Monday randomness

First, some good stuff from the New York Times opinion page:

• Maureen Dowd turns her column over to Stephen Colbert
• Paul Krugman offers an explanation for the right-wing anti-Gore hysteria
• Thomas Friedman writes on how George W. Bush wasted his presidency

Came across this item in a Washington Times blog (via Pitchfork)—it looks like there's at least one Radiohead fan in the White House: deputy press secretary Tony Fratto, who said he plans to buy the new album. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe and deputy press secretary Scott Stanzel are at least aware the band exists (Stanzel called himself an "appreciator" of their music, while Johndroe is "90 percent sure" he has some Radiohead songs on his iPod...but definitely none from Hail to the Thief).

Then, there's press secretary Dana Perino: "I don't even know what that is . . . Is that a band?"

Seriously? The woman is 35 years old, which would've made her 21 when Pablo Honey came out in 1993. Meanwhile, I was an uncool 10-year-old whose limited exposure to music involved my parents' Beatles, Carpenters, and Beach Boys records, and even I had heard of Radiohead.

There's a new study out that says it's your fault if your kid's a picky eater. According to the NYT article, 78 percent is genetic and the other 22 percent is environmental.

Worst among the horror stories: parents who changed their vacation plans because they were afraid their 11-year old wouldn't like the food in Prague.

An editor at Bon Appétit magazine mentioned how his 3-year-old son will eat only "brown food," while his 6-year-old daughter is an "omnivore's dream child." It's interesting how it works that way. As a child, my favorite food was broccoli and I ate pretty much everything my parents put on my plate (although there was a month-long streak in first grade when I insisted on tuna salad sandwiches for lunch). My brother Daniel was the same way. And then came Timothy, who used to be the 3-year-old who would only eat brown food (and carbs and sugar) and is now the 15-year-old who will only eat brown food (and carbs and sugar) with the occasional lettuce leaf.

Finally—it seems like there have been a lot of pumpkin-related stories in the news (pumpkin chucking, growing giant pumpkins, 1,524-pound contest-winning pumpkin). Mmm, pumpkins. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin bread...I'm like the Bubba Gump of pumpkins. Can't forget pumpkin carving, either. When I was in college, I carved Conan O'Brien's face on a pumpkin...only to get it stolen right off our front porch. How dirty is that?