My lover, the BBC, has a documentary series called “Places That Don’t Exist“ that includes an episode about Moldova’s breakaway Transdniestria region. How much do I love the BBC? A whole lot. Maybe making a special like this is more in their interest than ours because Moldova is one of the UK’s neighbors, but I’m just glad to see that any Western news organization is doing some reporting on the place. Speaking of places that don’t “exist,” there are also docs in this series about what’s going on in places like South Ossetia. Remember that conflict? The one that was on the news for all of five minutes?
The link below is to the first eight minutes of the Moldova/Transdniestria special. Particular fun is when Moldova’s president, Vladimir Voronin, is featured making kissy faces at a kitten and commenting on its Gorbachev-like spots.
You can see the rest on YouTube. Parts two through four are here.
The Veep debates (link is to a transcript) on Thursday night made me feel like a tapeworm was eating away at all my ideals. But my, weren’t they entertaining!
I’m that freak on the train that listens to non-music recordings on my headphones in public. Funny ones that make me laugh out loud, seemingly at nothing. Observe the people in my proximity as they switch to farther seats, because if this girl will sit on a train and laugh at nothing, she might end up peeing in the aisle too. Pople expect you to listen to music on headphones, not spoken word. At 9am especially, folks are not amused. But Mitch Hedberg Albums? Come on. What’s a better way to start the morning?
Today it was a This American Life podcast, “A Litle Bit of Knowledge,” about when people only know a bit about something but talk about it as if they’re experts. Or when you’ve always thought of something in life as one way and are shocked to find out one day that you’d always been wrong.
My favorite story in the program was the guy who went through life thinking “quesadilla” meant “what’s the deal?” in Spanish. Second place goes to the girl whose mother cooked nothing but chicken for dinner her entire life, and was absolutely shocked to find that her college dorm served a variety of foods. Third goes to the lady who asked a group of friends whether unicorns were extinct or simply endangered.
You know that’s been you at some point, son.
You can subscribe to the free podcast here. Not always funny, but never bad.
Also: Go Cubs.
Also: I’m naming my cat Lapka (Lop-kuh). It means “little paw” in Russian, and it’s what your mom calls you when she pretty please needs something or is particularly proud of you. I think this one’s a keeper.
Also: Charlie is following the cursor like he’s stalking bloody prey and is pouncing at the screen to catch it. He does that with the laser pointer too. Ah, to be a kitten and so fascinated with little things.
a story in 
