Films that featured historical figures did very well at the 2006 Academy Awards; Philip Seymour Hoffman won Best Actor for his portrayal of Truman Capote, and Reese Witherspoon won Best Actress for her work as June Carter Cash in Walk the Line. Additionally, Joaquin Phoenix and David Strathairn were also nominated in the Best Actor […]

When North Americans use the term “Swiss Cheese,” what they are most often referring to is a pale yellow cheese with many large holes throughout. This is a type of Swiss cheese, but it has a specific name, Emmentaler. It’s ironic that one type of cheese should come to represent “Swiss Cheese” since it’s been […]

For some reason, the seemingly simple task of hard-boiling an egg appears to be very confusing, and numerous techniques have sprung up to demystify it. Of course, you’re looking for a yolk that’s firm but not dry (or green!), a shell that remains intact during boiling, and, preferably, an egg that’s easy to peel. What […]

Ah, the martini. This simple and elegant pairing of gin and dry vermouth is always classy, but impossible to get right, because everyone has a different idea of the proper way to make one. There’s the whole shaken-or-stirred issue, of course, and the question of whether a martini made with vodka instead of gin is […]

I have a great fondness for many different kinds of cuisine; one day I may be in the mood for Indian food and the next day for the spicy dishes of Ethiopia. I think of these cuisines as very distinct from each other, but in one major way they are similar: both feature a type […]

The SPCA and most responsible veterinarians will tell you that you should never, ever declaw a cat. This is comparable to cutting off your finger at the first knuckle; it’s inhumane and can have seriously negative long-term effects. But there are other ways to keep your cat from scratching up the furniture. For example:

Trim the […]

Now that digital photography has gained such popularity, there will soon be a generation for whom getting photos “developed” will seem entirely foreign. It’s just a fact of life that as a new technology gains popularity, it overshadows the previous one, and that is especially true in the case of photography. Early photographic processes may […]

We tend to take honey for granted as just another sweetener choice, but in fact there is much more to this sticky treat than meets the eye. Honey has been used as a folk remedy in cultures around the world for millennia, and has been prescribed informally as a cure for smallpox, baldness, eye diseases, […]

Alanis Morissette takes the cake with no fewer than three list songs her album Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie [Buy from Amazon.com]:

Thank U (Thank you India/Thank you terror/Thank you disillusionment…) Are You Still Mad? (Are you still mad i kicked you out of bed?/Are you still mad i gave you ultimatums?/Are you still mad i compared you […]

This is the second entry in our series of IKEA lists. Another trend I noticed among the IKEA names was that a lot of the one-word names seemed tailor-made for would-be superheroes. There was an attitude of action and identity implicit in these names that seemed perfect for these fledgling caped crusaders.

Bandora Old identity: Floor lamp New identity: […]