Glowing Green Pigs, NFL Cheerleaders, Stag Mag, and Toga Parties

Forget about green eggs and ham. Now we have green ham -- hold the eggs. Yes, dear reader, scientists have done it again. Not to be outdone by their South Korean counterparts, who made a bunch of kittens glow red under ultraviolet light, some Chinese scientists have managed to make a bunch of piglets glow fluorescent green under ultraviolet light. Why, do you ask? Good question.

According to a report by the Associated Press, making the pigs glow fluorescent green "could lead to the future breeding of pigs for human transplant organs," a Chinese university reported -- that is, of course, if you don't mind your new organs glowing green in the dark. To learn more about this fascinating experiment, click on the link above.

On a lighter note (perhaps a pale pink or a baby blue?), I received two very interesting freelance writing opportunities in my in box this week. The first, which was on a mailing list I subscribe to, sought "writers for NFL Cheerleaders Blog." Writers, according to the posting, do not need to have professional writing experience, just be able to write at a high school level, not use swear words, and know who is hot and who is not. Alas, I am not up on my NFL cheerleaders, so I passed. But if any of you want to get up your pompoms for the cause, let me know and I'll send you the link.

About the same time I found the above, I received a solicitation (from my listing on Mediabistro.com) to write for a new, soon-to-be-launched lad mag called "Simply Stag." Unfortunately, in my stomach-flu-induced haze (I am happy to say I much better now), I deleted the request after my reply bounced (no such domain). But in his email the author, who my friend, Steven, discovered was a recent graduate of UNLV, and probably not to be taken seriously, said he read a lot of my work (could it have been my fascinating discussion of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure or how small businesses can get discount shipping?) and thought I had an edge that would suit his new magazine, a publication for the guy who knows who he is and is proud of it (whatever that means).

I have to admit, a part of me thought it would be great fun to write for a lad mag, as I am rather fond of men, sports, cars, politics, and beer. (I am trying to keep this entry PG.) But alas, I fear it is not to be. I don't work for unfunded startups and as I just wrote my reply bounced. Not a good sign. But keep your eyes out for "Simply Stag." One day it could be on a newsstand near you.

Speaking of men and beer...

John Tierney of The New York Times had a wonderful entry in his blog on January 5 entitled "The Science of Toga Parties," which I felt I had to share. The entry was based on a study published in the January issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research.

The headline of the press release: "Inside college parties: surprising findings about drinking behavior." Surprising to whom, I wondered? (Apparently to scientists working at universities who have never been to a keg party.)

The study's main findings:

1. People who go to parties with drinking games have higher blood-alcohol concentrations.
2. "Young women at theme parties, especially with sexualized themes and costumes, drink more heavily than men."

To this I respond, duh. But hand it to those researchers, they put in a lot of time and effort, attending 66 college parties held "close to an urban public university in southern California."

Survey says: The more you drink, the drunker you get. Nice to know our tax dollars are so well spent.

As to why women drink more, if you ever spent a night at one of these "themed" keg parties (as I unfortunately did, at MIT of all places, in my youth), you'd drink heavily, too.