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Bye Bye Birdie: golf’s Bob Hope Classic is no more

For Bob Hope, golf was always a funny game.  The comedian himself once said that he could easily give it up … if only he didn’t have so many sweaters. Now, eight years after his death, Hope’s eponymous tournament is at last changing its wardrobe — the Bob Hope Golf Classic will now be known…

How to find a name you can grow into

In some Native American communities, a name is something that is developed, not given. Children come into life with their own innate set of skills and talents, and live without a name until the community has had a chance to see those proficiencies unfold. The individual’s name is chosen to reflect who that person is…

Mozzarella: This is a test

When I was a kid, we used to eat at this great Italian place where our favorite dish was the Four-cheese Pizza. The menu didn’t say which cheeses, and no one asked, we just trusted the good folks of Casa de Pasta to pick the four good ones. Times have changed, and to be sure,…

Post symphonic viking core and the rise of the music micro-genre

I like me some metal. The trouble is, metal isn’t just metal anymore. And the more I look for new bands through which to nostalgically revisit my adolescent angst, the more I am reminded that liking music is just way harder than it used to be. There are too many names jockeying for my attention….

Winnipeg wins a hockey team. But do fans want the Jets back?

The Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks may be the ones battling it out for the Stanley Cup this week, but Winnipeg is stealing the spotlight. The city’s legions of hoser hockey fans are celebrating after the Atlanta Thrashers announced they will be headed for the Great White North. So what will they be called? From…

Anthropologie’s naming scheme to make you wear paisley and take your money.

Anthropologie is a great store. Nothing makes me want to spend 300 bucks on a tank top like seeing them nestled in the mouth of some giant papier-mâché narwhal suspended from the ceiling by human hair crochet. And usually I end up buying some getup that could really only be worn well while canoeing in…

Top 5 ideas for Disney’s ‘Seal Team 6’ trademark

With only a hand grenade, a prayer, and a single round left in the chamber, lone Navy Seal Lt. Mickey Mouse is outnumbered and outgunned. Yet he is still Osama Bin Laden’s worst nightmare. Hey, it could happen. The Walt Disney Co. has applied for a trademark on Seal Team 6, the name of the…

Update: Government’s naming transparency stumbles yet again.

A few weeks ago we talked about all the “accidental” naming pitfalls of a military mission named Odyssey Dawn, mainly how it sounded like a commitment to a war the length of which makes most Americans cringe. But the Pentagon assured us, via spokesman for U.S. Africa Command Eric Elliot, that nicknames for military exercises or…

Zyrtec, Allegra and Benadryl: the bizarre world of allergy med names

Allergieth thuck. Itchy eyeth, runny nothe, non-thtop thneething — they’re your bodieth way of gibbing you the finger while cocooning itthelf from the world. Unfortunately, there is no cure for allergies. But if you want to at least keep those springtime sniffles at bay, you have two realistic options: move to Antarctica, or drug it…

Manhattan Bagels: full of steam

Manhattan Bagels has more than 65 locations nation wide- the one place they’re not welcome? Manhattan. And that’s because New Yorkers can smell their own. Manhattan Bagels is from Jersey, which, despite its proximity is about as far from Empire living as you can get. And you know what that means, their co-companies Noah’s and…