ComPost: January 30, 2011 - February 5, 2011

Top seven commercials you won't be seeing at Super Bowl 2011

-Women with great personalities trying to sell you beer by sensibly discussing its merits. -Black Swan, in its entirety. -Management at BP reads a long, heartfelt apology letter to a group of displaced pelicans. -Brett Favre, speaking on behalf of...

By Alexandra Petri  | February 4, 2011; 4:28 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (16)
Categories:  Bad Advice, Petri, Reality? Television  | Tags:  America, Super Bowl  
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The worst advice you can give a child

I've been faking it for years. Remember when I said I had seen "Jurassic Park"? I was lying. Friends? Boy Meets World? Gilmore Girls? Pocahontas? Barney? Pretty much any generational touchstone you can name from 1988 to the present? I...

By Alexandra Petri  | February 4, 2011; 10:22 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (9)
Categories:  Bad Advice, Petri  | Tags:  kids these days, reading, reality  
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Kepler 10-b? I thought I was an only planet!

A rendering of rocky planet Kepler 10-b. (Agence France-Presse via NASA) I don't know if the Kepler Project is out to make us feel like a small, insignificant speck, but it's doing a good job. I used to look up...

By Alexandra Petri  | February 3, 2011; 4:45 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (2)
Categories:  Big Deals, Petri, That's awkward  | Tags:  NASA, science, space  
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Living on a Prayer: the value of Barack Obama's prayer breakfast

"The presidency," Barack Obama said this morning at the National Prayer Breakfast, "has a funny way of making a person feel the need to pray." Prayer is one of those activities that is usually restricted to moments of great...

By Alexandra Petri  | February 3, 2011; 2:00 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (1)
Categories:  Barack Obama, Petri  | Tags:  America, Barack Obama, prayer  
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Anderson Cooper attacked? Forget the protests -- this is news!

In Cairo, Molotov cocktails have reportedly been tossed at the Egyptian Museum. A wave of looters broke into King Tut's treasury, damaging pharaonic artifacts that archaeologists call priceless. Items that have survived for millennia smash and shatter, falling victim to...

By Alexandra Petri  | February 2, 2011; 5:38 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (19)
Categories:  Big Deals, Epic Failures, Petri, Reality? Television  | Tags:  Anderson Cooper, CNN, Egypt, celebrity  
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Groundhog Day 2011 results: Spring!

Whenever I try to write about Groundhog Day, I always get the creeping sense that it's been done before... "Did the groundhog see his shadow?" everyone asks. "Will Mubarak remain in office for seven more months?" I'm sorry, that's not...

By Alexandra Petri  | February 2, 2011; 9:09 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (19)
Categories:  Big Deals, Petri  | Tags:  celebrity, gravitas, groundhog day  
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Google vs. Bing: Finders vs. Keepers?

Google has accused Bing of copying its search results. This fight exploded over the course of the day, with increasingly official allegations and denials. Honestly, the only people using Bing were probably the Google researchers trying to see if it...

By Alexandra Petri  | February 1, 2011; 7:48 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (3)
Categories:  Only on the Internet, Petri  | Tags:  Google, bing, oops  
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Why Barbara Bush's support for gay marriage is no surprise

Barbara Bush endorses marriage equality? Not that Barbara Bush, the other Barbara Bush. The one who's 29. "Twenty-nine year-old comes out in favor of marriage equality"? Seriously, how is this news? That's just the natural order of things asserting itself....

By Alexandra Petri  | February 1, 2011; 5:32 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (3)
Categories:  Big Deals, Petri  | Tags:  Barbara Bush, age, kids these days  
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Brilliant, Google Art Project! The only bad thing about museums is museums!

Google has just launched something called the Google Art Project, an online museum- going tool. True to form, Google has figured out the truth about us regular museum- going tools: The only thing we don't like about visiting museums...

By Alexandra Petri  | February 1, 2011; 1:29 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (1)
Categories:  Big Deals, Only on the Internet, Petri  | Tags:  Google, art, awareness  
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Sharron Angle + cosmetics: You can't make this up!

I'm sorry, that is probably not the best title for a piece on a promotional cosmetics event featuring special guest Sharron Angle, but can you blame me? Last week, this actually happened: An Evening of Glamour with Special Guest Sharron...

By Alexandra Petri  | January 31, 2011; 5:09 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (2)
Categories:  Bad Advice, Petri  | Tags:  America, Harry Reid, Man Up, Sharron Angle, art  
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What we really mean when we post on Facebook

Is Facebook to blame for our unhappiness? Recently, reports have surfaced blaming the Social Network for making us feel, comparatively, sad and worthless. Slate calls it the "anti-social network." Seeing our friends' resolutely chipper status updates, Libby Copeland argues, chips...

By Alexandra Petri  | January 31, 2011; 12:54 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (3)
Categories:  Only on the Internet, Petri, That's awkward  | Tags:  Facebook, awareness, parody, reality  
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