We’ve got a spot of Indian summer going on now. The temperatures are back in the mid-90’s, and the air conditioning has been humming along all day. I’ve always been kindly disposed toward the idea of Indian summer, but I think that was just because it sounded nice. Or maybe I was just recalling that I like Indian candy corn better than the other stuff. You know, boring candy corn … Caucasian candy corn. But apparently I’ve been duped by clever marketing, because this weather isn’t charming at all. Walking back from the store with an afternoon root beer, my hair got blown back into my face by the nasty hot wind so I looked like the abominable snowman … well, more like him than usual, even.

So, while my hair re-hydrates, here are a couple things from around the ’sphere:

• Political correctness watch — holiday edition — The Spanish are cancelling fiestas with exploding Muhammeds (HERE), the Germans are cancelling a Mozart opera that features the head of Muhammed as a prop (HERE). Who knew the Prophet got out and about so much? The PC thing is typically off-base. Since the Spanish celebration commemorates their freedom in 1492 from 700 years of Islamic oppression, seems like there’s more than a little Iberian tackiness for Muslim radicals to get offended at — truth and history, just to name two. And in the case of this recent production of Mozart’s opera “Idomeneo”, the hero brings out a bloody sack of severed heads including that of Poseidon, Buddha, Mohammed and … Jesus. And they’re only worried about the Muslims getting offended? Good grief!
• Taking all the fun out of booger jokes — Frederica’s got an essay called “Open Season on Beauty” (HERE) that’s part movie review and part social commentary (as the best movie reviews generally are). It turns out that the current Shrek rip-off movie turns up the volume on the grossness, featuring all things slimy, smelly and excremental. Oh lovely. And she wonders what in the world all this is doing to the children who these movies and products are aimed at:
  

  Sure, potty-talk has always been funny to kids. But grownups didn’t teach it to them. They had something more significant to impart: stories to help children prepare for the world they were growing into.