Before pilsners and whiskeys were the tried and true choice of Americans, those in the New England colonies put their lips around a wide collection of concoctions to keep things loose through the day. In Forgotten Drinks of Colonial New England, Corin Hirsch explores not just what we used to drink but how we drank it. And drink we did. Bitters before work was a morning ritual, cider at each meal was thought to keep one hydrated while avoiding polluted water, and if there wasn\’t rum in your cup each night then good luck keeping pace with...
Continue reading...Archives
Archives denotes that the author either isn't with the blog anymore or we can't remember who the heck wrote this back in 2010.
Sports in the Courts: Jeff Wilpon answers the allegations
It has been seven weeks since former Senior VP of Ticket Sales for the Mets, Leigh Castergine, accused her former boss of discriminating against her for being pregnant and unmarried. The team’s Chief Operating Officer, Jeff Wilpon, was accused of numerous disparaging comments. Today, Wilpon and the Mets filed their answers in federal court in response to Castergine’s complaint. You can read Wilpon’s answer here; the answer filed on behalf of the Mets makes the same response. The same law firm is representing both defendants. Wilpon’s response in short, “[none of it is true].” Above all, Wilpon...
Continue reading...Mango the Cat
Dear V and V, I\’m sorry it\’s been so long. Months ago, I had such good intentions of re-joining this blog with regular posts. Oops. A few things have happened in the interim– law school graduation, bar exam, new job. Plus we got this very photogenic cat, Mango. She is very sweet, and if you ever come to New Haven, she would probably like to cuddle with you. Please accept this picture of Mango and her mini-me as my apology for the long silence. xoxo, Emily
Continue reading...The Yale Community Apparently Doesn’t Know What the Word “Refute” Means
“Indeed members of the Yale community who know Dach personally refute any possibility that he could have been involved in the scandal. According to 32 sources interviewed, Dach’s character is best represented by the way he interacts with others on a regular basis.” –Amid scandal, University community defends Dach “Refute” implies that these sources knew something about the “scandal” Dach is accused of– to wit, hiring a prostitute in Cartagena, a place where prostitution is legal, while working as a volunteer for the Obama campaign. Only one of the sources quoted even mentions ‘women’s issues,’ describing Dach...
Continue reading...Feminist rant of the day
[I’m sure this won’t actually be a daily feature here at V&V, but it’s a pretty reliable description of what much of my blogging is about, so.] This is how it goes. You tell me you’ve figured out what the “77 cents to a dollar” means, and it isn’t that a woman working the same job as a man gets paid that much less. It’s comparing women’s median pay with men’s median pay, without accounting for the jobs they’re in or hours worked or what. And also there’s a study that among educated 22-30 year old non-parenting...
Continue reading...Faking It
From the Department of Blindingly Obvious Scientific Findings: A hundred-plus page report, The National Survey of Sexual Health and Behavior, came out recently, documenting self-reported information about the sexual activity and behaviors of thousands of adults and teenagers. Among a myriad of results (some others are detailed here, there was this shocker: About 85 percent of men report that their partner had an orgasm at the most recent sexual event; this compares to the 64 percent of women who report having had an orgasm at their most recent sexual event. (A difference that is too large to...
Continue reading...America's Next Top Jesus Sculptor
(Good?) News from Ohio, folks. The long wait for the replacement Jesus statue may finally be winding down, says Darlene Bishop, co-founder of the Solid Rock Church outside of Cincinnati whose “Touchdown Jesus” statue burned down in a freak (or God-sent?) lightning strike back in June. According to Bishop, the field of potential savior-portrayers has been narrowed down to 5, and a decision will likely be made sometime this month. The new portrait won’t be an exact replica of the old one. Rather than a bust, the new one will likely be a full-body sculpture, and it...
Continue reading...The many moments of Rick Sanchez
On Friday, CNN went ahead and sacked show-host Rick Sanchez, a day after he called Jon Stewart a “bigot” and suggested that—yes, he really did—that CNN is run by Jews: “I’m telling you that everybody who runs CNN is a lot like Stewart, and a lot of people who run all the other networks are a lot like Stewart, and to imply that somehow they, the people in this country who are Jewish, are an oppressed minority? Yeah.“ Well, I’m surprised he’s lasted this long, really. His show, “Rick’s List,” wasn’t that great, and he hasn’t really...
Continue reading...The National Book Festival
This afternoon I braved the unseasonable heat (over 90 degrees in late September? Really, DC?) to check out the National Book Festival. Every year, the Festival takes over 4 blocks of the National Mall and sets up a dozen or so tents featuring authors and other literary programs. This was my first year going, and it’s the kind of thing that makes me want to live here forever, so I can go every year and take my hypothetical future children. In a day full of luminary literary stars, I only made it to a few events, but...
Continue reading...From the annals of minor hypocrisy
I know some enterprising young girls who like to set up lemonade stands on warm days. Lucky for them, they live in a well-to-do neighborhood where folks tend to tip high (“a lot of times,” they tell me breathlessly, “people give us a dollar and say to keep the change” for the 50 cent cups). It’s also a well-trafficked area. Among other things, there’s a large synagogue just down the street. On Saturday, the girls tell me, they made “so much money.” “Lots of people who were going to services got lemonade and cookies,” they inform me. ...
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