The peanut has arrived!

Margi and Koolaid are now the proud parents of a baby boy, 4lbs, 15oz and 18 inches long!

WOOOOOHOOOOOOOO!

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Catholicism Works!

DUBLIN (Reuters) - Scientists in Ireland may have found the country's most fertile male, with more than 3 million men worldwide among his offspring.

The scientists, from Trinity College Dublin, have discovered that as many as one in twelve Irish men could be descended from Niall of the Nine Hostages, a 5th-century warlord who was head of the most powerful dynasty in ancient Ireland.

His genetic legacy is almost as impressive as Genghis Khan, the Mongol emperor who conquered most of Asia in the 13th century and has nearly 16 million descendants, said Dan Bradley, who supervised the research.

"It's another link between profligacy and power," Bradley told Reuters. "We're the first generation on the planet where if you're successful you don't (always) have more children."

The research was carried out by PhD student Laoise Moore, at the Smurfit Institute of Genetics at Trinity. Moore, testing the Y chromosome which is passed on from fathers to sons, examined DNA samples from 800 males across Ireland.

The results -- which have been published in the American Journal of Human Genetics -- showed the highest concentration of related males in northwest Ireland, where one in five males had the same Y chromosome.

Bradley said the results reminded the team of a similar study in central Asia, where scientists found 8 percent of men with the same Y chromosome. Subsequent studies found they shared the same chromosome as the dynasty linked to Genghis Khan.

{...}When international databases were checked, the chromosome also turned up in roughly 2 percent of all male New Yorkers.

That's some seriously useful fertility.

{Hat tip: My Maximum Leader}

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Oh, yeah. You know you want to read these helpful hints, which---rather refreshing in this anti-bacterial age---seem to be completely devoid of advice regarding avoidance from germs but require plenty of avoidance from common sense. more...

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Well, actually it is fake, but...you should read it anyway.

Because Oprah said so.

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Scary.

{...}We don't mind offering you a long-term truce on fair conditions that we adhere to. We are a nation that God has forbidden to lie and cheat. So both sides can enjoy security and stability under this truce so we can build Iraq and Afghanistan, which have been destroyed in this war. There is no shame in this solution, which prevents the wasting of billions of dollars that have gone to those with influence and merchants of war in America who have supported Bush's election campaign with billions of dollars — which lets us understand the insistence by Bush and his gang to carry on with war.

If you (Americans) are sincere in your desire for peace and security, we have answered you. And if Bush decides to carry on with his lies and oppression, then it would be useful for you to read the book "Rogue State," which states in its introduction: "If I were president, I would stop the attacks on the United States: First I would give an apology to all the widows and orphans and those who were tortured. Then I would announce that American interference in the nations of the world has ended once and for all."

Finally, I say that war will go either in our favor or yours. If it is the former, it means your loss and your shame forever, and it is headed in this course. If it is the latter, read history! We are people who do not stand for injustice and we will seek revenge all our lives. The nights and days will not pass without us taking vengeance like on Sept. 11, God permitting. Your minds will be troubled and your lives embittered. As for us, we have nothing to lose. A swimmer in the ocean does not fear the rain. You have occupied our lands, offended our honor and dignity and let out our blood and stolen our money and destroyed our houses and played with our security and we will give you the same treatment.

You have tried to prevent us from leading a dignified life, but you will not be able to prevent us from a dignified death. Failing to carry out jihad, which is called for in our religion, is a sin. The best death to us is under the shadows of swords. Don't let your strength and modern arms fool you. They win a few battles but lose the war. Patience and steadfastness are much better. We were patient in fighting the Soviet Union with simple weapons for 10 years and we bled their economy and now they are nothing.

In that there is a lesson for you.

I hate to be down on the Special Forces dudes---I really do---because they are working their asses off, but can we track down and kill this goatfucker already?

Posted by: Kathy at 11:27 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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"The message of eminent domain abuse is simple: "You aren't rich enough to deserve the land you own.""

Go read the whole thing.

Posted by: Kathy at 09:09 AM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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1 Those unbelievable bastards! Fuckers! Every last one of them! I'm all for capitalism, but this shit is corruption of the worst sort. It is nothing less than a signal of the decline of the United States of America and the principals upon which it was founded. Amendment IV The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized. Amendment V No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. What these fuckers consider "just" is only determined by lawyers. Lawyers, by the way, like the bottom-feeders they are, who are inclined to use whatever definition best serves the host the parasites are currently feeding on. Do you think that so far these passages from the Bill of Rights may or may not be applicable? Just wait, there's more! Amendment VII In Suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise re-examined in any Court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.So any of this nonsense taking place in city council meetings, smoke-filled back rooms, or elsewhere is all shit and can be contested according to the law! in front of a jury of citizens. In this case, the peers of a case would by definition be other residents of the Cramer Hill neighborhood. The revolution draws closer...

Posted by: MRN aka "The Husband" at January 19, 2006 04:20 PM (JeBdM)

2 In the immortal words of Sergeant Hulka: Lighten up, Francis.

Posted by: Kathy at January 19, 2006 05:35 PM (JeBdM)

3 Hell no! If the erosion of our very liberties isn't enough to bother you, then consider the erosion of our entire economic system. I know you've heard me rant before about how a major cornerstone of the United States' economy is property rights. (Also one reason that the World Bank and IMF can't make any headway in developing nations - the oligarchs and kleptocrats won't allow people to own their land. Just consider, the several-hundred-billion dollars in home and property loans in this country (that finance everything from home improvements to transportation, to education, to vacations) might very suddenly be considered to be built upon a house of cards. Why? Because the value of the property that those loans are taken against has just become vastly more fluid. If some shcyster city council scumbags can suddenly and arbitrarily determine either A. the property you're sitting on has no value to "you" or B. you have no rights to that property because we want to 'improve' it, then what the hell has the bank loaned you money against? How long do you think it's going to take the banks to figure this out? The Kelo decision was the "shot nobody heard" of this new revolution. (ed: can't type m_o_r_t_g_a_g_e in the comments - apparently it's dangerous content. Strange, I can get it to post fucker just fine. Your comment could not be submitted due to questionable content: m_o_r_t_g_a_g_e)

Posted by: MRN aka "The Husband" at January 19, 2006 06:11 PM (JeBdM)

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Flask schmask.

Get one of these instead.

The dear friend, ML, carries a bottle of wine this way when she's got a long flight. She's informed me also that they're quite good for the single malts, too.

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Today the boys informed me they were going to have Bones put on his Hulk costume and then shoot nerf stuff at his butt to see if he could feel it.

It gets better.

Go read the whole thing and don't drink any sort of beverage when you do.

{hat tip: Cal Tech Girlie}

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Margi's on her way to the hospital.

Keep thy fingers and toes crossed, my devoted Cake Eater Readers, for it could be a bumpy ride.

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It's official: every time I hear AC/DC's Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, I think of this.

The image won't stop popping up every time I hear that song. I'll be in the middle of being conflicted about sweating copiously during a workout, AC/DC will come on and I'll start laughing at the thought of those words coming out of a four-year-old girl's mouth.

I don't quite know what to think about this, other than I doubt that's the image the band had in mind when they wrote it.

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Ein Bier, bitte. And other alcoholic adventures after the jump.

{Parts one and two} more...

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I believe I mentioned that I received this calendar from ML and the Doctor. So far, I'm enjoying it and have received lots of good hints about how to survive a plane crash and being locked in a walk-in freezer, but since there are only so many of those hints they can give out, they pepper the calendar with pages labeled, "This Day in Survival History."

I'm posting today's entry because I have a feeling Robbo will get a kick out of it.

On this day (January 17) in 1773, Captain James Cook completed his first crossing of the Antarctic Circle. On this expedition, only his second voyage, he also became the first person to circumnavigate the world in both directions. In his ship, the HMS Resolution, he crossed the Antarctic Circle two more times and sailed as far south as 71 degrees, 10' before being beset by ice. Although the ice prevented him from reaching Antarctica, he was able to establish that the continent must be largely uninhabitable and would not be a productive addition to the British Empire. Captain Cook was also noted for his attention to the cleanliness of ships and the diet of his sailors: Our of a crew of 118 on a voyage lasting more than three years, only one man died.

Now, I'm sure Robbo will expand on this and I'll update when he does. I'm sure he'll also let us know where in the Aubrey/Maturn series we can find the fictionalized adventures of Captain Cook.

UPDATE: I told you he'd do it.

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Again, I'll keep updating if you keep refreshing.

• Who on earth thinks it's a good idea to have a theme song specifically for this award show? Anyone? Anyone? I didn't think so. This is SO LAME!
• Adrien Brody---cravat. Not a word you use every day, eh? And there's a reason for that.
• Ok, all Rachel Weisz needs in her hairdo is a pheasant and her ascension to the throne of "Queen of Big Hair" will be complete. Oy.
• Forgive me for stating the obvious here, but---AISLES, people! Aisles.
• Sheila's also liveblogging.
• GET A BRA, DREW! I actually shrieked with horror when I saw her. Girl needs some support. Big time.
• HAHAHAHAHA Geena Davis!
• Ok, so we're rooting for Dr. House. Just in case you were wondering.
• HOT DAMN! It's about time! Funny speech, too.

  

• I could say SO much about Melanie Griffith, well, I just can't narrow it down. Let your imaginations wander people.
• Need more wine, be right back. Liveblogging just isn't liveblogging unless there's some sort of alcohol available.
• Steve Carrell won! I love that "his wife" wrote his acceptance speech. That's funny!
• So, how awful did Pamela Anderson look, eh? She looked so tacky that it's almost hardly worth talking about, but this does quite handily segue into the topic of tattoos. As in, you won't be able to wear a gorgeous gown if you get one. It just looks awful. Ugh
• Wash your hair Tim!

  

• Ok, Keira Knightly had BETTER NOT WIN for Pride and Prejudice I'm throwing down if that happens.
• Everyone's safe. Thanks Reese for beating the snot out of that travesty version of P&P

  
  I'll even post her picture because I'm so happy Keira lost. And she does look pretty, too, doesn't she?

• HAHAHAHAHAHA! How funny is it that the Desperate Housewives got shut out? I love Mary Louise Parker! Billy Crudup is an idiot. Really and truly.
• And while we're on the subject, Claire Danes is a BIG TIME HOMEWRECKER
• How funny is Emma Thompson! Even if she is introducing the clip of that TRAVESTY OF A FILM!
• Sheila and I are on the same wavelength: Eric Bana---Good God is he hot!
• If S. Epatha wins, do you think she'll lose her acceptance speech in her cleavage again?
• A moment of silence for Colin Firth!
• Dating Calista Flockhart has NOT been good for Harrison. Poor man. OMG. I thought he was just faking being a wee bit lit on stage, but he actually had a cocktail up there! That wasn't a prop! That's just sad.
• I love that Larry McMurtry thanked his typewriter for keeping him out of the "dry embrace of the computer." How wonderful. It totally fits that Larry McMurtry would use a typewriter. I can't imagine any of the wonderful work he's produced coming from a computer.
• Mr. H. declared yesterday that he thinks that Josh dude (can't remember how to spell his last name) from Las Vegas is really hot. I was kind of surprised, because he's not really Mr. H's type, but I can understand.
• Am I the only one on the planet who doesn't watch Desperate Housewives and who honestly couldn't care less that they won? I think I must be. Everyone else looks really bored with the award they just won, too. That doesn't bode well for the future, if you ask me.
• Penelope Cruz looked like ass!
• Mmmmmm. Boom-Boom. Go King Fu Hustle!
• Damn. Kung Fu Hustle was shafted in favor of a movie about homicide bombers.
• Ummm, I hate to tell you this, but there isn't a "Palestine." Those people are from Israel. Even if they don't want to admit it.
• So, I didn't listen to John Williams' score for Memoirs of a Geisha. Who'd he plagiarize this time?
• HONESTLY, Mariah! What's up with those titties? Sheesh, honey! Find out if there's a money back guarantee on those puppies and see if you can't do something about that. Yikes!

  

• I'm saying it again: Gwyneth's dress is awful. And what's up with the way she's speaking? Has she suddenly adopted an English accent after living there?
• Oh, loving that they showed a clip from The Lion in Winter for Sir Anthony's award.
• Look at the super young Mel Gibson!
• Oh God, I'd forgotten how wonderful Sir Anthony was in Amistad as John Quincy Adams.
• I LOVED that they gave Hannibal the Cannibal his full due!
• GWYNETH! IT'S ANTHONY NOT "ANTONY". Why would you say it that way when the rest of the Western World says it the other way? As Eddie Izzard would say, "Because there's a fucking 'H' in it." Sheesh.
• Opie's scaring me with his beard.

  

• Sheila: "- Gwyneth - his name is ANTHONY. Not ANTONY. Knock it off with the accent, you puffed-sleeve phony." Bwahahahahahaa. We're so on the same wavelength with this one!
• Clint is looking so ragged.
• Peter Jackson is SOOOOOO on Atkins.

  

• Is Pierce Brosnan's wife pregnant again? She looks rather large.

  UPDATE: Nope. NOT preggers.

  

• I haven't seen any of these movies, but I'm glad Joaquin won. He did sound just like Johnny Cash. "Who'd ever thought I'd win in the comedy or musical category?" Tee hee. Nice to know he's got a sense of humor about himself. You kind of have to wonder sometimes, he seems so intense. I hate to say it, but DEAR GOD IN HEAVEN DO I MISS HIS BROTHER! Poor Joaquin. I shouldn't say that, because it's his big moment and he shouldn't have to deal with always being compared to his brother, but since I write about Joaquin and River Phoenix exactly, oh, once in the three years I've written this blog---meaning this is the first time ever, well, I'm going to say it: man, I miss River.
• Tim McGraw choked up talking about the Cash's. Wow. That's kind of cool.
• Uh-oh. It's the chubby cheeker! Look out!

  You knew it was coming, didn't you?

  Sheila: "Renee - what is your problem? I hate your sour face. I hate your whispery passive-aggressive voice. I hate your up-from-under-the-eyelids look you seem to find so attractive. Nice dress though. But hateful personality." Ouch.

• OH THANK GOD! It's official. This newish version of Pride and Prejudice sucks rocks. Mmmmhmmm.
• Oh, Jane Seymour is so happy for her husband who produced Walk the Line she's crying. That's so sweet.
• Deborah Messing's dress isn't a dress...it's a muumuu! Oy! The flavor of the islands and all, honey. I can understand that, but YIKES!
• Oh, hurrah! Lost won for best tee vee series! WOOHOOO! I'm so glad, now if J.J.Abrams doesn't let the writers go all over the fucking board again, like he did with Alias where no one can keep track of all of the subplots, I'll be a happy woman. PLEASE, people, I beg you: plot it out!
• Have I mentioned that my sister M.L. and my brother Tim played shuffleboard at a bar with Dennis Quaid last March? Yeah. Not real happy I wasn't with my siblings that night.
• With that goatee Leonardo looks like a half-assed magician who'd play at your kid's birthday party.
• I'm glad Felicity won. I haven't seen Transamerica but I FREAKIN' LOVED SPORTSNIGHT! and since I think that show should still be on, I was rooting for her. Don't you love my logic?
• Not invested in the best actor award at all. I'm glad Phillip Seymour Hoffman won if for no other reason than Boogie Nights.
• Sheila: "I'm inappropriately pissed off at Jamie Foxx's sunglasses. I really need to let it go." NOOOOOOO. DON'T LET IT GO! It was incredibly rude!
• Not really surprised about Brokeback Mountain winning best picture.
• Ok, it's over with EARLY. The Oscar people need to take a lesson from the people who run this one. Honestly. Ditching the musical numbers doesn't hurt anyone. I'm serious. PUHLEEEZE, Oscar people, take a lesson. I'm begging you!

Posted by: Kathy at 07:06 PM | Comments (10) | Add Comment
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Ok...watching E's! Live from the Red Carpet. I'll keep updating if you keep refreshing.

• Isaac Mizrahi, love him, but he's not a great interviewer. Neither is this Guiliana person who is making a COMPLETE ASS out of herself talking to David Strahairn---and she's asking him about the limo ride over to the show
• OHMYGOD---they've got that girl that got rejected from The View doing commentary! What's her name! Debbie Somethinorother. Aiiiieeeeeeee! I thought she died.

• So, there haven't been any "what the hell was she thinking?" moments just yet. And that's pissing me off. I need material here, people!
• Oh, I'll take that back. Thanks for that, Gwenyth. THAT'S THE MOST HIDEOUS THING I'VE EVER SEEN! Oy. You're not supposed to wear your kid's christening gown!

  

• The husband when he saw Scarlett Johanssen: "HEELLLLOOOO!" I can't find a picture of her, but if you saw that dress, the word "cantilever" will make a great deal of sense.

  

  Get what I'm saying?

UPDATE: Here's one just for Russ.

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Awards season starts tonight!

Ahhhh... When all the celebrities come out to pat themselves on the back for doing such a good job whilst earning a 2007 IRS deduction for their most recent boob job simultaneously.

You gotta love it. And, like a Hollywood PR whore, I can't quite help myself.

Hence I will be liveblogging this momentous event.

The fun starts at 6pm CST, for the various pre-shows.

The snark tap will---undoubtedly---be fully open.

Posted by: Kathy at 12:47 PM | Comments (3) | Add Comment
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At what point in time does a building lose the memories---bad memories, in particular---associated with it?

An article from this weekend's Financial Times looks at the controvery surrounding Berlin's Olympic Stadium, which will host the World Cup final this summer. It was one of the few Nazi buildings to survive the war---and it's been in use ever since. While it's recently received a bit of a rehab, apparently none of the new features disguise the fact Adolf Hitler had the place built to host an Olympic games where he was to prove to the world the superiority of the Aryan race.

{...}Beyond the curve of the cream-coloured new roof, the derelict Nazi structures are visible: Arno Breker-style statues venerating the Nazi physical ideal, the rotting terraces and gigantic clock tower of the old Maifeld where mass rallies were held.

{...}Many buildings were demolished straight after the war. Nothing remains of such symbolic structures as HitlerÂ’s bunker or chancellery, for example. Most of the old government buildings on Wilhelmstrasse were demolished and replaced with bland apartment blocks. The epicentre of evil, the SS quarter from which the Holocaust and other crimes were organised, was bulldozed.

The Olympic site is the largest and most perfectly preserved example of Nazi monumental architecture in the city - and Berlin is still trying to adapt, incorporate and move on from the structureÂ’s history.

The stadium survived the war almost unscathed, but by 1998 this old, grey behemoth was decrepit. Berlin had to choose whether to pull it down or restore it. They chose the latter. Two years later Germany beat England to stage the 2006 World Cup - and the Olympic Stadium was awarded six games, including the final. After a four-year refit costing Euro225m, the stadium reopened last year with concerts, fireworks and popular approval.

In the arena where Hitler received the acclaim of millions in the 1930s, fans of Berlin’s football team Hertha BSC now celebrate an easy win over a visiting team from Mainz, courtesy of two goals from their Brazilian star Marcelinho. The fans clap, wave their blue flags and chant: “sieg!... sieg!... sieg!” But this is a good-natured crowd - and the word “sieg” means “victory”. It’s their way of saying “we won the game”.

“What can you do?” shrugs Andreas Nachama, former leader of Berlin’s Jewish community. “It’s the German language, and you can’t change the language. You can’t erase the history either. Part of being in the new Germany is that we live in the grounds and buildings of the remnants of the Third Reich. Yes, Berlin was the centre of Nazi evil, but there is a new spirit here, a new state, a new generation has taken over.”{...}

To get an idea of what we're talking about:

The renovation by architects Gerkan, Marg and Partners is impressive but disconcerting. Inside the arena everything is new, more comfortable and softer-looking than before. ItÂ’s still unsatisfactory for watching football because the running track distances the crowd from the pitch. But the stands have been rebuilt with better seating. The VIP areas look like the lobbies of swanky hotels. The new giant screens, sound and floodlight systems are state-of-the-art. Even the toilets gleam.

From outside, however, apart from a slight change to the roofline, everything looks much as Hitler wanted it back in 1936 when it was the biggest, most proudly fascist piece of architecture in the world. The hard, clean, lines of the building are intact. So are the colonnades, the imposing symmetry and the distinctive open end with its “Marathon Tower” and Olympic flame urn. Spectators still approach the stadium across a great empty space, through two imposing towers between which hang the Olympic rings.{...}

While I don't think that buildings that leaned heavily toward Neo-Classicism necessarily can be equated with the descriptor "proudly fascist" I nonetheless take the author's point. (If this was true, think of what he would have to say about this stadium and its subsequent redesign. "Mistake by the Lake" indeed.) The stadium is still pretty much the same. It is an imposing piece of architecture, as all Nazi buildings were. But the stadium served a bit of a different purpose than, say, the Chancellery: it not only needed to intimidate and impress visitors to the Olympic Games, the stadium needed to seduce them as well; it needed to show people that beauty was possible in the Third Reich. For the raving lunatic that the man was, Hitler was also pretty smart in that he tried to offer the Full Meal Deal Society to the German people: one free of Jews, full of blonde haired, blue-eyed Aryans, with crisply cornered, broad shouldered stone buildings that appealed to the perenially tidy German sense of self.

But Hitler is long gone, as is the political party he founded and the war he started. It shouldn't mean anything to anyone that this building is still in use; that it was rehabbed because it was cheaper than building a new stadium; that it will be home to the final game in the World Cup of 2006---which will absolutely be the sporting event with the largest television audience ever. The choice of this stadium is simply incidental to the fact Berlin is the capitol of Germany. Mortar, stone and rebar have no memory, after all.

Yet, this stadium has a lot of memories attached to it. It has many, many ghosts. Millions of ghosts. Because Berlin's Olympic Stadium wasn't built just because they needed a track; it was built to showcase the glories of the Aryan race and the benefits of membership of National Socialism to the entire world. It was built for Nazi public relations purposes. This stadium was never neutral sporting territory; it was the first battlefield of the Second World War.

Which brings us back to the original question: At what point in time does a building lose the memories---bad memories, in particular---associated with it? When does usefulness trump bad memories?

I don't know the answer, and I surely don't expect anyone else to, either, but it's interesting to ponder.

Posted by: Kathy at 02:00 AM | Comments (5) | Add Comment
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1 How about we think of it as the stadium where Jesse Owens proved Hitler was full of shite with his Aryan Superiority BS once and for all?

Posted by: caltechgirl at January 16, 2006 04:03 AM (uI/79)

2 I like to think of the following quote by John Toland: “There are no simple lessons in history, that it is human nature that repeats itself, not history.” A building is but a building, sure, we MUST remember the past least we repeat it, but as said, the language remains the same and CalTechGirl hit the “mark” on the head.

Posted by: Edd at January 16, 2006 07:27 AM (W4pRM)

3 CTG beat me to it. As for your question, you're right, I don't have an answer. But an intersting thing to ponder.

Posted by: Ith at January 16, 2006 12:54 PM (+T0G3)

4 "Which brings us back to the original question: At what point in time does a building lose the memories---bad memories, in particular---associated with it? When does usefulness trump bad memories?" CTG beat ME to it. I was honored to attend the very high school where Archie Williams was a math teacher in the 1970's. I am honored that I had the chance to shake hands with him. THAT is the everlasting memory that I associate with the Berlin Olympics, and his and Jesse Owens' ghosts are the ones that linger there, not those of the members of the "master race" whom they put in their place. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Archie_Williams

Posted by: Mark at January 17, 2006 10:11 AM (IPp2K)

5 It's a building, fer krissake- it's glass and steel and pipes and whatnot. The Clintons lived in the White House for 8 years, and somehow I still think it's a lovely house. Like the US Capitol Building- it's peopled by snake oil salesmen, liars, and money-whores, yet it's still a beatiful building.

Posted by: barry at January 22, 2006 04:43 AM (kKjaJ)

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Making wine and only the finest spirits after the jump.

{Part One} more...

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Mayor Bloomberg made a big boo-boo.

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Guess what arrived yesterday in the biggest Amazon box yet to grace the Cake Eater Pad?

This.

I am SO FREAKIN' EXCITED to try it out. It about killed me when I read the instructions yesterday. I was all fired up and ready to use it, yet, lo and behold {insert duh-duh-duh music here} it needed sixteen hours to charge up. Sixteen hours! Can you believe that crap?

BAH!

But...the sixteen hour mark has now passed so I'm going to go and clean my bathtub. I'm wondering if I actually need to fill up the reservoir with the Tilex Soap Scum Remover or if I should just spray it on the tub like usual. Hmmmm. I'm also wondering if I should use the three inch bristle brush for "agressive cleaning" or if I should use the coarse pad scrubber, for "aggressive scrubbing of larger surfaces such as ceramic tile and porcelain or enamel tubs and sinks." There's also a flexible attachment, to work the curved surfaces, AND a radial brush for scrubbing grout lines.

Suffice it to say, if this thing doesn't do the deal I'm going to be EXTREMELY disappointed. I've got HIGH expectations for this tool, and if it doesn't live up to them, well, I don't know what I'll do, but it'll be something dramatic. That's for sure.

I'll update with a progress report later.

Yes. I already know I'm the biggest dork alive. You needn't expend the energy on telling me so.

UPDATE: Ok, so what exactly was Black and Decker thinking when they put a battery in a scrubber that only goes an hour? Eh? It needs a better battery, because sixteen hours of charging=one hour of scrubbing is not going to make me happy.

Other than that, well, it's pretty damn sweet. I did not fill up the cleanser reservoir, so I cannot comment on that, but as far as getting my tub nice and shiny, it worked. I will admit that when I saw the attachments, I was a wee bit worried that the locking mechanism was too loose and that the attachments would fly/fall off. Turns out I needn't have worried at all, as even with the flexible arm attachment, everything stays put and the grout scrubber does not go flying through the air like a soapy Catherine Wheel.

Pretty cool, on the whole, if you have a really clean house that doesn't need hours worth of scrubbing. The rest of us, however, will have to do our deep cleansings in shifts because we have to wait for the stupid thing to charge.

Posted by: Kathy at 11:31 AM | Comments (8) | Add Comment
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1 Call me a dork, too, I'm dying to see how it works. I looked at one of those and a steamer and wondered which would actually clean better, take less time, and be the easiest to use... Waiting patiently for the Cake Eater Seal of Approval. ; )

Posted by: Chrissy at January 13, 2006 11:50 AM (zJsUT)

2 My Pregnant Nesting ass is axiously awaiting your update. And if that makes me a dork, too, then SO BE IT.

Posted by: Margi at January 13, 2006 12:39 PM (nwEQH)

3 "Suffice it to say, if this thing doesn't do the deal I'm going to be EXTREMELY disappointed. I've got HIGH expectations for this tool, and if it doesn't live up to them, well, I don't know what I'll do, but it'll be something dramatic. That's for sure." Sounds like the same thing my wife said when we got married. O

Posted by: Mark at January 13, 2006 01:08 PM (2HG82)

4 But does it work with kerosene?

Posted by: Bob at January 13, 2006 01:30 PM (yMzz+)

5 Bob---ROFLMAO!

Posted by: Kathy at January 13, 2006 01:47 PM (JeBdM)

6 I am only get excited about this if you were able to sit back and read a magazine while it did its one hour of work. Otherwise: blog more - clean less. My life motto.

Posted by: Ally at January 13, 2006 01:55 PM (ZnGgh)

7 here I thought it was gonna be a cool kitchen gadget. What a bust... err... sorry, wrong blog.

Posted by: Brian B at January 13, 2006 03:49 PM (rGfpg)

8 I'm just happy that there wasn't an attachment in the box that might 'make me feel threatened'. Although, even if there were, I might be able to retain my dignity. I mean, an hour? Easy.

Posted by: MRN aka "The Husband" at January 13, 2006 05:07 PM (JeBdM)

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The Hasselhoff is getting divorced!

In related news, German women stage a mass swoon upon hearing that The Hasselhoff will soon be a free man.

Posted by: Kathy at 11:07 AM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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