Little Ralphie takes aim, just before he shoots his eye out (From Angry Alien Productions) We're right in the middle of the holiday shopping season, and December 1st is the beginning of "Safe Toys and Gifts Month," all of which reminds me that every year about this time, some group of buttinsky do-gooders comes along with a list of "dangerous" toys that parents are supposed to avoid -- just because some kiddie somewhere might swallow something or put an eye out. When I was growing up, we weren't softies like these kids today. Our toys were hazardous. They were rusty. They gave us splinters. They exploded in our faces or stabbed us, and that's just the way we liked it. We played with chemistry sets and ovens that were shaped like goofy-looking heads, with which we concocted all sorts of toxic crap -- which we'd eat without a second thought -- and enjoy! We had "Thingmakers" that would melt "Plastigoop," which could burn the skin right off your arm. Hell, even our Erector sets could cut your fingers clean off! Nowadays, these pantywaists aren't even allowed to play dodgeball or swing on the monkey bars, because some clumsy kid might break an arm. Honestly! You damn kids today. Now pick up your hypoallergenic, flame-resistant, no-small-parts toys with the rounded edges and get the hell off my lawn! Suggested Sites... W.A.T.C.H. List 2009 - a warning guide to the most dangerous toys of the year. Boomer Baby Toys - boomers get nostalgic for the toys of their youth. TV Party: Kids With Guns - ads from the days when it was hard to get away from toy guns. New York Daily News: Most Dangerous Toys - a rogue's gallery of toys so dangerous you'll beg Santa to take them back. Like Television: Toyland - watch vintage toy commercials.

Directory categories: Toy Safety, Toys, Antique and Collectible Toys, Toy Retailers, Child Safety

Archived under: Children, Childrens Health, Christmas, Gifts, Grumpiness, In Character, Kids, Nostalgia, Safety, Toys

Post a comment (0) | Email this posting

Ree Drummond's dinner roll, a la Eugenia (Photo by Eugenia Chien) If you'd lived where I've lived, you might think there's really no reason to learn how to bake bread at home. I grew up in Taipei, where you'll find at least two bakeries on every block. Here in San Francisco, I head to Tartine Bakery when I need a buttery fix, and for a good, crusty loaf, there's always the Acme Bread Company. So why bake my own bread? If only for reasons explained only by nostalgia, the idea of homemade bread, hot from the oven, makes me and my dinner guests go absolutely crazy. When I announced that I would be making bread, a handful of Yahoo! editors readily volunteered themselves to be the taste-testers. Bread baking could seem like a daunting undertaking, but a few no-knead, foolproof recipes have recently emerged to ease the novice baker into making bread. Food bloggers have talked endlessly about Mark Bittman's no-knead bread recipe, which uses a super-slow rising period and calls for baking the dough in a heavy, enclosed pot. For this Thanksgiving, I tested another no-knead recipe from Ree Drummond's fantastic website, The Pioneer Woman. Her cult-like following is easy to understand when you try this recipe. These sweet dinner rolls achieve their volume with the help of some yeast, a little baking powder, and baking soda mixed in at the end. I cheated a little by kneading the dough a few times before rolling it into little balls and baking them in a liberally-buttered muffin tin. These rolls baked quickly, and only 15 minutes later, my fellow Yahoo! editors were buttering the hot rolls and drizzling honey over them. I had plenty of dough left over to make a big braided loaf, which I sliced up for French toast the next morning, using the French toast recipe from "The Joy of Cooking." If you're looking to impress your Turkey Day guests, check out the Yahoo! Directory for even more bread recipes. Suggested Sites... Mark Bittman's No-Knead Bread Recipe - watch Bittman make this beautiful loaf. Eight Tips for Less Intimidating Bread - tips from Smitten Kitchen on how to bake beaming, bewitching breads. Broiche des Rois - Tartelette bakes a festive broiche and reaches epiphany. Warning: contains photography that will make you hungry immediately.

Directory categories: Bread Recipes, Baking, French Toast Recipes, Thanksgiving Recipes, Recipes

Archived under: Bread, Cooking, Eating, Food and Drink, Holidays, In Character, Recipes, Thanksgiving

Post a comment (0) | Email this posting

Jack Pierce makes up Karloff as the Frankenstein monster (Photo by Jhayne) When I was growing up, I loved horror movies -- especially monster movies. I don't mean the gorefests that populate the screen today; the ones that substitute shock for real psychological terror. No, I loved the Universal monster movies that featured the Wolf Man, the Invisible Man, Dracula, and, most of all, Frankenstein’s monster (or just "Frankenstein," as we called him in those days). Most of the reason for that love was Boris Karloff. In spite of how many people he murdered, tortured, or terrorized on camera, it was obvious that, behind the character, there was a decent and funny man who projected a real humanity. Karloff was born on November 23, 1887, as William Henry Pratt. As a child, it was expected he'd follow his brother into the British Foreign Service, but he developed a love of acting that took him first to Canada, then finally to Hollywood, where between gigs acting in silent films, he worked as a ditch digger and truck driver to pay the bills. When sound films came along in the late 1920s, his stage training (and British accent) helped him make the transition to talkies, but he was still mired in supporting roles like "Rev. T. Vernon Isopod" or "Sport Williams." Finally, in 1931, the role of a lifetime -- the Frankenstein monster -- came along, and even though he was unbilled at the time (the credits showed the Monster as being played by "?"), he had achieved screen immortality, becoming one of the few actors to be so well known as to be billed with just one name: "Karloff." It took Universal a bit of time to realize what an asset they had in Karloff. They lent him out to Warner Bros. for a memorable turn as a cadaverous gangster in the original "Scarface" and to MGM to star in the insidious Dr. Fu Manchu. But once the box-office returns came in ($12,000,000 -- nearly $200 million today... that's before adjusting for the 25 cents audiences paid in 1931!), they took full advantage of him in such classics as "The Old Dark House," "The Mummy," "The Black Cat," and (best of all) "The Bride of Frankenstein" -- some 42 features over the next ten years. In 1941, Karloff left Hollywood to appear on Broadway in the comedy "Arsenic and Old Lace," playing another homicidal maniac -- one who’d had plastic surgery and now looked like -- Boris Karloff. Over the next three decades, Karloff alternated between stage, screen, radio, and television, shifting easily between comedy and drama. His integrity and talent were such that, even after the many times he had kidded his "horror star" image, he was still utterly believable when he did a straight role that would scare the pants off audiences. When he died at the age of 81 in 1967, his name was still the gold standard for the genre, (an accomplishment that no one else -- in any film genre -- has ever matched) and for some of us, it still is. Suggested Sites... Karloff.com - official site of the Karloff family, dedicated to the memory of the Master of Horror. "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" - excerpt from one of Karloff's last great roles, narrating and playing the Grinch. Celebrating Boris Karloff, the Monster and the Man - introduction to a retrospective of Karloff's film career. Universal Studios Monster Movies - overview of the studio's horror films of the 1930s. Frankenstein Films: The Universal Pictures Series - reviews and synopses of the series that rocketed Karloff to stardom.

Directory categories: Boris Karloff, Horror Movies, Classi Hollywood Actors, Frankenstein, Actors

Archived under: 1930s, 1940s, Actors, Biographies, Birthdays, Boris Karloff, Celebrities, Entertainment, Horror, Horror Films, In Character, Monsters and Creatures, Movies

Post a comment (0) | Email this posting

Wonder if the Cream of Wheat man will ever be made CEO, like Uncle Ben was? What's the greatest invention to come out of North Dakota? The "Roughrider State" takes credit for the first parking meter, but in my humble estimation, Cream of Wheat is a far more notable contribution to world happiness. The hot cereal made its debut exactly 116 years ago, when a wheat miller in Grand Forks, ND, sold the first box. I've always liked my Cream of Wheat with milk and honey, but today's online foodies are showing me up with their creations. They're serving up the cereal with coconut milk, rhubarb, and even pumpkin and spices. We're also seeing a proliferation of recipes that use Cream of Wheat for non-cereal, non-breakfast purposes. While I can't vouch for the quality of these recipes, apparently Cream of Wheat can be a key ingredient for such diverse foods as filet of fish, chocolate bread, and dumplings. And for the category of "stuff I learned on the Internet that I never would have asked:" most dogs can safely eat Cream of Wheat. It's not the recommended use, folks, but there’s an eHow article devoted entirely to the question, "Can dogs eat Cream of Wheat?" The answer is yes, but you should remember that dogs, like humans, can have food allergies. Suggested Sites... About.com: Nutrition - find out why breakfast is the most important meal of the day. RecipeZaar - more recipes using Cream of Wheat. The History of Cream of Wheat - 116 years of hot farina cereal. Was the Cream of Wheat Chef a Real Person? - he was, and his name was Frank White.

Directory categories: Food and Drink, Eating Practices, Breakfast Recipes, Nutrition, Recipes

Archived under: 19th Century, Anniversaries, Brands, Cooking, Eating, Food and Drink, In Character, Nutrition, Recipes

Post a comment (0) | Email this posting

You buy that first CD, and pretty soon, there are stacks all over the house (Photo by Joe Mad) Yesterday, to honor the 27th anniversary of the debut of the compact disc, we noted the history of the medium and some of our musical tastes. The celebration continues today with some more fun facts about the venerable CD: * The name "compact disc" was chosen because it was felt it would remind people of the success of the compact cassette. * The first artists to sell a million copies on CD were Dire Straits, with their 1985 album, "Brothers in Arms" * To date, the biggest-selling CD is The Beatles' "1," released in November 2000, with worldwide sales of 30 million discs and counting. And now that we've whetted your appetite, let's keep on browsing the discotheques of our fellow Yahoos: Cliff: "Now That's What I Call Music 1" (an anthology of pop songs). Mitzi: The first album I ever bought (that’s right, vinyl) was "Sweet Baby James" by James Taylor, followed by "Ummagumma" by Pink Floyd, and "Led Zeppelin III." Huw: I’m proud to say that the first record I bought with my own money was the theme tune from "The A-Team." If only I’d known about Mr. T’s rap album! Gaylon: My first CD purchase consisted of The Cult's "Electric " (because Ian Astbury ruled), the soundtrack to "The Lost Boys" (mostly for Echo & The Bunnymen's "People Are Strange"), and The Cure's "Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me" (partly for "Fight," but mostly because I was 18). Adam: Can't remember the first CD ... or record. Maybe "Dead Man's Party" by Oingo Boingo? Brian: "Pump”. I still think Aerosmith rules, as my musical tastes haven’t changed since I was a kid. Katherine: My first cassette tape purchase (which is more interesting than my first CD purchase of a classical piano CD): Paula Abdul’s "Forever Your Girl." 1993. Sixth grade. Dave S.: I'm not sure what my first CD was (I think it was a compilation of dance bands from the 1930s). Bur I do remember what the first "adult" record I bought was. In 1964, my sister made me ride my bike to the big department store in town so I could pick up the soundtrack to "A Hard Day’s Night" by the Beatles. I was only 8, but I felt oh so grown up. Adrianna: The first CD I purchased was "Jagged Little Pill" by Alanis Morissette in 1997. No offense, Taylor Swift and Beyonce, but I miss gritty girl rock. Ali: I grew up with a wall of classical music in the house, so when I first heard Tubeway Army, the weird synthesizers and Gary Numan’s even weirder voice was beyond anything I’d ever encountered. It took a while to get my hands on a copy, but “Replicas” was my first album. Probably not standard issue for eight year olds ... Suggested Sites... Wikipedia: The CD - detailed history of the compact disc. 27 Years -- and Counting - the technical details behind the invention of the CD How CDs work - the behind-the-scenes of the CD manufacturing.

Directory categories: CDs, Records, and Tapes, Vinyl Records, Music, The Beatles, Music History

Archived under: 1980s, Artists, In Character, Music, Music History, Musicians, Rock and Roll, Songs, The Beatles

Post a comment (1) | Email this posting