Salt, mostly a failure

MM and I saw Salt Wednesday night. I expected to like Angelina Jolie a little more. I'm not usually much a fan of her acting, but I've enjoyed her in action movies in the past. She's now too fragile-looking to be plausible as an actionista. Also, she doesn't look particularly good in any of it. If I have to stretch my suspension of disbelief to include this waif being an action hero, I think it wouldn't be too much of a risk to pretend that an action hero could also be attractive.

Clockwise from top left: Angelina as Scrawny Salt; Angelina as "lost in my corporate outfit and this weapon is too heavy for me" Salt; an earlier, buffer, Angelina; what a plausible female action hero looks like (and man did I miss Jennifer Garner in this movie); the best costuming in Salt.

Popsicle recipes I'd like to try

Many were found on a list at tip-nut.



Coffee-pops





Martha Stewart Banana Blueberry Swirl Popsicles




Melon popsicles with mint, honey, and yogurt

Homemade Fudgsicles

Grapefruit Lime Cilantro Popsicles

This method for swirling chunks into your popsicles, and a discussion on corn syrup

Here's a pretty result:







Cardamom Rhubarb Creamsicles (a woman after my own heart: "So, I left about 1/4 of the rhubarb sorbet in the ice cream maker & stirred in about 1/2 c of heavy cream."








Martha Stewart's Banana, Berry, and Buttermilk Ice Pops

Watermelon Slice Pops (with chocolate chips as seeds)

And finally, funny pea-ice popsicles I'm not going to make:

No "barefoot and pregnant" in German?

The hipster-chick in line at the bank spoke so loud that I couldn't help but overhear. And soon, I was too repelled and fascinated not to actively listen:

[Speaking emphatically in german]...pregnant. Literally barefoot and pregnant...[More german]... I mean, come on...[Lots more german. Clearly still talking about the same person and not letting a word in edgewise]...Student loan...[More german]...White trash.

Clearly English is better suited for certain descriptions. Ironically, the phrase "barefoot and pregnant" might be ideologically descended from the German phrase "Kinder, Küche, Kirche" ("children, kitchen, church") coined in the 1800s.

Wikipedia's code-switching article seems to be the most relevant linguistic definition of this type of language-switching phenomenon.

Pen love: Uniball Vision Elite Bold

I bought a pack with a range of colors when I was editing my thesis. They write a smooth, sharp, fat (0.8 mm) line smoothly and don't leak in flight. Many people really like the blue-black color. I like it, but it's the other characteristics that send me.