Knock knock. Who's there? The Swine Flu.

While I had my head in the sand at the Festival of Books last weekend, the Swine Flu apparently became the most talked about topic in the news since the election. It's serious. It's spreading rapidly. It's killing people for godsake. So why is it so inexplicably funny??? From jokes about bacon to hahas about flying pigs, people across the globe are taking the pandemic with a dose of humor.

A few of my favorite jokes found across the Web...

"So Pig Flu has started in America. Who says God doesn't have a sense of humour?"

- Unidentified Source on the Web

"Great to be back. As you know, I was sick for two days last week. Had to go to the hospital" after "I ate a raw pig a friend brought back from Mexico."

- Jay Leno

"If you flip over to the cable news channels they'd be all 'swine flu, swine flu swine flu, ahhhhh, it's hamageddon, it's the pigpocalypse, it's snout of control.' They just want to scare the crap out of you: 'Is swine flu deadlier than the grim reaper? Stay tuned!"

- Craig Ferguson

[Image Credit: BBC]

Terror strikes. Platform sneakers make a come back on Melrose.

I was shopping in Sportie L.A. tonight for some sneaks to tramp across UCLA's campus in this weekend (for Festival of Books. yay, plug!) and I came upon this eye-catching platform sneaker on an otherwise unimpressive and cluttered check-out counter. The sign--fastened on securely with a paper clip--boldly announcing:

Custom Made Platforms
Weddings
Special Events

And I wondered...did stores still add platform layers of rubber on to walking shoes? Hadn't this stopped after those awful years of misguided fashion in middle school? Someone surely must have alerted the footwear retailers across the country that no, this was no longer an acceptable 'fashion' practice. And then I panicked...would some girl--some girl who'd not gotten the memo--who'd spent the last 15 years under a very distant rock--see this sign and customize her very own platform bridal adidas?

I paid for my own, non-customized kicks before I could have my sense of style violated any
further at the register. But the image won't leave my head. The sneaker nightmare lives on.

The Very Hungry Caterpillar turns 40.

Don't miss author Eric Carle when he celebrates the 40th anniversary of a storybook classic at the LA Times Festival of Books later this month.

I'm personally hoping for a picture with the caterpillar...maybe a hug...maybe, just maybe, a lunch date together.

A musical karaoke interlude.

A great video from friend Courtenay Green. It's 80's. It's sing-a-long. It's all you need for your afternoon break at your desk. Oh, and it's directed by the SKINNY team, who've directed vids for Devendra Banhart and Gray Kid, amongst others.



Courtenay will also be performing at the upcoming Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, which I know you're all already planning on attending.

xo