Item 2 of Blogadilla’s Medica Obscura.

FRANKENBERRY STOOL – the false appearance of blood in the stool from red commercial food dyes that do not degrade in the digestive tract (FD&C Red #2 and #3). The name was coined by doctors in the early 1970’s from false concerns about blood in the stool of children who had consumed General Mills’ “FrankenBerry Cereal.” General Mills has since changed the colorants in its cereal – I tested this a few years ago and it comes out the same as Count Chocula.

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Item 3 of Blogadilla’s Medica Obscura.

CHINESE RESTAURANT SYNDROME – attributed to the flavor enhancer monosodium glutamate (MSG) which is commonly added to Chinese food, the symptoms of Chinese Restaurant Syndrome can include feelings of numbness, pressure, warmth or tingling of the skin at the back of the neck and extending to the back and arms; nausea; chest pain, rapid heartrate, or heart palpitations; bronchial reaction in asthmatics; weakness and drowsiness. The onset is usually within 15 to 20 minutes of ingesting food and symptoms persist for around 2 hours. Though this syndrome has been reported by many, clinical studies to date have yet to demonstrate a significant relationship between the consumption of (pure) MSG and this syndrome. Though no current studies have tested the effects of MSG consumed in the context of Chinese food – perhaps MSG in combination with other ingredients often found in American Chinese food may bring about this reaction in some individuals. MSG is a known excitotoxin at higher blood serum levels, though beyond what one would experience from eating Chinese food.

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Given that Tyler Perry has made it his life’s goal to belabor the joke and make thousands of movies starring an African-American man portraying a wacky fat woman, I have created this handy flow chart to identify which particular fat-suit laden actor and film you are watching (click on chart to enlarge):

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Two weeks ago, at the 2009 Comic-Con and Nerd Breeding Festival in San Diego CA, new glimpses of the upcoming sequel to the 1982 film “Tron” were unveiled to a crowd ecstatically choking on their retainers. The new film, to be released in 2010, will be called “Tron Legacy” and will star Jeff Bridges (Flynn) and Bruce Boxleitner (Tron) from the original film.

From our secret insider source and at a considerable cost ($50.00), we at Blogadilla are proud to present to you a few exclusive production photos from the upcoming film (below).

Production shot of the main cast in costume.

Jeff Bridges (Flynn) fighting digital spiders or something.

The new redesigned “light cycle.”

Trailer/Teaser for “Tron Legacy”:



Reindeer Flotilla Bonus Round:
Tron Adidas Adicolor Stan Smith II Shoes
[I own a pair, and yes they kick ass]



MCP Shutdown Bonus Round:
FlynnLives.com
Home of Tron (remake of Flynn’s Arcade in San Diego)
Flynn’s Arcade T-Shirts

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Bill Murray inadvertently reveals that he is a high-ranking member of the Illuminati: he knows the secret lyrics to the piano favorite “Chopsticks” (at 6:45 in the video below).

The video gets funny around 4:55, feel free to just fast forward to it.

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One of the two examples below is a genuine excerpt from Sarah Palin’s farewell address, the other is the same passage translated (through Google Translate) into Japanese, then Chinese, then German, then Estonian, then Arabic, and then back into English.

Which one is the original Palin speech?
Sample A:
“Here I will show the best kind of trip, the best prices in the United States. Peak, large, and jump to the middle of Sunday night, in addition to this in particular. Winter, when the marble is cold, beautiful and cold, it cannot be separated from the fermented dough, Cheechakos, or frozen conflicts in the street? Only 50 of the 100 degree heat, only two months ago from two months now, not in the Summer – blooming fireweed along the cold in the Summer and merciless river carvings, which brings to mind the noise and spit on the quality of the mother here. Alaska and all of nature, and life, and the future in the north and on the roads. Since this is a day to see. In these limits, we believe that the United States is now, the second problem is that of hope and opportunity, and very proud of the country.”

Sample B:
“And getting up here I say it is the best road trip in America soaring through nature’s finest show. Denali, the great one, soaring under the midnight sun. And then the extremes. In the winter time it’s the frozen road that is competing with the view of ice fogged frigid beauty, the cold though, doesn’t it split the Cheechakos from the Sourdoughs? And then in the summertime such extreme summertime about a hundred and fifty degrees hotter than just some months ago, than just some months from now, with fireweed blooming along the frost heaves and merciless rivers that are rushing and carving and reminding us that here, Mother Nature wins. It is as throughout all Alaska that big wild good life teeming along the road that is north to the future. That is what we get to see every day. Now what the rest of America gets to see along with us is in this last frontier there is hope and opportunity and there is country pride.”

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AMAZE YOUR FRIENDS WITH THIS INTERESTING TRIVIA:

• BLACK BOX – Commercial aircraft “Black Box” flight data recorders are not actually black, they’re usually bright red, orange, or yellow. “Black Box” likely came from the WWII British Air Force term for any number of general “box” mechanisms inside the aircraft.

• SPANISH FLY – The legendary aphrodisiac “Spanish Fly” is not a fly, but a species of Blister Beetle (Lytta vesicatoria). Known since Medieval times, the Spanish Fly secretes the toxin cantharidin – when consumed and then excreted through urination, it causes severe irritation of the urethra and swelling of the genitals, which can generate “priapism” (prolonged erection) in men. However, cantharidin is highly toxic even in small doses and can cause permanent damage to the urethra and kidneys. Aphrodisiacs containing Lytta vesicatoria are banned in most countries for this reason.

• THOUSAND ISLAND DRESSING – Thousand Island Dressing is indeed named after a series of islands: the Thousand Islands region of upstate New York, near Lake Ontario. There are varying histories about who exactly gave it this name.

• FRENCH TOAST – French Toast is not a culinary invention of the French, but has been around in some form since at least the 4th Century (there is a recipe for it in an ancient Roman cookbook). The name “French Toast” may have either come from the introduction of this food to England by the French Normans during the Middle Ages, or perhaps because it is a common way to render old/dry bread edible – French bread is notorious for drying out within a day.

• RANCH DRESSING – Ranch Dressing is named after the Hidden Valley (Dude) Ranch near Santa Barbara, California where it was invented in the 1950’s by the owner of the ranch, Steve Henson.

• GENERAL TZO’S CHICKEN – This common (American) Chinese food dish is named after Manchu Dynasty military general Zuo Zongtang. Despite the name, this dish does not exist in Hunan province, China – the homeland of General Zuo – and is likely to have been invented in the United States sometime during the early 1970’s.

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