They're coveting my Skeptical Enquirer!

Last week while I was at the gym, I unwisely left my Skeptical Enquirer  sitting in an unlocked public locker, and when I went back to fetch it, a curious gym-goer had nabbed it and was showing it to his companions. I did manage to win it back, but only after he asked me why I liked it and where he could get a copy.

It's not surprise that he coveted my Skeptical Enquirer - I LOVE this magazine! What other magazine covers topics from explaining the mysterious noises in a "haunted house" to exploring the pseudoscience in Super Hero stories to debunking the supposed link between vaccines and autism?

The current SE he was coveting was taking a critical look at unsupported claims of chiropractic and providing a clear-headed explanation of why homeopathy doesn't have any effect beyond the placebo effect. I don't think the article on homeopathy would convince the die-hard believers in homeopathy, but I think it did a good job of laying out the problems behind the theory for those who are still on the fence about it.

SE also does a lot of basic education in the scientific method and philosophy of science and examines the intersection of religion and science and even art and science. In fact, the art and science issue from late 2006 was probably one of my favorites. 

You can read some, but not all, of the articles from past issues here, if you're curious:

http://csicop.org/si/online.html

Suddenly keenly interested in the writer's strike

J. and I got hopelessly addicted to the TV show "Heroes" and have been watching Season 1 for free via Netflix's "Watch Now" feature. We just finished off Season 1 last night, and I was joking that I hoped the TV writer's strike would end soon so we could watch more episodes. There are 10 of Season 2 available on "Watch Now" but I'm  sure we could plow through those pretty quickly based on the rate at which we devoured Season 1. 

This morning, I googled the writer's strike to see what the latest news was, and lo and behold, they just settled. Thanks to figmentj, I have a link to when new episodes of favorite shows will be coming out. Sadly, there are no new episodes of Heroes slated until fall. :(

Here's some additional "What I've been watching" commentary:

-The character of "Dawn" on Buffy irritates me severely, even after finding out her back story. I want her to die screaming NOW, but I hear she's around for a couple more seasons at least.

-"Venture Brothers" continues to be brilliant into Season 2.

-I think the two back-to-back South Park Season 6 episodes that have Lord of the Rings references in them are sheer genius. I especially loved the quest of Lemmiwinks to escape from the Ass of Doom. If you've ever watched the LOTR cartoons from the 70s and you remember that music...? Oh, yeah...

-I thought "Jesus Camp" was well done, but it was PAINFUL to watch. Other than the talking in tongues, it's not that far from my experience growing up as a young fundamentalist on fire for Christ.

-I've had Freaks and Geeks recommended to me repeatedly. We've watched a few episodes, and I can see why people like it. It's also somewhat painful to watch since I WAS such a freak/geek in high school, but it's so fun, too.

-The Simpsons movie was fairly forgettable fluff, but I LOVED SpiderPig!

-The Final Cut, a near-future distopia sci-fi thriller with Robin Williams, had an intriguing premise, but I found it disappointing overall.

-I still really dig the movie "The Last Supper" but it does seem as if the moral of the story is not to trust conservatives because they will kill you and then go on to become president.

-I tried to watch "Flesh," an art film by Andy Warhol. While it had full frontal male nudity in its favor, I despised every single character and stopped watching after about 55 minutes.

-While I was home sick in January, I watched "Manhattan Murder Mystery" which I liked a lot better than I thought I would (I'm kind of so-so on Woody Allen movies) and "Remains of the Day." All I have to say about the latter is, "What kind of knob asks the butler to explain the birds and the bees to his godson?"