Take out your red pens, grammarians! In case you’re feeling turkey or family overload this weekend, treat yourself to a laugh by checking out these hilarious grammatical blunders from More Badder Grammar (available now) by I Judge You When You Use Poor Grammar author Sharon Eliza Nichols. SWEEPING DISCLAIMER: Any spelling or grammatical errors I make in this post are completely intentonal.
NEXT: Attack of the mutant goldfish …
Mike Bender and Doug Chernack, the creative minds behind Awkward Family Photos and Awkward Family Pet Photos, have some tips for capturing your holiday memories for eternity:
1. Show the world that your family has the most holiday spirit by forming a human Christmas tree, a wreathe, or a menorah.
2. Bring your pet to sit on Santa’s Lap. Not only will it freak out your pet, but it will also let your friends and family know that you have freaked out your pet.
3. Include a topless man in your photo … related or unrelated. Doesn’t matter who. Always awkward.
4. Pose in front of a fireplace wearing matching turtlenecks. It says we’re a family, we’re warm, and we want to make you uncomfortable.
To get yourself in the holiday spirit, check out these family — and pet! — photos from the most awkward time of the year: READ FULL STORY »
The National Book Awards nomination debacle — which began when the National Book Foundation mistakenly named Shine by Lauren Myracle as a contender for the young adult category instead of Chime by Franny Billingsley — is so ridiculous that it naturally invites parody. This video, animated in the text-to-voice style of the Xtranormal series of GEICO ads, spoofs the incident pretty much by recounting what actually happened. See the video below!
Marcel the Shell, the tiny star of 2010′s cutest YouTube sensation, is expanding his media empire. The little dude, who seems alternately amazed and saddened by his own itty-bitty existence, will be releasing a children’s book, Marcel the Shell with Shoes On: Things About Me (out Nov. 1). He also has a television show in development, according to a Jezebel interview with creators Jenny Slate and Dean Fleischer-Camp.
The best part about the Marcel the Shell video is his tentative, pipsqueak voice (performed by Slate, a former Saturday Night Live cast member), so it’s a good thing that Slate has recorded an accompanying audio version. READ FULL STORY »
Whether it’s showing up to the Emmys looking like this only five weeks after giving birth, or personifying the 90′s a bit too well, Tina Fey has proven she can do anything. It’s no surprise she went platinum — by selling more than a million copies of Bossypants, not by dyeing her hair to play younger roles — despite her book cover’s off-putting (or fascinating) hairy man-arms. Since its release back in April, the book of funny essays has claimed the top spot on the New York Times best-seller list for five weeks, and has appeared on the list for 23 consecutive weeks in total. On the most recent chart, it appears at number six. Next thing you know, she’ll be EGOTting. Or PEGOTing, in case this whole book writing thing continues to work out for her.
The reasons for the book’s ongoing popularity are pretty easy to see. READ FULL STORY »
What you need is a bookend! Random House, Inc. posted this funny picture and axiom on its Facebook page. If you look closely, you can see what appears to be To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf and an unidentified book plunging to their deaths because they refuse to exist in a world in which Jersey Shore is being watched. The photo is obviously a joke, but I refuse to believe you can’t read smart books while enjoying trash reality TV. In fact, many of the smartest people I know do both — something about being capable of holding two opposing ideas in mind at the same time.
I read To The Lighthouse this year, and while I can’t say I found it wildly entertaining, I stuck with it and felt like a better person for having finished it. Then I binged on the first season of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills READ FULL STORY »
Image Credit: Michael Yarish/NBC
Pawnee, the Paris of America. Pawnee, the Akron of Southwest Indiana. Pawnee, the factory fire capital of America. Pawnee: Welcome, German soldiers. Pawnee: first in friendship, fourth in obesity.
As far as fictional realms go, Pawnee, Indiana, home to our friends at NBC’s Parks and Recreation, has become as mysterious and storied as Middle Earth. Now you can learn about the town’s checkered yet glorious past and events only hinted at in the series in a new book, Pawnee: The Greatest Town in America, told from the perspective of author Leslie Knope (played by Amy Poehler). READ FULL STORY »
Mindy Kaling, a.k.a. Kelly on that show that used to have Steve Carell, is taking a cue from fellow NBC funnywoman Tina Fey with her upcoming book Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? A 27-page excerpt has been made available online by the publisher, Crown, for anyone who wishes to read it, and from the looks of it, ISHOWM? will be, like Fey’s bestselling Bossypants, a collection of short, humorous essays.
Well, essays might be the wrong word. The pieces available in the excerpt really aren’t all that much more than extended Twitter musings, on topics like eating cupcakes, things that make her cry, and “why do men put on shoes really slowly?” I don’t know about the tone of the rest the book, but a lot of it sounds like the fashion opinions of Kelly Kapoor mixed with a Miss Manners-esque advice column. For example, here are two entries in her list of things men should do: “Own several pairs of dark wash straight-leg jeans. Don’t get bootcut, don’t get skinny, just a nice pair of Levis without any embellishments on the pockets. No embellishments anywhere. At all. Nothing. Oh my God.” And: “Wait until all the women have gotten on or off an elevator before you get on or off. Look, I’m not some chivalry nut or anything, but this small act of politeness is very visual and memorable.”
It’s cute, but not anywhere as funny as one would expect from a writer on The Office. But don’t take my word for it, check it out for yourself. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? is set to release in November.
There’s some strange stuff marketed to our kids, and the people Heavy.com came up with a list of the top 20 worst children’s book covers. And like they said, I think it’s safe to say you can go ahead and judge these by their covers.
They’ve really hit all the high points. Polar bear sex, playing with fire, disabled people. This is real life, people. But don’t worry! There’s an awkward book cover for everyone. My favorite cringe-worthy cover? I Found a Dead Bird: The Kid’s Guide to the Cycle of Life and Death. Can someone say morbid? I think it’s safe to say putting a dead bird on the cover of a children’s book is not the best idea in the world.
After clicking through, what’s your pick for the worst children’s book cover? And are there any more covers that should be added to the list?
When Potato Chip Science arrived in the EW offices it immediately caught my attention because I thought it was food. Alas, it was not. Turns out, it’s just some really cool packaging for a science book! (The title should have tipped me off. But forgive me for wanting an afternoon snack!)
I’ve been saving the “bag of chips” on my desk waiting for a special moment to try out one of the experiments. In the process, I’ve had multiple EW staffers ask me about my weird obsession with said chips, and one editor even advised me to share! Little did they know I was hoarding a bag of science, not sustenance.
Created by Allen Kurzweil and his son, Max, Potato Chip Science uses the popular snack food (and potatoes!) to teach a wide range of sciences. Most of the experiments can be executed with items you can easily find in your home. Unfortunately, I didn’t have access to several of these things in my office cubicle. I had to make do. (I wanted to test What Do Car Batteries and Vinegar Chips Have In Common? I’m sure it will shock you to learn I do not have a blender on my desk, one of the necessary items to complete that task.) Anyway, I found something else: Creating my very own CSI (Chip Science Institute) Detective Kit.
I recruited fellow coworker Catherine Fuentes to be my partner in crime (pun intended). And with that, we present to you: Science with Catherine and Breia! (Please note that this activity uses fire, and should only be conducted under adult supervision. Catherine and I asked the fabulous Missy Schwartz to be our adult. She kindly obliged. I must say, she was definitely the right person for the job.)
MATERIALS: metal pie pan, 1 potato chip, matches, spoon, freezer bag or small jar, transparent tape, clear packing tape
MISSION: Learn about forensics by creating our fingerprints!
Above you can see actual photos from our in-office experiment. (Sadly, our fingerprints did not photograph so well so you can’t see the end result. But trust us! It worked!) I’m not really sure that we learned anything about forensics. But we did learn how to avoid setting off the office smoke alarm, which I’m sure is a valuable lesson. And while the whole adventure was pretty silly, the one thing Catherine and I wholeheartedly agreed on is that this book is perfect for kids. (I would have gone nuts for this as a child! And who am I kidding? I’m in my twenties and I still think it’s pretty cool!) I have three young cousins who would adore these projects. I can already picture their reactions when I tell them this book has instructions on how to make a shrunken potato head.
Would you be willing to try out Potato Chip Science? And are there other office experiments that Catherine and I need to know about?
