In response to the somewhat subtopic of gender and 'victimhood;' strength is a non-issue. If true, this was opportunistic. Santa certainly never saw it coming.

On the more serious side...promoting such a lame idea can be dangerous to new parents. For those who know, bringing a newborn home is akin, at times, to a shift at the emergency room. The decisions you make under stressful conditions determines whether 'things' (i.e., screaming baby and at least one parent losing her/his mind) escalate or not. And while I am no expert, I am pretty confident using such a contraption is useless.

Why? Because human baby's are (one of?) the only mammals who are born in 3 terms instead of 4. Most mammals stay in term until they are pretty much ready to walk. This is necessary in order for them to have, at least, a fighting chance against their prey.

But humans evolved more brains than braun and hence our heads grew over evolutionary time. Eventually there was a problem - we could no longer fit through our Mother's birth canals. Solution: eliminate term 4. Which totally works because, well, we are on top of the food chain.

But the need for the 4th term is not totally lost. In fact, newborns still like it somewhat 'womblike' - tightly wrapped and warm. If you really want to comfort your newborn - learn to fold a blanket and swaddle. It works miracles.

These hands look cool, but don't consider them a vital parenting tool.

I am a big fan of crazy embroidery. In fact, as a partner in the Art Bar project (www.ithacafinechocolates.com) we acquire one significant piece of art every year. A couple of years ago we purchased a piece from Nava Lubelski who does this sort of chaos meets embroidery series. How excited we were when a curator from the Museum of Art and Design contacted us requesting the piece as part of an upcoming exhibit which will be traveling to many locations across the North America. If you like the porn hanky post you are likely to appreciate this exhibit. Here's a link to press release...

http://www.madmuseum.org/site/c.drKLI1PIIqE/b.3085755/k.98EF/Pricked_Extreme_Embroidery.htm

Do you suppose it could be that this is Ellen Degeneres' bill? Perhaps she was on ecstasy.

What's amazing to me is the audience enthusiastic reaction... I suppose its possible it was a function of the overall show (assuming the rest of the set went off without a hitch), but it appears to me that despite the bomb, it was good enough for the VH fans in Greensboro. Odd.

I once saw Joni Mitchell (also large stadium show) bomb. She stopped the song and basically said "we can do better than that - we'll come back to that one later." She played a couple tunes and without any warning broke right into the one (title escapes me) she originally flopped. And it was a beautiful rendition. I think I prefer that to "[riding] a massive inflatable microphone around the audience like a horsey."

The king-fu was cool.

I am surprised. I thought Seattlites were more eco-conscious. Did they ban Nalgene bottles as well?

Nice registration system... brought me right where I left off...

So, let's see... where was I? Oh yes - this topic is so ripe for many wasted amused hours. Heaven!