I know I don’t normally blog so much news, but there’s just tons of interesting stuff on the wires today. And some of it’s a matter of life and death! (Don’t hyperventilate, Ma. The Hammersmith Bridge is the only place they’d want put a bomb around here, and I’m far enough away from that.) Summertime excitement!

The old comments have all been added to the system! Yes, your deluded rants and ravings have now been preserved for Internet posterity.

What do you call your significant other? (Hypothetically, then, if you don’t have one.) I know Brigita likes “SigOth”. I generally just call mine “Snookums.” Or when I’m talking to others, he’s my “boy” or my “boyfriend” or my “honey bunny poopie pie.” (Just kidding about that last one.)

Well, that explains where MetaFilter has gone. And here I figured it probably had something to do with that damn Kaycee story.

Gael linked to an interesting cultural experiment of sorts: lists written by people of various nationalities detailing the way they live and the things they think. The ones I can vouch for (American, British, and German) are pretty much spot-on. Is your country represented? You should send one in. (I’m trying to get Snookums to do Australia.)

The last five comments box is back! Go me.

UK Survivor: Damn it! You know the fundamental difference between British and American television? In America, when a show is relatively popular you can be assured that it will be on at the same time every week. In England, when a show is relatively popular you can be assured that the producers will schedule lumps of episodes together at random times so as to frustrate their viewing public into submission.

What’s the point of this rant? Apparently ITV have decided to show Survivor on TWO nights a week, but not tell anybody about it. Therefore I missed the second episode last night. Double damn. But since everybody’s counting on me for their UK Survivor fix, I sucked it up and went to the website for ya. From what I gather:

• The big problem for days 5-7 was hunger. Like, STARVATION. Apparently nobody was catching any fish, so the producers grudgingly handed out a couple cans of fruit and meat.
• The reward challenge was the bug-eating thing, which Ular won. They were awarded “strawberries and cream”, which they ate right in front of the other team.
• Helang, the losers, discovered the their entire camp had been washed away while they were at the challenge. And they had no food. But they found a dead rat and barbecued it. GROSS. Sucks to be them.
• The immunity challenge had something to do with rescuing a teammate whose parachute had gotten tangled in a tree in the jungle. (Is this a recycled one? It sounds dumb.) Apparently it got interesting though, when the two teams started “felling” each other and got into a big fight. Ular ended up winning, which royally pissed off J.J., the drill queen of Helang.
• The vote came down to a tie between Uzma and J.J., and when the revote was done, J.J. got ousted. She pulled a bit of a “Susan” and stated just before she left: “I’d just like to say I know exactly who voted against me.” In the post-Tribal Council interview, she ranted about the “fluffiest most useless person” on the team (referring to Charlotte, the tart that brought the Twister game). Unbeknownst to her, though, it was Simon who had changed his vote.

Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some errands to take care of. (First, send a complaint to ITV about their scheduling. Next, go check prices on a Tivo…)

Let me get this straight. The British Medical Association is worried about the effects of text messaging on reproductive organs?? I really don’t see how that would work. I mean, for one thing, unless you’ve got a honkin’ big screen on your phone, you’ve gotta hold it near your face. (I’ve never seen anyone hold their phone at waist level, as this article suggests.) And secondly… As long as you’re not pointin’ the thing at yourself, you’re okay, right?

Another thing – the older comments are gone but will be added soon. (I’ve got to add the bloody things in by hand.)

I forgot to mention that you can now decide how many days worth of posts you’d like to see on the home page. Just visit the preferences page and set your preferred value!