Poor Sameer Mishra. There he is, in a spelling bee, nervous as hell, and he thinks he hears the judge say that he has to spell numb nut. I did too. So did most of the audience, because everybody laughed. The word was "numnah", but the moment was still funny. I wish stuff like that happened more in s...

The National Lampoon Sports Minute (Or So) Tennessee Titans wide receiver Mike Williams has lost 30 pounds. Unfortunately for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Andruw Jones seems to have found them. Jones will likely miss the next four to six weeks after undergoing surgery to repair torn cartilage in his kne...

I’m glad I’m not the only one suffering with seasonal allergies, my daily dose of Zyrtec D isn’t quite holding, and by 3 I’m snorting, sniffling and schnozwangering my way through the remainder of the work day. Sure I can amp my dose with a Pepsid or a Zantac but I’m sh...

After every National Spelling Bee, it is required that at least one witty columnist write a piece making fun of all the exotic words that pop up by using every single one of them in a “We don’t talk like that at the coffee shop” column. (I think it’s one of those secret claus...

Not at work, hacking like a tuberculosis-ridden dog, dutifully not passing germs along to co-workers, and bored out of my skull despite five books that are waiting to be read, I present you with the results of today’s internet scouring: * Desi Fix: Proving that there are desis a lot less lame ...

Hey, remember laughing at Miss Teen USA South Carolina being an idiot on national television, and then feeling a bit guilty about making fun of someone having a really bad day? Well, this weekend at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, 13-year-old Sameer Mishra won the grand prize after correctly spel...

Damn I loves me some Scripps Spelling Bee, y'all. Love that it's on teevee, and LOVE your 2008 Champion, Sameer Mishra. Many times, the winners of these things are quivery sacks of tiny childlike frailties, spasming all along their nervous systems and staring out at the crowd like they just landed f...

Atrios celebrated Suck on This day yesterday, the 5th anniversary of Tom Friedman going on Charlie Rose and telling the world that the Iraq war was fought to tell Iraqis to "Suck On This"... because we could! Little Tommy kept soldiering on, hunting for ponies in his little fantasy war. And every fe...

It’s the time of the Bees.  Tarun writes about 11 year old Akshay Rajagopal winning the 2008 National Geographic Bee a few days ago. The winner is only the second one in this competition’s history with a perfect performance. His win has made him richer by $25,000 and a trip to the next Bee ...

Sameer Mishra just won the National Spelling Bee. I recently heard, on NPR, that they have opened up the Bee to competitors outside the US. That's fine with me, I suppose. After all, some of the best Scrabble players in the world don't even speak English, but have memorized word after word of Englis...