• “I had that!” Dave Lartigue reminisces on the weird way Alien toys were marketed to Star Wars-crazed kids who were way too young for the terrifying R-rated movie. I didn’t have the toy, but Richie Dombrowski had that Alien fotonovel — a kind of comic book constructed from pictures from the movie — and that thing gave us nightmares.
• Has there ever been an argument more forcefully and exhaustively proven by its opponents than Anita Sarkeesian’s? It’s like they set out deliberately to demonstrate the truth of everything she’s saying. (See also.)
• Here’s my catechistic response to the perennial “Adam and Steve” slogan. Zach Weiner’s response is briefer and funnier.
• This needed to be said. And it can’t be said too many times. If you pen a paper and then tell people that you papered a pen, they will likely be confused by the odd use of those words.
• How to get screwed-up by abstinence.
• I am torn. I am trying to reconcile my happiness over Michael Sam’s getting paid to play football with my principled commitment to never approving of anything done by the Dallas Cowboys.
The practice squad is an odd thing. Football teams need them — you’ve got to practice against somebody — and they need them to be good. When I worked at the paper, our Eagles reporter had a good series on a former University of Delaware quarterback who got signed to Philly’s practice squad. His salary was nothing like what the players made, but it was still more than I’ve ever made. Then the Eagles had a series of injuries and, for one game, that kid from UD got promoted to the roster. He spent a Sunday afternoon in uniform on the sidelines, wearing a baseball cap and carrying a clipboard. He never stepped onto the field, but he got paid more for that one day’s work than he did for the rest of the season on the practice squad.
• We’re all gonna die! Of something. Eventually. Probably not from this. But still, yeesh.
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