TresSugar

Headline of the Day

GiggleSugar — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 02:00:00 -0800

New threat to our way of life: giant pythons

Forget global warming. Forget the war in Iraq. Forget the weekend exploits of Britney and her paparazzo love toy. There's a more important horror to hit this nation and we must - I repeat, we must - devise a defense strategy immediately. Giant python snakes have organized a cross-country, sssight-ssseeing road trip that started in Florida and will end in San Francisco by August 2020. This means one thing and one thing only: traffic's gonna be a b*tch. Ssseriously. For more on the story, read here.

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Heartless Bastards Punk a Chimp

GiggleSugar — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 14:00:00 -0700

Have we run out of people to punk?! All this chimp wants is a decent meal and that's exactly what he gets, served up with a little snake on the side. The snake's a fake, but our chimp's reaction is real. Who has the heart to punk a chimp- and a chimp dressed as Old MacDonald, no less? This is so uncalled for. (But Old McScaredy gets his brave on, thankfully!)

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Ssssslithering Snake Massage, Anyone?

GiggleSugar — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 08:00:00 -0700

What's not to love about a massage? Well, if it's this kind of massage, how about the slimy snake involved? That's right, the new way to relax those muscles is to let a snake do all the work. They call this a thing of "beauty," but I'm thinking that me getting strangled to death while in the grip of a snake's choke hold ain't all that charming-- unless, of course, the snake said he loved me and had that oh so special touch. But what's your take?

WTF?!

GiggleSugar — Wed, 27 Dec 2006 00:02:00 -0800

Hmmm...what's that look on her face?

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Madeleine Albright Had Her Diplomatic Message Pinned Down

TresSugar — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:00:00 -0700

As secretary of state, Madeleine Albright could use carrots and sticks to further the US foreign policy agenda. But as the first woman to serve as top diplomat, Albright also used broaches to get what she wanted! In her new book, Read My Pins, Albright explains how her jewelry box turned out to be one of her greatest arsenals.

Albright discovered the power of the pin back when she was the US ambassador to the UN. After the Iraqi government called her an "unparalleled serpent," Albright decided to make a fashion diplomatic statement by wearing a snake pin the next time she met Iraqi officials.

In the description for her book, we get a taste of how broaches went on to become Albright's signature as secretary of state.

International leaders were pleased to see her with a shimmering sun on her jacket or a cheerful ladybug; less so with a crab or a menacing wasp. Albright used pins to emphasize the importance of a negotiation, signify high hopes, protest the absence of progress, and show pride in representing America, among other purposes.

NYC's Museum of Arts and Design is also showcasing more than 200 of her pins and the stories behind them. Are you impressed that Madeleine Albright used jewelry as a diplomatic weapon?

View 5 Photos ›

Snake Handling 101

GiggleSugar — Sun, 18 Feb 2007 08:03:38 -0800

Who knew that Steve Irwin, tough guy Crocodile Hunter, would have such a gay old time with The Tonight Show's Ross the Intern? On the agenda? Snake-handling, naturally.

Ask a Southern Belle: Am I Paranoid or Is He Cheating on Me?

TresSugar — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 06:00:00 -0700

Conventional Wisdom is a different kind of advice column. Your questions will be answered by people from all walks of life rather than by advice experts. To help Sick Sommer who isn't sure if she's paranoid or if her boyfriend really is cheating on her, a Southern Belle will offer her common sense advice today. You can submit questions here.

Today's Question:

I have been in a relationship with this guy for three-and-a-half years. For the most part, our relationship has been pretty good. However, over the past five or six months, I have developed a fear of him cheating on me. Ironically, I never had this feeling at any earlier time in our relationship.

I have come to believe that the reason I have developed this fear is because a couple of times over the past few months, I have caught him lying to me about drinking with his guy friends and dipping (two things that he knows I don't approve of). He told me that the reason he lied about those things is because he didn't want me to be upset with him. Since he lied to me about those things, I feel like he might be lying to me about cheating.

Fortunately, he has never given me any reason to think that he is cheating, and he tells me all the time that he loves me so much and that I am the person he wants to spend the rest of his life with. Even though he tells me all of these sweet things, I still don't trust him and I often accuse him of going behind my back with other girls. He reassures me he would never do that and often becomes very upset that I would think he would hurt me like that. It seems like all day, every day, I constantly think about what he is doing, who he is with, etc. I have literally made myself sick from worrying so much and I am afraid it is going to cost me my health and relationship. I don't know what to do!

- Sick Sommer

To hear what advice a Southern Belle has to give, read more

Dear Sick Sommer:

Well bless your heart!

When I was a young woman, I heard a story about a little girl walking toward a bridge. She encountered a snake who asked for her help in crossing the river. The girl demurred, saying, “You are a snake; you will bite me.” The snake told a sad story about being misunderstood and promised to do no harm. The trusting girl picked up the snake and carried him across the bridge, whereupon he bit her. She cried out, “You promised you would not hurt me! Why? Why?” As the snake slithered away, he said, “You knew what I was when you picked me up.”

In light of this little tale, ask yourself a couple of questions. Have you had this fear of being cheated on with other boyfriends? If so, perhaps you are sabotaging this relationship with your accusations. Or, have you picked other guys whose bad habits you immediately tried to fix? Why, after three-and-a-half years, do you not have trust in this man?

People, as snakes, rarely change, no matter how much their partners want it. The question of trust may only be in your mind, but if you cannot trust this guy after three-and-a-half years and he is still doing things of which you do not approve, one of you might want to slither away.

Signed,

A Southern Belle

"Snake Charmer"...Or So They Say

GiggleSugar — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 11:00:23 -0800

I refuse to believe that no one saw this coming...but the risk in airing it was worth its weight in funny. In fact, I think this game show is my new guilty pleasure.

Two Indian Girls Marry Frogs (Literally), Not Even the First Time

CitizenSugar — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 14:00:08 -0800

Villagers carried two 7-year-old girls on their shoulders and two frogs on garlanded sticks as they walked them to a temple where they were married. Afterward, the girls returned to their parents while the frogs were thrown into a muddy pond.

The ceremony goes back to a centuries-old tradition. The Hindu god Shiva is said to have turned himself into a frog after a fight with his wife, causing her to cry for days and create a health hazard with her dirty tears. Disease control not being what it is today, Shiva decided to marry a young girl to stop the disease. His wife made herself young again, and he agreed to marry her again. After the wedding, they returned to their original forms and good health reigned in the village.

While any old frog will do, a girl who has yet to reach puberty is required. Proud parents offer up daughters because, in their minds, they are saving their village from disease. But the Indian government holds its head in embarrassment at this backroad tradition, calling it ignorant and blaming illiteracy. It has sent psychologists, sociologists, and religious leaders to villages to persuade people to stop.

Though human-animal marriages are not legally recognized by any country, frogs aren't the only animals getting hitched. To see what else humans have been forced (or just chose!) to marry, read more.

Goats: The Sudanese government forced a man to marry a goat after he was caught having sex with it in 2006.

Dogs: Girls can be forced to marry dogs in India to ward off bad omens. A surprisingly adorable ceremony of a puppy-girl (or maybe not that surprising!) wedding can be watched here.

Horse: An Indian woman married a snake by choice in 2006. She "fell in love" with it after recovering from an illness upon giving the snake milk. However, an investigation by Harper's magazine suggested the snake never existed and the incident was staged in a local power struggle between two religious leaders.

Ahh, well. These other stories appear to be (un)real!

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A Creepy Yet Insanely Catchy Homage to Christian Bale

GiggleSugar — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 12:42:32 -0700

Just when you thought we were finished with the Christian Bale freakout comes this genius music video for The Mae Shi's "R U Professional." The catchy dance number pays homage to the "swing kid with a violent streak" with excerpts from Bale's famous onset explosion and lyrics like "newsies will get you tonight!" The video features clips from his movies - including Bale eating a live snake and running naked with a chain saw - that kinda help you understand how the dude got so extreme.