July 2003 – Screenshot

Barbie Vacuum

Puttering through my Amazon.com Gold Box today, I got an offer for a product that made my jaw drop: the Barbie Real Vacuum. It’s a fully-functional handheld, cordless vacuum in a Barbie motif – pink with flowers and the Barbie logo. It’s advertised, both in the text and in the accompanying video, as for little girls, to encourage them to clean their own rooms. There is also a blue version, but without the child-specific description (it’s mentioned as one of a wider range of uses). So we’re clearly not talking about a line of child-themed vacuums. And the age range … Continue reading Barbie Vacuum

Stanley Cup comes to Cornell

By AMH

A full teaching schedule for the past couple of weeks has kept me running, but I’ve been having a great time. It’s all content that I personally find interesting, which makes a huge difference. And despite the crazy work schedule I’ve gotten a few fun outings in. My latest adventure yielded the photo at the top of the page, from here at Cornell’s very own Lynah Rink. Very cool!

Mascot Abuse?

By AMH

Speaking of hometown sports, the Pirates got an image upgrade last week when first baseman hit a woman in a large foam italian sausage costume over the head with his baseball bat at a game against Milwaukee. There is a link to video of the interrupted “Sausage Race” at that link, and it looks a lot worse than it sounds like it really was. Of course, this caused a huge amount of ongoing commentary, particularly in the Pittsburgh press. The large foam representative of the Allegheny County Health Department, Browny the Burger is fired up by mascot abuse, with one … Continue reading Mascot Abuse?

But….Arrr!

By AMH

I’ve never been a fan of big summer movies, except for on those horrible 90+ degree days when the air conditioning is worth the cost of admission. Oh, I’m hearing how great Pirates of the Caribbean is supposed to be. I don’t get the pirate love, and the explanations of the appeal mostly come out as: “But Amanda…. ‘Arrrrr’!” Ah well, the local independent theaters have actually been running some really good stuff lately. Spellbound, the documentary about eight contestants in the national spelling bee, was really good. They were very respectful of the children, which I appreciated. And tonight … Continue reading But….Arrr!