Watercooler Sensation

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“The Office” Is On To Something

• We could have told you this a while ago...but our bosses disagreed. Well, until now, that is. Now intense research finds light humor at work is a good thing. [Live Science]
• In their study “The Case for Developing New Research on Humor and Culture in Organizations: Toward a Higher Grade of Manure,” researchers analyzed theories on humor, emotion and mood from several hundred studies in the fields of psychology, sociology, anthropology, philosophy and communications.
• Here’s what they found: humor—particularly joking around concerning things associated with the job— actually has a positive impact in the workplace.
• Joking around, you see, actually increases creative output in the office.
• Not only that, but the ability to laugh together may help coworkers to become more bonded when faced with completing joint tasks.
• Then again — jokes can go too far. Sexist humor, while perhaps meant in good fun, can also promote discrimination against women, separate research recently showed.

Laugh it up, funny guy.

Fiji Water: Environmental Hero Or Polluting Villain?

• Fiji Water, the bottled water company that sells water that actually comes from Fiji, is looking to make a name for itself as an environmental hero. But is their product inherently bad for the environment?
• Looking to trump other earth-loving companies, Fiji water announced that they would be going carbon negative — offsetting removing more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere than their operations created.
• Their methods? Install a windmill to power their Fiji plant, adjust their shipping routes to use lower impact methods, shift to bio-diesel fuels, reduce the amount of plastic and paper used for bottles, all while purchasing carbon offsets in the form of reforestation and renewable energy projects to more than make up the remainder.
• Here’s the catch...Fiji Water makes bottled water a wasteful product by its very nature.
• The plastic from America’s $15 billion bottled water industry takes 1.5 million barrels of oil to produce, enough to run 100,000 cars for a year. [MicCheck]
• Not to mention, 86% of plastic bottles (even recyclable ones) end up in landfills where they’re likely to be for the next 400-1000 years.
• “Bottled water is a business that is fundamentally, inherently and unalterably unconscionable,” said Michael J. Brune, executive director of the Rainforest Action Network. “No side deals to protect forests or combat global warming can offset that reality.”

Michael Brune’s got a Nalgene he brings from home, no doubt.

The Weather Outside Is Frightful ... Hope You Don’t Use Heating Oil

• The government is estimating that the average cost of heating a home for winter with heating oil will rise by 22 percent this year, up $319 from last year’s average of $1466. [CNBC]
• Our only caveats: Uncle Sam’s numbers assume crude oil prices will stay between $70 and $80 (It’s close to $96 right now) and this winter will only be slightly colder than the last. (4 percent to be exact. And no, we don’t know how they figured that out)
• What’s worse, it looks like the poor are literally going to be left out in the cold. Bush has vowed to veto an appropriations bill to increase funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) by $250 million for the fiscal year. The President’s own 2008 budget request contained a 17.5% cut in LIHEAP. [NATIONAL COMMUNITY ACTION FUND]
• Um… Mr. Scrooge, er, we mean Mr. President, that cut is more than all the increases in funding the program has received since 1981. (17 percent of its budget) Over that period the number of eligible households has risen by 78 percent. [AP]
• The bottom line: Last year 5.7 million families received LIHEAP assistance. It’s projected that an additional 1 million people will absolutely need assistance this year. There are 34 million Americans eligible for assistance. …And the President wants to cut funding.
• Lucky for you, Mic Check is here with some great energy saving measures to reduce your home heating costs this winter. Tips include: checking your air filter and tuning up your HVAC system, installing a programmable thermostat, and sealing your duct work. For more tips like these, and information on DIY and professional home energy audits check out these sites. [CINCINNATI] [ENERGYSTAR]

Tiny Tim and the Little Match Girl could not be reached for comment.

What’s With Your Obsession With Your Own Initials, Ya Freak?

• Hello, my name is Christy, I come from California and I like cake, cats and Cheney. At least according to a new study next month in the Journal of Psychological Science I do. [Newsweek]
• Leif Nelson, from the University of California, and Joseph Simmons of Yale University have discovered we are all subconsciously drawn to things that start with the same letters as our names.
• Scientists already knew that about positive things. For example, they say, “Toby is more likely to buy a Toyota, move to Toronto, and marry Tonya than is Jack, who instead is more likely to buy a Jaguar, move to Jacksonville and marry Jackie.”
• The new twist is we’re also subconsciously drawn to *bad stuff* that starts with our initials! It’s called “Moniker Maladies.”
• Baseball players with names starting with K, for example, are more likely to strike out (“K,” of course, being the international symbol for strike.)
• Students named Carl and Doreen are more likely to get lower grades than other people, while Annie and Bob are more likely to get in to better law schools.
• Bottom line: we are so madly in love with our names that on some level we’re willing to sabotage ourselves just to be closer to our initials.

For the record, I’m from Delaware, am more a pie kind of person, am deathly allergic to felines and, well, I think you know how I feel about our Vice President.

Your Pint Of Ben & Jerry’s Is Starting To Look Pretty Lame...

• Look. We’ve got nothing against Chubby Hubby. Or Half-Baked. Or any of our favorite Ben and Jerry’s flavors, for that matter. But when they’re compared to this $25,000 dessert created by New York City restaurant Serendipity 3, they look a little...well...less than. [AP]
• On Wednesday, the Frrrozen Haute Chocolate was named the world’s most expensive dessert by the Guinness Book of World Records. We’re guessing it beat out the $14,500 ‘Fortress Stilt Fisherman Indulgence’ that’s served up at a posh resort in Sri Lanka.
• So what makes the Frrrozen Haute Chocolate so expensive? For one, it includes cocoas from 14 countries. Additionally, it’s got whip cream and shavings from a La Madeline au Truffle.
• But that’s not what ticks the price tag up. Serendipity-3’s dessert s served in a goblet with a band of gold decorated with 1 carat of diamonds and served with a golden spoon diners can take home.
• Oh, and the gold? It’s edible.

We can’t wait to try it. When we can afford it...which will be never.

By the Numbers

Sex, Drugs, and Rock n Roll

We’ve been lookin’ at our Guccis / And it’s about that time...that somebody blamed music for the slow, smoky destruction of today’s youth. According to new research presented today at the American Public Health Association’s Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., drugs and alcohol constitute some of the more popular themes in modern music. And we’re not just talking about Snoop Dogg. [ABC]

33%

33 percent of the top songs off the Billboard 2005 list contained references to tobacco, alcohol and drugs such as marijuana.

77%

77 percent of rap songs mentioning the use of illicit substances.

37%

Country songs came in second place, with 37 percent of them making illicit references.

104 minutes daily

Individuals between the ages of 8 and 18 are exposed to popular music 104 minutes daily, or over 12 hours each week.

35

Music-loving individuals hear 35 references of substance use per hour.

Celebrities: Unfiltered

“msnbc
one hour
live
following keith olbermann

we were close to a deal
almost done
i let it slip in miami
causing panic on the studio end

well
what can u do

2day there is no deal
poof
my career as a pundit is over
b4 it began

just as well
i figure
everything happens for a reason
bashert — as we say

and on we go”

— Rosie O’Donnell, explaining on her blog why her new MSNBC show is over before it started. Er, we think. [Perez Hilton]

Speed Round

EVERYBODY PANIC

Beer prices are skyrocketing. Guess we’ll all have to switch to scotch. KIDDING KIDDING. [CNN]

$110,500

Opening bid on eBay for the 2005 black Mercedes Lindsay Lohan crashed on Sunset Boulevard last May. Repairs not included. [Page Six]

$240

High bid (so far) in an on-line charity auction for a chance to (gulp) go on a double date with Heidi and Spencer from MTV’s The Hills. A better auction idea may have been to see how much people would pay to *not* have to go on a double date with Heidi and Spencer. [People]

THE COOLEST THING WE’VE HEARD ALL WEEK

The mechanical bull at the hot NYC spot “Johnny Utah’s” is (wait for it…wait for it…) SOLAR POWERED. [The Social]

STUDENT ATHLETE

Oregon’s star quarterback Dennis Dixon’s grueling university class schedule this fall: Billiards Class. Um…that’s it. [Oregon Statesman Journal]

TODAY’S RIDICULOUS STUDY

A new study conducted by Queen’s University in Ontario shows that women with really sexy, hip-swinging walks are less likely to be fertile. (How’s that Parkinson’s cure goin’, guys?) [Fox News]

YOU’RE HAVING A BAD DAY WHEN...

The engine falls out of your plan. [Reuters]

BAD NEWS FOR LINDSAY

The price of illegal drugs continues to increase. [USA Today]

UMMMM...

A college intern is put in charge of the police department in Lorain, OH after no one steps up from the job. [WATM]

HEADLINE OF THE DAY

“Ohio Police Officer in Red Thong Arrested on Sex Charges in Park Bathroom Encounter.” …Only Fox News. *Insert Larry Craig reference* [FOX]

3 HOURS

The number of hours a day these citizens have running water. No, they’re not Iraqis, they’re Tennesseans. Is that what you’d call them? [CNN]

MEETING MISER

A calculator for businesses to see just how much those god awful team meetings really cost. If only it could factor in intangibles like the little piece of you that dies every time you sit through one. [NYT]

STATE OF EMERGENCY

First Pakistan declared it, now Georgia. (The former Soviet republic, not the state) Peer pressure’s tough. We heard Uzbekistan started smoking to be like the thin, cool countries in the magazines. [WAPO]

SSSMOKIN’

The number of Americans who smoke has leveled off at 20.8 percent of American adults for the past three years, stopping what had been a decades long decline. Part of the reason? “The Bush administration has not treated tobacco control as a priority and has not highlighted or promoted the issue.” [Washington Post]