If this has been done before or discussed already, I don’t know, but a good measure of how quickly one can spread disinformation via the internet could happen like this.  Have 3 or 4 friends each create an unsubstantiated rumor.  Pass it on to the people in your address book that are likely to believe anything and forward it on (Obama is a radical muslim, Bill Gates will pay you money if you forward this, a tax on every email sent…).  Take bets on when you will first a) receive the same email back and, the ultimate test of success, b) see whose false rumor gets debunked first on snopes.  Originality and plausibility of your rumor should also be graded.

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Last month the music that is pumped in the speakers (from the main lobby to the parking deck to the bathrooms) has switched largely to baroque music, with a heavy emphasis on harpsichords.  I don’t know if it’s a Pavlovian response, but while in the bathroom, if I hear a harpsichord, I have a sudden urge to piss into a wooden bucket and toss it into the street like they used to do in the 16^th century.

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Ever been to a Gymboree?  I was at my first Gymboree birthday party the other week and it’s basically a padded playground for kids.  Lots of things to climb up, jump down, throw, and run around.  When they had come group activities which involved kids being catapulted off of things and rolling to the side, I kept thinking “this will only end in tears”, but oddly enough it never happened.  One aspect of birthday parties today that’s a real buzzkill are the obligatory waiver forms that come along with every birthday invite for any place that holds kids parties. 

One more note – parents, please don’t “mass invite” everyone in your child’s class.  You should know who your kid plays with and who they associate with.  Invite them and them only.  To heck with inviting all in hopes of a) not offending someone who you might forget or b) getting the maximum amount of presents for your little demonseed.