praised the movie he called a “truly dreadful, sophomoric, and almost completely unfunny film… Critics were perhaps afraid to tell the truth about because they feared that their disapproval would make them look repressed, uncool, and unsexed.”
Well, either that or there are just a whole lot of people out there who find potty humour really, really funny. Sure, in this particular case, the everyday Joe was more in sync with Tearfree’s opinion than the critics, but she’s still surprised that so many everyday Joes liked this appalling movie. Maybe the box office receipts and DVD sales should stand as the ultimate test.
Here are the stats for those of you who are interested and please comment if you saw this film:
Critics Tomatometer 79%
Cream of the Crop 86%
IMDB User Rating 6.6
Amazon 54 out of 223 readers hated it
---------------------
aristocrats critics movies
Monday, July 10, 2006
Serial killers and conspiracy theorists
As faithful readers of this blog know, Tearfree believes the world can be divided up into two types of people:
Yet another group of people who Tearfree places firmly in category 1 are conspiracy theorists, who never fail not to see what’s directly in front of their eyes because they are so busy imagining all the things that aren’t. Tearfree got to thinking about conspiracy theorists after reading the August issue of Vanity Fair.
An article on 9/11 conspiracy theorists reports that a lot of people believe 9/11 must have been carried out by Muslim-hating Americans because the World Trade Center buildings couldn't possibly have collapsed in the manner they did as a result of being struck by jets. For Tearfree, the essential problem with this theory is the fact that no one on earth had experience with what happens when a plane filled with passengers and jet fuel is deliberatley piloted, at high speed, into a 110 story building. Sure some experts had predicted the building would collapse and some that it wouldn’t but it's not like any of them ever actually had the chance to put their theories to the ultimate test until September 11, 2001.
Now, in such a situation, Tearfree would expect that the experts who had gotten it wrong and said the buildings wouldn’t collapse to say something like, “Hey, I guess I was wrong. And really, with the wisom of hindsight, it’s not all that surprising that a bulding would collapse under those circumstances.” But no, many of the "experts" are sticking with their dubious theories and claiming that the buildings must have been wired with additional explosives, which would also explain why there was a second bang. Now call Tearfree weird if you want, but she also doesn’t find it surprising that in circumstances like the ones faced on 9/11 that there was a second bang. Nor would she be surprised if there was a third or fourth bang. Frankly, she’s a whole lot more surprised that anyone would think a second bang was abnormal, but, maybe that's why she's not a conpiracy theorist.
Another “piece of evidence” that 9/11 wasn’t what it seems, as described by the conspiracy theorists quoted in Vanity Fair, is that the planes" black boxes were never found, presumably because they were incinerated in the buildings while the passport of one of the hijackers was picked up amid the debris on the streets of New York. Once again, Tearfree doesn’t find this the slightest bit strange and she wonders why anyone would, let alone base a conspiracy theory on it.
While Tearfree doffs her hat to the editors at Popular Mechanics, who spent a lot of time and energy with a special 9/11 conspiracy-debunking issue, she’s not sure how much effect it will have. If people want to believe this kind of stuff, is there anything you can really do to convince them otherwise?
Has anyone out there ever succeeded in changing a conspiracy theorist's mind?
Update: While doing blog research, Tearfree came across this freshly-posted classic example of Mummy Blogger thinking. She won't name the Mummy Blogger who posted it because that would be too mean, but it should suffice to refute those of you who think Tearfree is too harsh with Mummy Bloggers. Here goes:
serial killer conspiracy theories 9/11 vanity fair popular mechanics
Needless to say, Tearfree puts herself in category 2 and most Mummy Bloggers in category 1 (from which they will not emerge until they realize that it’s not bad to judge other people, especially serial killers.)
- People who appear on the news after their neighbour the serial killer is arrested and say, “He was such a nice guy.”
- And people who figure out, before their neighbour the serial killer is arrested, that he is not a nice guy and, therefore, do not let their kids go anywhere near him. These people end up telling the TV cameras, “Yep, we always knew there was something not quite right with him."
Yet another group of people who Tearfree places firmly in category 1 are conspiracy theorists, who never fail not to see what’s directly in front of their eyes because they are so busy imagining all the things that aren’t. Tearfree got to thinking about conspiracy theorists after reading the August issue of Vanity Fair.
An article on 9/11 conspiracy theorists reports that a lot of people believe 9/11 must have been carried out by Muslim-hating Americans because the World Trade Center buildings couldn't possibly have collapsed in the manner they did as a result of being struck by jets. For Tearfree, the essential problem with this theory is the fact that no one on earth had experience with what happens when a plane filled with passengers and jet fuel is deliberatley piloted, at high speed, into a 110 story building. Sure some experts had predicted the building would collapse and some that it wouldn’t but it's not like any of them ever actually had the chance to put their theories to the ultimate test until September 11, 2001.
Now, in such a situation, Tearfree would expect that the experts who had gotten it wrong and said the buildings wouldn’t collapse to say something like, “Hey, I guess I was wrong. And really, with the wisom of hindsight, it’s not all that surprising that a bulding would collapse under those circumstances.” But no, many of the "experts" are sticking with their dubious theories and claiming that the buildings must have been wired with additional explosives, which would also explain why there was a second bang. Now call Tearfree weird if you want, but she also doesn’t find it surprising that in circumstances like the ones faced on 9/11 that there was a second bang. Nor would she be surprised if there was a third or fourth bang. Frankly, she’s a whole lot more surprised that anyone would think a second bang was abnormal, but, maybe that's why she's not a conpiracy theorist.
Another “piece of evidence” that 9/11 wasn’t what it seems, as described by the conspiracy theorists quoted in Vanity Fair, is that the planes" black boxes were never found, presumably because they were incinerated in the buildings while the passport of one of the hijackers was picked up amid the debris on the streets of New York. Once again, Tearfree doesn’t find this the slightest bit strange and she wonders why anyone would, let alone base a conspiracy theory on it.
While Tearfree doffs her hat to the editors at Popular Mechanics, who spent a lot of time and energy with a special 9/11 conspiracy-debunking issue, she’s not sure how much effect it will have. If people want to believe this kind of stuff, is there anything you can really do to convince them otherwise?
Has anyone out there ever succeeded in changing a conspiracy theorist's mind?
Update: While doing blog research, Tearfree came across this freshly-posted classic example of Mummy Blogger thinking. She won't name the Mummy Blogger who posted it because that would be too mean, but it should suffice to refute those of you who think Tearfree is too harsh with Mummy Bloggers. Here goes:
serial killer conspiracy theories 9/11 vanity fair popular mechanics
What are the odds?
Remember how Tearfree met Granny? Something to do with Granny living next to a serial killer?
Guess what?
I live in front of a 20 year-old that has a peanut oil allergy.
All we need now is one of the commenters, like ninegram, to jump up and say that she is really a gay muslim man and the circle of unbelievable odds will be complete.
Guess what?
I live in front of a 20 year-old that has a peanut oil allergy.
All we need now is one of the commenters, like ninegram, to jump up and say that she is really a gay muslim man and the circle of unbelievable odds will be complete.
Sunday, July 09, 2006
Dr. Oetker Update
As you can see above, RTK is no longer just a destination blog for web surfers seeking information about softwood lumber, synchronized swimming and soccer hotties, but also for those wanting the lowdown on the mysterious Dr. Oetker.
In order to satisfy this need to know, Tearfree would like to fill you in on the latest Dr. O news and assuage the fears of 40 and No Boat that this is going to turn into another Supersize Me. The latter, first. Please do not worry. This is a taste test and Tearfree feels no obligation to eat up everything. She is also happy to let her readers taste and then report back with the results. Special thanks to Scarbiedoll, who has volunteered to make the chocolate lava cake recommended by Jacy. We eagerly await the results.
And don't be shy all you lurkers, sign up for the Dr. O cook-off and make your mark on Oetker Internet History!
-----------------------
Dr. Oetker
Food
People google the strangest things
So you've just finished watching the World Cup soccer finale and you're not the type to drive through the streets honking and waving your Italian flag. What are you going to do? Looks like a substantial number of people google "mauro camoranesi" and "hair," and end up at Reject the Koolaid. Welcome, and the post you want is here.
It also seems that Tearfree is not the only one who found the German coach kind of hot. Someone who googled "Jürgen Klinsmann is cute" was also referred to RTK as well as to this blog (scroll down to see the photo) where the author appears to share both Tearfree's enthusiasm about Jürgen while, at the same time, sympathizing with some of AnonymASS' comments about his look being a bit dated.
Update: Tearfree has figured out the reason for the spike in blog traffic related to Camoranesi and hair. It seems he got a post-game, on-field impromptu haircut due to having vowed he'd cut his hair if Italy won.
Thursday Update: Still getting people heading over regularly from Plazoo, a Dutch search engine, to read about the Camoranesi coiffure.
----------------
klinnsmann soccer hottie google camoranesi
It also seems that Tearfree is not the only one who found the German coach kind of hot. Someone who googled "Jürgen Klinsmann is cute" was also referred to RTK as well as to this blog (scroll down to see the photo) where the author appears to share both Tearfree's enthusiasm about Jürgen while, at the same time, sympathizing with some of AnonymASS' comments about his look being a bit dated.
Update: Tearfree has figured out the reason for the spike in blog traffic related to Camoranesi and hair. It seems he got a post-game, on-field impromptu haircut due to having vowed he'd cut his hair if Italy won.
Thursday Update: Still getting people heading over regularly from Plazoo, a Dutch search engine, to read about the Camoranesi coiffure.
----------------
klinnsmann soccer hottie google camoranesi
Concerned Lumberjack reports back
Concerned Lumberjack has contacted Tearfree to let her know he is okay (well, he is a lumberjack) despite the heated tempers over the softwood "deal." The PM says the deal will survive, but there could be trouble when parliament resumes. British Columbia seems most unhappy with the current state of affairs.
Concerned Lumberjack says he figures the issue is out of his hands and he spent the weekend reading Ulysses and watching soccer.
Glad to hear he's taking everything in stride.
Update: While looking for the latest softwood lumber news, Tearfree found this and she is not happy. Wimps, idiot Canadians!!???!!
--------------------------
current affairs Canada softwood lumber
Concerned Lumberjack says he figures the issue is out of his hands and he spent the weekend reading Ulysses and watching soccer.
Glad to hear he's taking everything in stride.
Update: While looking for the latest softwood lumber news, Tearfree found this and she is not happy. Wimps, idiot Canadians!!???!!
--------------------------
current affairs Canada softwood lumber
Friday, July 07, 2006
Soccer Moms' Hottie of the Day: Grand Prize Winner
Tearfree is cheering for Italy Sunday. And while she would really, really like to oblige Jacy and name her choice, fabulous Fabio Grosso, as today’s hottie, she just can’t. Instead Tearfree is picking her favourite of all the World cup Hotties so far, the totally sizzling, Andrea Pirlo. Viva Italia.
Have a good weekend everybody and see you next week at the latest.
Have a good weekend everybody and see you next week at the latest.
AnonymASS wins COW
There’s no time like a slow blogging and commenting week to really prove your mettle as a commenter, and that’s exactly what AnonymASS did. No longer just an overnight commenter, she’ll post her thoughts at any time of the day or night. As for the content of those thoughts, well, that’s more problematic. There’s occasionally a certain logical disconnect, but never mind. It’s not worth taking away the "Commenter of the Week" prize over a few technicalities.
AnonymASSS declined in advance to pick RTK’S final World Cup Hottie, asking instead to choose the next read for the Blogging Book club, a text called Knocked Up by one Rebecca Eckler.
Tearfree has agreed to that request. Although she has never read Knocked Up, she did read a number of the columns on which it was based. She refuses to actually pay for the book but figures she can get through it for free by spending in an hour or so at Indigo. Now remember AnonymASS, no crying “Mean Girl” if Tearfree finds fault with Knocked Up.
And finally, it is traditional for the COW to answer a few questions like: 1) How did you discover RTK? 2) Who’s your favourite commenter (NOT yourself) 3) How worried are you about softwood lumber 4) What’s your favourite RTK blogging subject? Since AnonymASS is by far the most secretive of the winners to date, we will have to just wait and see if she will post her answers.
Congratulations, you COW.
AnonymASSS declined in advance to pick RTK’S final World Cup Hottie, asking instead to choose the next read for the Blogging Book club, a text called Knocked Up by one Rebecca Eckler.
Tearfree has agreed to that request. Although she has never read Knocked Up, she did read a number of the columns on which it was based. She refuses to actually pay for the book but figures she can get through it for free by spending in an hour or so at Indigo. Now remember AnonymASS, no crying “Mean Girl” if Tearfree finds fault with Knocked Up.
And finally, it is traditional for the COW to answer a few questions like: 1) How did you discover RTK? 2) Who’s your favourite commenter (NOT yourself) 3) How worried are you about softwood lumber 4) What’s your favourite RTK blogging subject? Since AnonymASS is by far the most secretive of the winners to date, we will have to just wait and see if she will post her answers.
Congratulations, you COW.
Thursday, July 06, 2006
Soccer Moms’ Hottie of the Day
Tearfree is sad about soccer. First, she was rooting for the Germans and they lost. Then she cheered for Portugal and they lost. Now, she's pulling for Italy in an anybody-but-France campaign.
The choice of today's hottie, the Portuguese captain Luis Figo, is a touch nostalgic. Our Soccer Moms award was inaugurated after his fellow countryman, Cristiano Ronaldo, caught Tearfree's eye way back on June 9, and now, almost one month later, things are drawing to a close.
Oh well, there's always beach volleyball.
The choice of today's hottie, the Portuguese captain Luis Figo, is a touch nostalgic. Our Soccer Moms award was inaugurated after his fellow countryman, Cristiano Ronaldo, caught Tearfree's eye way back on June 9, and now, almost one month later, things are drawing to a close.
Oh well, there's always beach volleyball.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
Mean Girls' Websites
Here is the website of one of Tearfree's daughter's alpha girl classmates. Because Tearfree doesn't want to pick on a 12-year-old -- even though she wants to pick on what the 12-year-old in question is doing -- she's not giving out the URLs and linking.
This girl, who is an A-student with parents who seem to dote on her, is somehow allowed to have a website where she asks her friends to vote for the prettiest girl in the class (and because this is 2006, not 1966, the hottest guy too.)
And here are the results of the vote.
Alpha girl also notes that she's going to have two new categories soon, best teacher and worst teacher, which really gets up Tearfree's nose since Ratemyprofessors.com is already more than bad enough.
Truth be told, Tearfree felt like writing a really mean comment on this kid's website, but then she excercised the kind of restraint she is called upon to constantly exercise when students send her really dumb e-mails and Tearfree didn't click on anything except blogger.com.
This girl, who is an A-student with parents who seem to dote on her, is somehow allowed to have a website where she asks her friends to vote for the prettiest girl in the class (and because this is 2006, not 1966, the hottest guy too.)
And here are the results of the vote.
Alpha girl also notes that she's going to have two new categories soon, best teacher and worst teacher, which really gets up Tearfree's nose since Ratemyprofessors.com is already more than bad enough.
Truth be told, Tearfree felt like writing a really mean comment on this kid's website, but then she excercised the kind of restraint she is called upon to constantly exercise when students send her really dumb e-mails and Tearfree didn't click on anything except blogger.com.
Soccer Moms' Hottie of the Day
Tearfree apologizes for posting today's hottie a bit later than usual. She spent a lot of time looking unsuccessfully for a photo of Mauro Camoranesi, who has been named the player with the best hair of the games by the Men's Long Hair Hyperboard, The more traditional Times of London wrote about him that he "really does look like a geisha, incidentally, with his hair up in some kind of bun." Alas, Tearfree can't find any pictures of Mauro with his current hairstyle, complete with chopsticks to hold his tresses in place.
If you can find one, please post the URL. Otherwise you'll have to tune in for Sunday's grand finale to see soccer's finest hair.
If you can find one, please post the URL. Otherwise you'll have to tune in for Sunday's grand finale to see soccer's finest hair.
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
For ME or my kids
Since my first posting, I get this reaction, from the commenters, that comes across as a big and collective "Duh".
I am quite proud that I have brought into Tearfree's world words like milf and bayl, but the feeling of being behind the times is ever present. It is as if I have turned into my father without knowing it.
Does this mean I am destined to wear socks with my sandals (oops I do that), or yell out the car window at cyclist who are supposed to use the bicycle path on small roads but insist on riding on the road keeping speed to 15 mph for everybody (guilty), drive a Toyota (I just bought his off-lease Toyota) or how about trying to organize my life to the millionth degree by writing lists at 6:00am with the morning tea every morning!
Finally something I do not do. I get up at 7:30
Think about it, when Reject's readers were growing up how many of us said to ourselves or outloud "No way am I going to be anything like my parents."
What happened?
How different are you than your parent(s)?
Oh, how we have come so far! bayl
I am quite proud that I have brought into Tearfree's world words like milf and bayl, but the feeling of being behind the times is ever present. It is as if I have turned into my father without knowing it.
Does this mean I am destined to wear socks with my sandals (oops I do that), or yell out the car window at cyclist who are supposed to use the bicycle path on small roads but insist on riding on the road keeping speed to 15 mph for everybody (guilty), drive a Toyota (I just bought his off-lease Toyota) or how about trying to organize my life to the millionth degree by writing lists at 6:00am with the morning tea every morning!
Finally something I do not do. I get up at 7:30
Think about it, when Reject's readers were growing up how many of us said to ourselves or outloud "No way am I going to be anything like my parents."
What happened?
How different are you than your parent(s)?
Oh, how we have come so far! bayl
Ulysses Blogging: Telemachus
OK, members of the RTK Ulysses book blogging club, tell us what you really think of the first 27 pages.
Note: Ulysses blogging inspired by CBC Radio's "Canada Intends to Read" feature.
Note: Ulysses blogging inspired by CBC Radio's "Canada Intends to Read" feature.
Another week means another Commenter of the Week
Don't be shy. Post comments. Nominate your favourites. Nominate yourselves. The prize winner gets to pick the hottest Soccer Hottie of them all.
Here I am
Now that the excitement of my presence at this blog has worn a little, I am willing to reveal exactly where my ideas come from. If you check my picture out, it looks like I might be napping, but No. I can assure you I am thinking of the next blog.
My dog is also the home protection device, although to the untrained eye it looks like she might be sleeping as well, I can assure she is like a coiled spring.
I would like to thank my lovely wife for the time and patience involved in posting this picture. She started the project and saw it through to completion. By the time she had succeeded I had left the room in frustration.
I have found another reason to respect Granny; because getting a picture next to my name proved to be my Waterloo!!!!
Maybe we could get Tearfree to give us a picture?
Now, back to thinking about my next posting.
My dog is also the home protection device, although to the untrained eye it looks like she might be sleeping as well, I can assure she is like a coiled spring.
I would like to thank my lovely wife for the time and patience involved in posting this picture. She started the project and saw it through to completion. By the time she had succeeded I had left the room in frustration.
I have found another reason to respect Granny; because getting a picture next to my name proved to be my Waterloo!!!!
Maybe we could get Tearfree to give us a picture?
Now, back to thinking about my next posting.
Soccer Moms’ Hottie of the Day
In honour of Dr. Oetker and the German theme we have going today, and also because he played a great game last Friday, we are giving today's hottie award to Deutschland's goalie, Jens Lehmann. See him in action at 3 p.m. eastern daylight time.
Now, that's weird
People come to Reject the Koolaid for a lot of different reasons -- softwood lumber, synchro swimming, revenge on Mummy bloggers and much more.
Just yesterday, for example, someone from Kuwait arrived here after googling the words "michael ballack mother mary." (Click photos to enlarge)
Turns out RTK is high on the list for that particular google search. Tearfree just hopes the Soccer Hotties competition doesn't get her on the CSIS watch list.
soccer hotties world cup Michael Ballack
Just yesterday, for example, someone from Kuwait arrived here after googling the words "michael ballack mother mary." (Click photos to enlarge)
Turns out RTK is high on the list for that particular google search. Tearfree just hopes the Soccer Hotties competition doesn't get her on the CSIS watch list.
soccer hotties world cup Michael Ballack
The Dr. Oetker Taste Test
When Jacy praised Dr. Oetker's frozen pizzas, it spurred Tearfree to investigate the German Doktor who’s suddenly taken over supermarket shelves.
_________________________
Like many grocery shoppers, Tearfree has, on occasion, found herself sufficiently tempted by Dr. Oetker's tiramisu mix or the chocolate mousse to actually pick up the box and scrutinize it, but, in the end, she's always put it back on the shelf, thinking, “What can a German Doktor possibly know about tiramisu and chocolate mousse?”
As we observe regularly here at RTK, Tearfree is not alone in her Weltanschauung. It seems that many Brits have also expressed skepticism about Dr. Oetker, a powerhouse in the western and central European food industry, whose recent marketing blitz in the UK stirred up antagonisms both old and new .
“Perhaps we can next expect the taste of Real Brazilian Pizza... by Dr. Mengele,” commented one blogger.
“Dr Oetker sounds like the name of a mad scientist who has been grafting ocelot heads on to genetically-enhanced super babies in an abandoned nuclear bunker,” wrote another.
And in perhaps the unkindest cut of them all, yet another blogger wrote that the German Eurovision entry -- a country song -- was “reasonably authentic... probably about as convincing as a Dr Oetker German pizza. Though I have to admit I've never eaten one, somehow a pizza made by a German doctor just doesn't appeal.”
Clearly the branding folks at Dr. Oetker have sort of half-way grasped this lack of allure. How else to explain the gender ambiguous person featured in the company logo? Is it supposed to be some German Hausfrau who uses Dr. O or is it the good doktor himself complete with a Mozart-era hairstyle? (Sexist as it may be, it actually never occurred to Tearfree that Dr. O was a woman.)
When Tearfree began to investigate, she learned that Dr. O has been in Canada since 1960, but has only been using the Dr. O brand since 2003. Originally, his products went under the name of Condima Imports (no comment), followed by a number of other names that even the company itself no longer wishes to reveal. Dr. O took over the better known (in Canada) Shirriff brand in 1992 and its former products are now sold under both names.
As for Dr. O himself, he appears to have been a chemist and not a medical doctor. He made his mark by inventing a baking powder formula and expanded from there. His real photo shows that he bears far more resemblance to Marx than Mozart. And the company he founded , a mega brand in Europe, is now in the hands of Dr. h. c. August Oetker, fourth generation CEO.
In the interests of doing for Herr Doktor Oetker what she’s done for softwood lumber and synchronized swimming, Tearfree staged a Dr. O taste test this past long weekend and has committed herself to blogging regularly about Dr. O. products.
The taste test began at Saturday breakfast with Dr. Oetker’s wild blueberry muffins with Streusel topping. Tearfree knows from time spent in Germany that the natives make really good fresh fruit cakes and streusel, and she wanted to give Dr. Oetker a positive start. Even though it’s really really easy to make your own blueberry muffins from scratch (hint: use frozen blueberries when fresh aren’t available), Tearfree was keen to try out fancier innovations that she doesn’t usually have time for, like the filling and the topping.
Muffin assembly was quick and easy and the results were pretty good in a commercial bakery kind of way, but Tearfree still prefers her own traditional Blueberry muffin, made from Susan Mendelson’s Mama Never Cooked Like This. (Tip: substitute plain yogurt for the buttermilk.)
Next on the taste-testing agenda were Dr. Oetker”s frozen pizzas, which have been garnering a lot of praise, including from Chatelaine for the vegetable one and from the Journal de Montreal for the four cheese one. Tearfree tried the vegetable pizza for supper and while it was tasty enough, it confirmed her opinion of frozen pizzas with too many vegetables – they are soggy and if you cook them enough to rectify this, you end up practically incinerating the vegetables.
This is why Tearfree sticks to cheese and/or meat frozen pizzas, serving up the vegetables in a side salad. Dr. Oetker’s four cheese pizza, cooked to a pleasing crispiness, was more up her alley. It distinguishes itself from the President’s Choice four-cheese version in that it has blue cheese, but neither Dr. O nor the Prez can match the four cheese white pizza at Amelio’s.
The last item in the weekend taste test was Dr. O’s crème brûlée. Tearfree has never prepared a crème brûlée herself as she has heard that it is extremely challenging even for talented cooks, many of whom suggest you need a blow torch to get the crispy burnt sugar crust just right. For this reason, Tearfree only ever eats crème brûlée in restaurants or buys it at pastry shops. (In the photo above, the crème brûlée is in the very back row. Click for an even better view.)
She was deeply concerned that any crème brûlée from a mix would have a chemical taste, but she felt that after lobbing Dr. O an easy ball, with the blueberry streusel muffins, it was time to send him the toughest shot possible. All went well in the crème brûlée preparations until it came time to broil the puddings with their sugar topping. The instructions called for three to four minutes, but when Tearfree checked at the three-minute mark, they were nowhere near done. She decided to give them two minutes more but then lost track of time and they ended up cooking for six additional minutes. By the time Tearfree removed them from the oven, they were boiling like a mad scientist’s ocelot potion and all the sugar that should have formed a crust on top had completely disappeared from sight.
In the line of duty, Tearfree soldiered on and sampled the finished product. It had an unidentifiable, possibly artificial citrus, taste that disappeared after two or three spoonfuls, but given that the topping is the best part of crème brulee and that Tearfree can’t, in all good conscience, hold Dr. O responsible for its vapourization, she is forced to withhold definitive judgment. Since it’s unlikely that she will try this particular product again, she urges readers, who cannot find crème brûlée so easily in their neck of the woods, to give Dr. Oetker a try and report back to RTK with the results.
For that matter, Tearfree would like you all to test any Dr. Oetker products that might have tempted you in the past. She herself plans on using Dr O’s famous vanilla sugar in next weekend’s waffles and should Germany win the World Cup, she will prepare his Black Forest Cake to celebrate.
food
_________________________
Like many grocery shoppers, Tearfree has, on occasion, found herself sufficiently tempted by Dr. Oetker's tiramisu mix or the chocolate mousse to actually pick up the box and scrutinize it, but, in the end, she's always put it back on the shelf, thinking, “What can a German Doktor possibly know about tiramisu and chocolate mousse?”
As we observe regularly here at RTK, Tearfree is not alone in her Weltanschauung. It seems that many Brits have also expressed skepticism about Dr. Oetker, a powerhouse in the western and central European food industry, whose recent marketing blitz in the UK stirred up antagonisms both old and new .
“Perhaps we can next expect the taste of Real Brazilian Pizza... by Dr. Mengele,” commented one blogger.
“Dr Oetker sounds like the name of a mad scientist who has been grafting ocelot heads on to genetically-enhanced super babies in an abandoned nuclear bunker,” wrote another.
And in perhaps the unkindest cut of them all, yet another blogger wrote that the German Eurovision entry -- a country song -- was “reasonably authentic... probably about as convincing as a Dr Oetker German pizza. Though I have to admit I've never eaten one, somehow a pizza made by a German doctor just doesn't appeal.”
Clearly the branding folks at Dr. Oetker have sort of half-way grasped this lack of allure. How else to explain the gender ambiguous person featured in the company logo? Is it supposed to be some German Hausfrau who uses Dr. O or is it the good doktor himself complete with a Mozart-era hairstyle? (Sexist as it may be, it actually never occurred to Tearfree that Dr. O was a woman.)
When Tearfree began to investigate, she learned that Dr. O has been in Canada since 1960, but has only been using the Dr. O brand since 2003. Originally, his products went under the name of Condima Imports (no comment), followed by a number of other names that even the company itself no longer wishes to reveal. Dr. O took over the better known (in Canada) Shirriff brand in 1992 and its former products are now sold under both names.
As for Dr. O himself, he appears to have been a chemist and not a medical doctor. He made his mark by inventing a baking powder formula and expanded from there. His real photo shows that he bears far more resemblance to Marx than Mozart. And the company he founded , a mega brand in Europe, is now in the hands of Dr. h. c. August Oetker, fourth generation CEO.
In the interests of doing for Herr Doktor Oetker what she’s done for softwood lumber and synchronized swimming, Tearfree staged a Dr. O taste test this past long weekend and has committed herself to blogging regularly about Dr. O. products.
The taste test began at Saturday breakfast with Dr. Oetker’s wild blueberry muffins with Streusel topping. Tearfree knows from time spent in Germany that the natives make really good fresh fruit cakes and streusel, and she wanted to give Dr. Oetker a positive start. Even though it’s really really easy to make your own blueberry muffins from scratch (hint: use frozen blueberries when fresh aren’t available), Tearfree was keen to try out fancier innovations that she doesn’t usually have time for, like the filling and the topping.
Muffin assembly was quick and easy and the results were pretty good in a commercial bakery kind of way, but Tearfree still prefers her own traditional Blueberry muffin, made from Susan Mendelson’s Mama Never Cooked Like This. (Tip: substitute plain yogurt for the buttermilk.)
Next on the taste-testing agenda were Dr. Oetker”s frozen pizzas, which have been garnering a lot of praise, including from Chatelaine for the vegetable one and from the Journal de Montreal for the four cheese one. Tearfree tried the vegetable pizza for supper and while it was tasty enough, it confirmed her opinion of frozen pizzas with too many vegetables – they are soggy and if you cook them enough to rectify this, you end up practically incinerating the vegetables.This is why Tearfree sticks to cheese and/or meat frozen pizzas, serving up the vegetables in a side salad. Dr. Oetker’s four cheese pizza, cooked to a pleasing crispiness, was more up her alley. It distinguishes itself from the President’s Choice four-cheese version in that it has blue cheese, but neither Dr. O nor the Prez can match the four cheese white pizza at Amelio’s.
The last item in the weekend taste test was Dr. O’s crème brûlée. Tearfree has never prepared a crème brûlée herself as she has heard that it is extremely challenging even for talented cooks, many of whom suggest you need a blow torch to get the crispy burnt sugar crust just right. For this reason, Tearfree only ever eats crème brûlée in restaurants or buys it at pastry shops. (In the photo above, the crème brûlée is in the very back row. Click for an even better view.)
She was deeply concerned that any crème brûlée from a mix would have a chemical taste, but she felt that after lobbing Dr. O an easy ball, with the blueberry streusel muffins, it was time to send him the toughest shot possible. All went well in the crème brûlée preparations until it came time to broil the puddings with their sugar topping. The instructions called for three to four minutes, but when Tearfree checked at the three-minute mark, they were nowhere near done. She decided to give them two minutes more but then lost track of time and they ended up cooking for six additional minutes. By the time Tearfree removed them from the oven, they were boiling like a mad scientist’s ocelot potion and all the sugar that should have formed a crust on top had completely disappeared from sight.
In the line of duty, Tearfree soldiered on and sampled the finished product. It had an unidentifiable, possibly artificial citrus, taste that disappeared after two or three spoonfuls, but given that the topping is the best part of crème brulee and that Tearfree can’t, in all good conscience, hold Dr. O responsible for its vapourization, she is forced to withhold definitive judgment. Since it’s unlikely that she will try this particular product again, she urges readers, who cannot find crème brûlée so easily in their neck of the woods, to give Dr. Oetker a try and report back to RTK with the results.For that matter, Tearfree would like you all to test any Dr. Oetker products that might have tempted you in the past. She herself plans on using Dr O’s famous vanilla sugar in next weekend’s waffles and should Germany win the World Cup, she will prepare his Black Forest Cake to celebrate.
food
Monday, July 03, 2006
Breaking Softwood Lumber News
Tearfree has ended her long weekend early to break the happy news...They've signed!!!
Here's the official US government report complete with links to the press release. And here's the most recent analysis from The Globe and Mail.
Can't wait for Concerned Lumberjack to weigh in.
current affairs
Canada
Here's the official US government report complete with links to the press release. And here's the most recent analysis from The Globe and Mail.
Can't wait for Concerned Lumberjack to weigh in.
current affairs
Canada
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Now, honestly, would you expect this Mummy Blogger to know there was a serial killer next door?
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