Junior Update: the Helper Toddler

Sometime in the last month, something in Junior's brain hit the accelerator. My little peanut, who at age one could only scream incoherently with excitement, hunger, or thirst, and whose only word for the last two months was "More!", has now mastered numerous words in English and Tagalog, including:

eyes/mata	nose/ilong	belly/tiyan	buhok (hair)
paa (feet)	kamay (hands)	ngipin (teeth)	bubble
waffle	apple	pasta	isda (fish)
doggie	truck	bus	bird
bisikleta (bicycle)	dahon (leaf)	puno (tree)	airplane
unan (pillow)	shoes	medyas/socks	down/baba

...et cetera.

And he goes "Uh-oh!" or "Hala!" whenever he drops something, which is often.

Apart from his impressive linguistic growth, he is now capable of frankly terrifying feats, including clambering up on our bar stools and scaling the living room table so he can dance from an elevated stage. I think we've successfully discouraged tabletop climbing and dancing, but have allowed him to sit at the counter like a big boy:

Tucking into breakfast at the counter

Since he hangs out with me in the kitchen a lot, I've had to impart an important concept: "mainit," to which he responds: "Hot!" The initial teaching of heat was in the form of letting him briefly touch my mug full of piping hot coffee in the mornings. However, one event seared the concept into his memory: I was carrying him to show him the rice cooker, pointing out that it was hot. His little hand shot out, just as a burst of steam erupted from the steam hole in the lid. After I made sure he wasn't burned, when he finished wailing I said, "Mainit!" And that was that.

Impressed by his cognitive development, I decided it was now time to begin his formal training as Mommy's Little Helper. This continues a tradition by my mother, who employed me as her Coke, and later Diet Coke, runner as a child. At meal times, I would stand at attention while she savored every morsel of her multiple courses, and when she barked, "Kunan mo ko ng Coke!" (get me a coke) I would run to the fridge and back with a 2-liter bottle like a diabetes-bearing missile.*

*parts of this story may be exaggerated

Step 1: Self-Service
Anyway, the first step in training Junior to be a Helper was to familiarize him with the concept of self-service. For example, in the past couple of weeks he started bringing me his nursing pillow when I said, "Dede?" (Nurse?) as part of his bedtime routine. Then he realized that the pink kidney-looking abomination had to be there for him to nurse, followed by the idea that if he brought it over, he could control the time of nursing. Sweet deal, if you ask me.

BYONP (bring your own nursing pillow)

Self-dressing is part of step #1, but this one we have to delay because he doesn't quite have the coordination yet. I shudder to think of the blood and the howling when he inevitably zippers his own chin.

Step 2: Tidying Up
After self-service, the next step is to have him help me put things away. At home, his training consists of helping me make the bed in his room by handing me the pillows on the floor:

He actually can't even lift this pillow above his waist

He also knows to grab a towel from the kitchen rack to wipe up spills -- which, you guessed it, he himself caused -- so he can wipe them up. This is some Inception stuff right here, folks. Hilariously, his reaction to spilled popcorn is the same: "Punas, punas!" (wipe, wipe) Still teaching him to pick up the kernels instead of spreading them across the floor via wiping.

Yesterday he unlocked another achievement: when we got home, I stopped him mid-scamper to the bar stool to ask him to put his shoes on the shoe rack -- which he did!!! Hurrah!!!

Meanwhile, Daddy sets an example every night by putting toys away during wind down time, which has the added bonus of reducing both our chances of getting impaled by a tiny car when one of us rushes in to soothe him at 4AM.

Step 3: Opening Doors
At daycare, when requested, he opens the door to the stroller closet (the only door he can reach). He's been doing an admirable job, except for blocking the doorway when I go to lug in his chariot. We're working on it.

Step 4: That Thing I Don't Like Doing
The final step, obviously, is to have him do his own laundry, because it's low on my list of fun household activities. (Since you asked, my favorite home task is making coffee.) While the picture below is meant to fool you into thinking he can actually do this, in fact he just loves twisting the knob for the different wash settings, and also he learned to say "cheese" for the camera, so...yeah. Although he did load the towels into the washing machine when I asked! Baby steps, baby steps. When he can start reading I'll have him actually set the wash cycle and press start.

Final step: do my own laundry!

In summary, Junior has attained a new level of cuteness (I must capture his adorable dinosaur roaring, chubby fists clenched, on video) and smarts. I am very proud. You can call me Braggy McMomface. And yes, I know the Terrible Twos and/or Threes is/are coming. Just let me have this moment!

TL;DR: At 18 months, Junior can understand enough to follow some orders.

This post brought to you by pork sinigang!

Game Review: Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag (PS3)

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is an absorbing romp through the gorgeous seas and islands of the 18th-century Caribbean. Players take on the role of Edward Kenway, a slightly less buff Chris Hemsworth, a privateer-turned-pirate with a mighty thirst for riches and reputation. The McGuffin this time around is the Observatory, a hidden place housing a global surveillance technology. As Kenway swashbuckles his way toward his prize, the action, music, dialogue, and gameplay seamlessly combine into a truly immersive action/adventure experience.

While the usual elements are there -- climbing, sword fighting, guns, blow darts, smoke bombs, etc. -- there are three new additions that spike up gaming enjoyment levels, namely: sailing and sea combat, deep sea diving, and the clever meta.

Here's a scored summary of the game's many excellent features:

Combat: 9/10
Kenway can fight with two swords, shoot enemies in quick succession with up to four pistols, put targets to sleep or make them go berserk using darts, and use smoke bombs to escape (or to wantonly murder the coughing, helpless guards, as one does). As a pseudo-Assassin, he can perform covert kills from up high or hanging from a ledge. He also gets a rope dart in the game's final act, which can be used to string victims from trees as a gruesome finishing move.

The AC series has been getting better at making sneak kills easier, so I was actually less openly aggressive in AC IV, preferring surprise attacks from dense foliage to my previous run-in-and-stab-'em-in-the-gut approach. This seems more in line with the Assassin way.

My only beef with the combat system is my inability to control who Kenway goes after during melee combat. The AI auto-targets the biggest threat, so whenever I knock away a bad guy, I often can't go after him for the kill because the AI will then have Kenway attack the jerk who's hovering right beside him. This gives the other guy time to recover, so then Kenway remains surrounded. Argh!!!

Other than that, fighting was a joy, especially on the high seas. Players can steer Kenway's ship and use broadside cannons, mortar, or chain shots to sink or incapacitate unfriendly ships. Players can board hapless ships for their booty -- which means engaging in combat on the deck -- or just send them to Davey Jones' locker if the take isn't worth it. Later on, boarded and plundered ships can be added to Kenway's fleet, one of many diverting sidequests, leading us to... 

Gameplay: 9.5/10
Oh gosh, where to begin. The sidequests really pad out the game's running time, because there's so much to do! Let's start with your pirate ship. Apart from playing a key role in traveling throughout the world of AC IV, later on you can pimp out your ride with some sweet sails, mastheads, and steering wheels, but it would be wise to get its armor and weapons upgraded first. This is critical if you want to sail the seas unmolested.

In AC IV, Kenway goes island-hopping as part of the main quest, but adventurous players are also allowed to, say, go after an out-of-the-way fort to raise the black flag there and discourage scouting enemy ships. There are treasure chests and Abstergo fragments to collect, wildlife to kill and skin to make new equipment/outfits, and naval contracts to complete. There are also Assassin's quests and Mayan stelae artifacts that unlock really cool armor for Kenway.

Kenway can go deep sea diving to retrieve plans that help upgrade his ship, or dig up chests using found treasure maps. He can open new bars on islands by getting into fistfights, attack royal convoys for cash, infiltrate gangs' lairs and take their bounty, and go out on a rowboat to spear sharks and whales. It's all loads of fun.

My teensy complaint is the main mission bits where Kenway just has to walk with a person to a specific destination. Gawd, add it to the cut scene already!!! I can get acquainted with the new location just fine on my own, thank ye very kindly!

Soundtrack: 9/10
Plenty of pirate-y themes for action and tension! The voice acting is also pitch-perfect.

Story: 8/10
The plot is pretty basic -- man wants thing, gets thing, loses friends along the way -- but it's saved by the fact that Kenway is practically an accidental Assassin, and by the meta added to the AC series' usual story-within-a-story premise. You, the player, are a research analyst diving into the genetic memories of "Sample 17" to gather footage (i.e. Kenway's adventures) for a pirate-themed video game being developed by the entertainment arm of the Abstergo company. As the analyst -- and the player -- take time out of the Animus and wander around the Google/Facebook-like company headquarters, the modern-day Templar's connections become obvious, while the Assassin's fingerprints are equally clear. What's funny is the inclusion of the Abstergo logo in the actual AC IV opening, and the incredibly cheesy opening scenes created for the game that you're supposedly helping to develop.

Villains: 7.5/10
It's hard to top the pope as the Templar big bad for an Assassin a la AC II, but Kenway gets to fight a decent procession of straight-up evil mofos as well as morally ambiguous men and women. The final boss is laughably easy to defeat -- it's the getting to him that's tricky. I score this game element lower because all the bad guys are predictable, but add a bonus half point for the wild card villain -- you'll know who it is when you play.

Visuals: 10/10
The ocean, with its sunrises, sunsets, storms, and rogue waves, is always a delight. The numerous islands are varied in appearance (except for the ones with chests or fragments, those all look alike), and underwater diving is terrifying because my two greatest fears are sharks and drowning.

But what really stands out in AC IV are the facial expressions of the main characters, especially Kenway. There's one particularly emotional scene where his anguish is captured perfectly. Animation sure has come a long way from Sid Meier's Pirates!

TL;DR: PIRATES!!! No other reason needed.

This post brought to you by 25-mph winds! Ahhh, springtime!

Trapeze!

If you're looking for a challenging indoor activity, Trapeze School New York offers classes in launching oneself into the air whilst holding on to a bar for dear life. The staff members are most excellent and the safety equipment perfectly fine, so you can release your fears and SOAR!

Activity: Trapeze class
Length: 2 hours
Instructors: 3

The class accommodates various levels of experience. First-time fliers get:

1. A safety harness strapped so tight you can barely breathe 
2. A safety lecture ("Obey the instructor" and "Land on your back or butt, not your feet")
3. Instructions on how to swing your legs up over the bar, how to let go, and the proper form for "catch hands" -- four fingers together, thumbs apart

And you're up the ladder and off the ledge! Because doing is learning!

On the ledge, you get clicked into lines that are connected to a bar that the "lines" staff will move back and forth over the net, helping you swing. That person will yell commands at you, like:

"LEGS UP!" = swing your legs up and hook your knees over the bar 

"LET GO!" = swing from your knees, arch your back, and do "catch hands"

"HANDS ON!" = grab the bar again while looking at your knees

"LEGS DOWN!" = prep for falling

"HUP!!!" = release the bar and try to fall on your butt!

We got to practice these moves three times before we got to the good part: being caught by our very lean instructor, a bearded pocket acrobat. Behold, my final swings:

Some observations:

• Climbing up the ladder is a workout on its own. One instructor told me that the minimum age you can do trapeze is whenever you can climb that 30-foot ladder.  
• The bar is heavy!!!!
• The "zero area" is when you're at the apex of your swing and have a moment of weightlessness. To conserve energy, this is the moment to move, e.g. to swing your legs. 
• Flying on a trapeze takes no time at all but seems endless when you're up there. 

My buddy Special K provided much entertainment during her first run by grunting loudly with every effort. After we pointed it out to her, she vowed to be more elegant and went up the ladder muttering, "Don't grunt, don't grunt, don't grunt..."

Another member of our group was an equestrian so she was pretty athletic and nailed every move. Our final adventurer was on her fourth trapeze class and was hanging off her ankles instead of her knees, which requires perfect timing for letting go and being caught by the instructor.

At the end of class, we all compared our callouses, which weren't too bad since we powdered up for the final two runs. 

The next day, all our armpits hurt.

It took three days for my lats and abs to recover from the sore muscles wrought by this very exciting and taxing activity. I am very interested in doing this again, but alas, they close up shop in April. So if you're in Boston and feel acrobatic, try it out now!

TL;DR: I slayed at trapeze, see video above.

This post brought to you by spring showers!

Movie Review: Deadpool (2016)

Deadpool is a riot. It’s a raunchy, ultraviolent ride that sticks a middle finger to earnest heroes, remorseless villains, and the studio that made it. It gleefully tops the self-awareness of Guardians of the Galaxy, including the old-school soundtrack, and it’s the bloodiest Marvel movie so far. The best part is the casting: Ryan Reynolds finally plays the role he was born for, and Morena Baccarin is the Marvel Helen of Troy: the face that launched a thousand bullets.

Deadpool is the origin story of Wade Wilson, aka the Merc-with-a-Mouth. Basically, he gets terminal cancer and the “cure” mutates him into Wolverine, sans the metal skeleton and claws. (There’s a bunch of explicit Wolverine/Hugh Jackman references played for laughs, of course.) The movie follows his quest to undo his concurrent uglification so “[he] can get back together with his superhot girlfriend.” He’s not out to save the world; he’s just trying to regain his good looks. Also, revenge.

Just like in the comics, Movie Deadpool never. Shuts. Up. And it’s awesome, because he is hilarious. I can’t say enough good things about Reynolds’ delivery of his lines and his expressiveness behind the red mask. As a character, Deadpool is endearing because he’s such a fighter that he never loses his sense of humor. He keeps every situation lighthearted, even when he’s thwarted/frustrated.

And that, my darlings, is the fresh air we all need before we face the frown-y Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and the doom-y X-Men: Apocalypse (although Sophie Turner as Jean Grey + Olivia Munn as Psylocke = EVERYTHING). Deadpool’s opening credits, and later, the main character’s lines, show just how not seriously the cast and crew take themselves.

Other notable things in the movie: Gina Carano as a megabuff supervillainess who gives the X-Man Colossus a run for his money; Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead – “the most awesome name ever!” as Deadpool himself exclaims – a heroine who is more surly than sexy or waify; and Deadpool’s Hello Kitty backpack.

TL;DR: Fun and funny! Will be added to our Blu-ray collection. 

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Movie Review: Food, Inc. (2008)

Yesterday I watched Food, Inc. in my quest to further depress myself over the State of Things. This 90-minute documentary about the US food industry has great graphics (for example, the opening credits), terrific editing, and a dispiriting message that's countered by a hopeful ending.

Food, Inc. shows viewers how a handful of corporations bent on profits are controlling most of the country’s food commodities, especially meat and grains, at the expense of their workers, their animals, and our shared environment. All of the companies named declined to be interviewed for the film. Their silence speaks volumes, especially when combined with farmers’ testimonies about having to obey their corporate overlords or face insurmountable debt, unaffordable litigation, and/or alienation from their neighbors.

Meanwhile, the animals also get abused: chickens, pigs, and cows are packed in tightly together; fed a diet designed to fatten them up as quickly as possible so they can barely walk; and are covered in their own wastes all day. They are slaughtered and dismembered efficiently – often by undocumented immigrants – but our dear planet has plenty of bacteria and sometimes the bad ones wriggle their way into the packed products.

And here the story becomes painful as the documentary looks at Kevin Kowalcyk, a two-year old who died after eating a burger infected with E. Coli. His mom has spent years talking to politicians to get Kevin’s Law in the books, a law that would give the USDA the power to shut down plants that repeatedly produce contaminated meat. It never passed. It’s especially sad because his mom can’t even tell the cameras how her family has changed their eating habits because she might be liable for slander.

On the bright side, Oprah won her lawsuit against the beef industry when she talked about mad cow disease on her show. It took six years and over $1,000,000. So, yay?

There are three groups that stand as beacons of hope amidst this grim tale, and oddly, one of them is Wal-Mart. Stonyfield, now owned by the French conglomerate Danone, is still run by its founder, who pushes for organic products (no toxic pesticides, artificial hormones, or antibiotics) and is thrilled at their new partnership with the world’s biggest retailer. He figures that their message – that it’s possible to create healthy, environmentally- and public health-friendly food – can only be spread if they’re big. Well, they converted Wal-mart and they’re pretty big now, so yay!

The other group that beams sunshine into the bleak hollow of my soul is Polyface Farms, which is in Virginia and led by a very passionate farmer. Their preparation of chicken – out in the fresh air, washed by hand, processed in small batches – is in stark contrast to Tyson’s and Perdue’s methods: tunnel-ventilated sheds where chickens never see light and can’t take three steps without collapsing because of their engineered large breasts.

Monsanto, aka Evil Inc. (although it has many competitors for that title), gets to be in the finale because its GMO patent and subsequent ownership of soy beans is breathtaking. Food, Inc. shows how it’s in bed with the FDA with business cards – one side showing the individual's position at Monsanto, and the flip side with their career progression into the government regulatory agency. That is the opposite of yay.

Food, Inc. ends on a positive note: consumers can make a difference through their buying habits. Money talks, and if enough of us put our paychecks into foods produced by non-evil companies using non-evil methods, we can make things better for ourselves, for farm and meat packing workers, for animals, and for Earth! Goooo Captain Planet!

Side note: Food, Inc. showed in detail what I already vaguely knew from various sources, but what it did accomplish was getting me to be more sympathetic to rabid anti-GMO people. I work in a research environment so genetic engineering is par for the course, and back home we cross-bred golden rice with local rice to produce grains fortified with Vitamin A – for the children!!! – so I was always “SMH” at people protesting GMOs. Now I’m like, okay, I get it. But still -- #notallgmos

Here are my top three takeaways from the film:

1. Read labels at the grocery (e.g. “no antibiotics”)! Avoid anything by Swift, Smithfield, Tyson, Perdue, and Monsanto. 
2. The FDA is gross. So is the USDA. 
3. No fast food. Just no. 

TL;DR: An important documentary that will one day be mandatory viewing for our great-grandchildren’s colonies to show why they had to flee the planet.

This post brought to you by celery!

Anime Review: Death Note (2006-07)

Light, L (left), and Ryuk (right)

The Death Note manga came out in 2004 -- when I myself was in Japan, coincidence? I think not! -- and was an immensely enjoyable read.

The Death Note anime came out a couple years later, and is available on Netflix streaming. It hews pretty closely to the manga, and is equally enjoyable. It made me cackle and gasp by turns, usually because of the protagonist's cleverness and his steady descent into megalomania. 

Plot: Ryuk, a bored shinigami (god of death), purposefully drops a "Death Note" in the human world. Shinigami use Death Notes to kill people. Enter Light Yagami, an equally bored high school student who stumbles on the Death Note, which conveniently comes with a user manual inside. As written on the first page:

Rule #1: The human whose name is written in this notebook shall die.

Rule #2: This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person's face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected. 

Rule #3: If the cause of death is written within the next 40 seconds of writing the person's name, it will happen. 

Rule #4: If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack. 

Rule #5: After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

It's a great premise for a supernatural story, asking questions about justice -- who deserves to be executed? to be the executioner? It also touches on privacy and government intrusion, what an ideal world would look like, and the merits of oppressive safety versus risky freedom. Also, why are apples so tasty? (That's an in-joke: Ryuk loves apples and claims to go into withdrawal when deprived of them.)

The series answers those questions by way of the cat-and-mouse game between Light's public persona, Kira (Japanization of the English word "killer"), and the mysterious detective L. Kira earns L's attention when he starts using the Death Note to kill violent criminals, which L denounces as outright murders. The stakes get higher when Kira decides that the people hunting him also threaten the new world he is building on the corpses of the "bad" people.

But Kira can't kill L per the rules of the Death Note, because he doesn't know L's real name. So he keeps punishing criminals, often using their deaths as tactical actions to evade L's prodigious deductive abilities. Both Light and L believe they are administering justice. Which one is right?

Actually, Death Note answers that question early on, when Light monologues about creating a new world with only kind people. "So you're gonna be the only bad person left?" Ryuk asks."What do you mean, Ryuk?" Light replies, cementing his villain-protagonist role.

The twists and turns of the plot are utterly delightful. Ryuk is the number one complicating factor. He explicitly tells Light that only sheer coincidence led him to finding the Death Note, and that he will neither help nor hinder Light. He also reveals to Light the "shinigami eyes" deal, wherein the Death Note user can trade half of his/her remaining lifespan for the ability to see a person's true name when they also see the person's face (even in photos!).

image source: wikipedia

And when a second shinigami with a spare Death Note comes along...

In the midst of Light and L's moves, counter moves, counter counter moves, and counter counter counter moves, Death Note provides a commentary on human nature, showing the shallow concerns of the individuals who are touched by the Death Note's power. Most notable are Higuchi, a businessman who is only interested in corporate success, and Demegawa, a TV producer who's laser focused on boosting ratings. No wonder Light, with his grand ambition of remaking the world, considers himself the only true owner of the Death Note. Then again, his punitive executions only remove the individuals, and not the system that created, corrupted, or ensnared them...

The anime is a joy to watch because of the gloriously over the top visuals. Characters are color-coded: Light gets red hair and red eyes when he's planning or doing something evil, L is blue when he's adding up facts and coming to the correct conclusions, earnest cop Matsuda glows golden when he does something dangerous to prove his worth to the Kira-hunting team, and so on.

Subtext is also gleefully splashed across the screen in melodramatic face-to-face moments on top of imaginary buildings, which I believe is an anime convention (c.f. Bleach). This is when two characters stare each other down in a mental landscape, each presenting his viewpoint / action plan / thoughts. So many thoughts in this series.

Speaking of too much, there are ridiculous montages of people writing -- just writing, okay, with a pen -- and their exaggerated gestures are perfectly complemented by the thundering music...oh gracious, the music...Like the color scheme, the Death Note soundtrack is the enemy of subtlety. There's ominous Latin chanting, frenzied chorals, catchy piano and guitar riffs, and everything in between. It's fantastic. Light and L each get awesome themes, and "Light Lights Up Light" is a bittersweet piece that perfectly captures one of the concluding scenes of the anime.

At 37 episodes x 21 minutes per episode, the series goes along at a fast clip, with only a few fillers. While the latter half of the story arc occurs and finishes at twice the speed of the first half, it's also the part when Death Note gets a lot of slapstick moments, so I was pleased to have that over with. Besides, Kira devolves into a gloaty bastard after too many of his Evil Plans succeed, and it's just not the same without the tension from the earlier episodes.

TL;DR: Recommended binge-watching! Watch in Japanese with English subtitles for Light's and L's voice actors: they nailed it.

Bonus info for the anime nerd: Kappei Yamaguchi (!) is L -- quite a departure from Ranma, Inuyasha, and other ranbo kyara he has voiced.

This post brought to you by pork chops!

Book Review: Big Bang: the Origin of the Universe (2004)

Junior loves the shiny cover of this book

Simon Singh, author of the excellent Fermat's Last Theorem, once again provides an accessible account of monumental discoveries in science. This time, he focuses on the field of astronomy, crafting an engaging history of the Big Bang theory, which posits that “everything in the universe exploded into being out of a single point in space” (from Singh's website). The journey takes many centuries and its roads are traveled by countless men and women, and Singh focuses on the pivotal moments and leading personalities to build his story.

A main theme of the book is the scientific method, and Singh predictably discusses Copernicus and Galileo, who used instruments to observe and analyze the heavens. Then he looks into Tycho Brahe and Kepler in the 16th and 17th centuries, to illustrate how a mathematically correct model gained acceptance for the sun-centered model of the universe. He recounts Einstein's retraction of the cosmic constant, a number "fudged" by the great physicist to fit his general theory of relativity within the dogmatic framework of an eternal universe -- not a good science move, ehrmagerd. In latter chapters, Singh recounts the conflict between advocates of the Big Bang model and the proponents of the Steady State model, using the Big Bang’s victory to underline that the theory with the stronger evidence wins, eventually.

Another theme is chance, which is most apparent in the sections where Singh describes the rise of radio astronomy, as well as the discovery of cosmic background radiation in the 1960s, decades after it was first predicted. Logical leaps are also featured, such as Henrietta Leavitt’s realization that Cepheid stars can be used as galactic yardsticks. There was also a man who barged into someone else’s lab and was all, “You guys, I need to find a thing with a specific wavelength that I calculated in my head, help me out?”

Anyway, Singh’s narrative has it all: scientific rebellion, paradigm shifts, professional and personal animosities, and of course, math – I’m going to be honest, it’s the sexiest science book I’ve read so far. His mention of Calvin and Hobbes alone should be enough for readers interested in science, philosophy, and cosmic history.

My only beef with the book are the summary tables and the chapter end notes, which are possibly for students? I skipped them because the tables oversimplified how theories prove themselves valid, and the end notes were written in a notebook-y font, with drawings and diagrams presumably for readers with reading comprehension problems. I think they undermine the rich and complex content that preceded them.

(removes Pretentious Glasses)

TL;DR: Simon Singh Says: Science is Sexy!

 This post brought to you by cassava cake!