"It's a very sickly-sweet, dark biscuit and I was expecting more from it."

Brits — who don't even know the word "cookie" — try to deal with Oreos.

The slogan is "twist, lick, dunk" and the television advert features a boy demonstrating the technique to his dog.

"This ritual that comes with Oreo makes it more than a biscuit," says Ms McNulty. "The ritual elevates it to a moment of child-like delight and a warm family moment. 'Twist, lick and dunk' is the language we use. Around the world, 'twist, lick and dunk' is Oreo."...

But self-appointed biscuit expert Stuart Payne, author of A Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down, says he was under-whelmed and disappointed by them.

"It's like someone rudely coming into your home and telling you how to arrange your settee. It arrives here and says: 'I'm Oreo and this is what you do with me.'" [Said Stuart Payne, author of "A Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down."]

"Well we've had biscuits for a long time and we know what to do."

The linked article, from BBC.com, has comments. Here's one that amuses me:

I've been eating Oreos for a few months and while they are nice enough I have to say that the whole twist thing is rubbish. You cannot just twist it apart if you try it will just shatter in your hand. I found that you have to use the same method used for the custard cream ... bite one half of the biscuit off. And taste wise the custard cream beats it hands down, all in all i cant see it beating our British fave anytime soon.

And:

I've tried these, and was disappointed. The dark colouring makes them look as if they'll be really dark-chocolatey, which would be great, but they aren't at all. Give me a plain chocolate digestive any day!

Digestive....

Ugh! These monstrosities, like Hershey's revolting "chocolate" just go to reinforce the stereotype that Americans have no sense of quality. Give me a custard cream every time!

Hey, come on. It's not like these are out best cookies. They are children's cookies.

And here's a Wall Street Journal article about Oreos in China

The company developed 20 prototypes of reduced-sugar Oreos and tested them with Chinese consumers before arriving at a formula that tasted right....

In China, Kraft began a grassroots marketing campaign to educate Chinese consumers about the American tradition of pairing milk with cookies. ...

Still, Kraft realized it needed to do more than just tweak its recipe to capture a bigger share of the Chinese biscuit market. China's cookie-wafer segment was growing faster than traditional biscuit-like cookies...

So in China in 2006 Kraft remade the Oreo itself, introducing for the first time an Oreo that looked almost nothing like the original. The new Chinese Oreo consisted of four layers of crispy wafer filled with vanilla and chocolate cream, coated in chocolate....

NOTE: Nice video at the last link, which I used to have embedded, but removed. Too slow-loading.

The trees that resist the touch of springtime.

You've got to respect them.



They have ways of their own.



They aren't going to prettify themselves just because you think it's the time of year to primp.



There are some old, old attitudes that need to be what they are.

"I'm proud to say that LSD-25 has contributed positively to my life."

It's a Facebook group:

Given the recent death of Dr. Albert Hofmann, we feel compelled to let it be known that we feel blessed that LSD has been a part of our lives.

We may use it for one or more purposes, including spiritual / introspective exploration, recreation, healing, psychotherapy, group bonding, or some combination of these.

Some of us may never have even ingested this sacred material, but we nonetheless recognize its positive influence on a wide array of cultural phenomena, including not only the obvious elements such as music, art, poetry, prose, dance, religious studies, adademic [sic] pursuit, etc., but also on modern science, information technology (UNIX / Linux would likely not exist without LSD), physiological psychology, and micro/molecular biology.

Haven't you at least benefited from the music... and the posters?

We believe that this compound is one of the truly magnificient [sic] discoveries of the 20th century and that it has only just begun to be realized as a path to the future of humankind.

Fix the spelling, man. It's freaking me out.

"The function of the brain is to reduce all the available information and lock us into a limited experience of the world. LSD frees us from this restriction and opens us to a much larger experience." - Stanislav Grof

"“There are two major products that came out of Berkeley: LSD and UNIX. We don't believe this to be a coincidence.” - Jeremy Anderson

"I think that in human evolution it has never been more necessary to have this substance LSD. It is a tool to turn us into what we are supposed to be." - Dr. Albert Hoffman

"LSD burst over the dreary domain of the constipated bourgeoisie like the angelic herald of a new psychedelic millennium. We have never been the same since, nor will we ever be, for LSD demonstrated, even to skeptics, that the mansions of heaven and gardens of paradise lie within each and all of us." - Terence McKenna

"The LSD experience usually changes forever the worldview and basic life-orientation of all who experience it." - Ralph Metzner

IN THE COMMENTS: Ben Masel writes:

Kudos on the courage to accept the invite. As yet, none of the "A list' lefty bloggers I simultaneously invited have signed on.

Spelling fixed, seems I've been made an admin.

Yeah, well, the A-list lefty bloggers are pussies. But you have framed the description so that joining is not a confession of drug use — or even to say that the benefits, overall, to society, outweigh the harm. I could perceive, even without the aid of mind-expanding drugs, that anyone could join this group.

"I love how I’m going to get blamed for a vid clip circulated by the nutroots."

Says Michelle Malkin. I wish I'd been on this story earlier, because I've watched the documentary "The War Room" many times. It's a favorite DVD in my family, and we've watched it together and talked about it many times. Ben Smith talked to the director D.A. Pennebaker about what looks like a dirty trick, but then he updates that he "spoke to the editor of the video who said that he enhanced, but didn't alter, the audio in the second portion of the video." So the mystery is alive. But how much do we care what Mickey Kantor muttered 16 years ago?

Whatever you think of all that, you can buy "The War Room" on Amazon for $11. You can make a great triple feature if you add "Primary" (about JFK and Hubert Humphrey fighting it out in Wisconsin in 1960) and "Journeys with George" (Nancy Pelosi's daughter Alexandra films the travails of the journalists who follow the Bush campaign in 2000). But "The War Room" is the best of them all. Or take a different path and make it a cool double feature with "Don't Look Back," Pennebaker's great documentary about Bob Dylan — 1965 Bob Dylan.

"I ask my class for a gift – to help me while I’m grading papers."

"I like music, but I don’t listen to the radio much and I don’t follow music trends. Write down a title of a song I should download and listen to. Put your name by it and I’ll associate it with you when you’re long gone into the attorney world."

For the annals of incredibly nice teachers.

Suddenly — and sensibly — the Dems want on Fox News.

Netroots irked.

ADDED: And I should say that I think Hillary Clinton looked great sparring with Bill O'Reilly. It worked out really well — for both of them. It's insane for Democrats not to try to reach all the people who watch Fox News. And you only look weak avoiding it. Now, the netroots look foolish bitching about it — but all their muscle-flexing and bragging about power and vengeful foot-stamping has always looked foolish.

You lost me at 8.

People's list of 100 most beautiful people. As usual, there's not a chance in hell that these are the 100 most beautiful people, but the egregious untruth of it is somewhat funny.

UPDATE: They've changed the numbers at the link. #8 at the time I put up this post was Rumer Willis.