Midweek linkery
MI PROTESTANT WORK SEXXX EFFIC, LET ME SHOW U IT: When her husband turned 40, Charla Muller couldn't decide what to give him, so she offered him guaranteed sex every night for a whole year. Could they manage it? And what would be the effect on their marriage?. Okay, I am behind the concept that there is perhaps too much emphasis on Sex Should Be Spontaneous and Just Happen, but not as just one more thing to add to the list of chores. I am so totally yay over the comments from My Friend Petra:
There's been a series of these kinds of books from the US," says sex educator Petra Boynton of University College London. "They are very prescriptive and they may well end up making people feel guilty and inadequate.
They tap into a favourite theme of the media which is that more sex is better sex and what you need to do is engineer the means to have more sex, which means improving technique and buying accessories." Is this a heterosexual thing? "There are gay versions of the same thing - books about how perfect sex techniques will make everything all right. It won't. It's great to give the perfect blow job, if that's what turns you on, but not if it's to stop your partner having an affair. There's not enough in these books about friendship or being nice to each other - which sounds corny, but long-term relationships are not all to do with what you do in the bedroom."
Given the ages of the couple in question, I also incline to wonder whether it's all a cover for the wife's peri-menopausal horniness, a not-unknown if far from univeral phenomenon.
Another WTF article in a different direction: Woman is obsessive free diver in spite of blackouts and other adverse physical effects. I suppose it makes slightly more sense than Extreme Ironing (the only way you will get some men to iron is on a tightrope halfway up Everest) in that there is clearly some kind of rush involved (uh, is this not akin to what Cousteau referred to as 'Rapture of the Deeps'? and what about The Bends?).
What daft thing will people think of next to make libraries 'user' (wot users, exactly?) 'friendly'? The debate was about the decision by the Gloucestershire libraries service to introduce piped music into some of its libraries. Who are these people who seem to think that libraries should be everything except, you know, actual libraries?
Meanwhile, Publishers look to China and India to help them weather recession: Potter, Blyton and business guides serve global appetite for English language books
Does having a child make you more or less inclined to support the idea of abortion on demand - or indeed have one yourself? You really don't have to go very far back to a period when (and has it really changed?) most women seeking abortions were married women with an existing family and for economic or health or general reasons of overburden, did not want any more? How is this news, exactly?
On the impending availability of anti-obesity pills over the counter: This pill is a cheap, nasty way out of dealing with the real causes of obesity: It suits policymakers to offer the overweight a magic bullet: better than facing expensive stuff like economic hopelessness. Not to mention the very peculiar definition of (controversial) BMI of over 28, which even if you believe in the BMI, doesn't sound to me as anywhere near 'obesity'.
Coco Chanel: enduring style, fairytale story - just don't mention the Nazi lover: Biopic of 'Mademoiselle' omits her darker period; First of two films to trigger Chanel mania in France. However, see Justine Picardie's associated article: The truth is more complicated, but then CHANEL WASN'T A NAZI would make less of a headline.. So very, very true.