The difference between the blurbs and the blurb words in context for the book Jack Tumor.

Blurb:
“Lots of laughs.” —Kirkus Reviews
Context:
“Lots of laughs but little else.”

Blurb:
“The love-hate relationship between Hector and his alter ego is engaging.” —School Library Journal
Context:
“The love-hate relationship between Hector and his alter ego is engaging. But, the abundant penis jokes, sex gags, farting, and use of the f-word and other profanities are over-the-top. One tires of distended testicles, pubic lice, anal probes. The message that brain cancer need not mean the end of one’s life and can actually help a teenager stop worrying about his peers is a good one. Too bad the message, Hector’s insightful humor, and his love-hate relationship with Jack are buried in so much vulgarity.”

Blurb:
“McGowan injects plenty of humor.” —Publishers Weekly
Context:
“Though the story can ramble painfully, McGowan injects plenty of humor, phallic references and British slang into this edgy coming-of-age tale.”

“Upturning the tea table” is a phrase used by developers at Nintendo to refer to a sudden and dramatic change of direction suggested at the latter stages of the development process

From an article (part one of five) on the Nintendo Personal Trainer: Walking game.

“With Social Security Search you can uncover anything in their past that they are not divulging.”

Brad: Kate, we have to talk.
Kate: What?
Brad: There’s… there’s something I need to know. Well, something I already know.
Kate: Brad, you sound so serious! What is it?
Brad: The report I got back, the report on your social security number. It said that you didn’t really like my mother’s cooking when we visited last Christmas. You said you loved her green bean casserole! How could you just… lie like that?

Best last line to a local news story in a while, and again it should be in the headline: “The sheriff’s office is looking into whether the group actually exists.”

I don’t currently have a cubicle in which to post this, so I will merely link to it here and try to look at it five times a week: Trash Talk!

While articles about it don’t show up regularly enough to constitute a category, we do love Foreign Accent Syndrome.

I enjoy attending the Seattle Sounders FC games, but flag questions come up a lot: it’s the world’s game, after all, and the world has many a flag (very few with the name conveniently written on). So here’s a flag identifier tool, and another one. I hope they work on cell phones!

First: read this article about CD Club for Nerds.
Second: send me email telling me you want to DO THIS THING! Let’s work it out, people, I’m totally serious.

[Phone rings]
Craig [answering phone]: Hello?
Megan: Hi, Craig?
Craig: Yes.
Megan: It’s Megan
[Craig thinks “Do I know a Megan? Megan who? Probably a recruiter.”]
Megan [cont’d]: I just sent you [something or other] from Wells [blah blah blah] and I want us to look at them side by side, because remember when I said my closing costs shouldn’t be more than [some amount]?
Craig: No, I really don’t. What are we talking about?
Megan: Oh, wait. Is this Craig Stark?
Craig: No.
Megan: Is this Craig Sternwood?
Craig: Yep.
Megan: Oh, I hit the wrong Craig S in my phone contacts. Well, you just have a great rest of your day and weekend.
[call ends]