samhexum

'Matlock': Watch it or don't watch it. I leave in May." Colbert has no effs left to give

And speaking of sweetness... Have you ever tried making a strawberry dessert to satisfy your sweet tooth, only to end up with something disappointingly bland? It's not you; it's the strawberries. According to a 2021 study published in Horticulture Research (via Oxford Academic), participants said most strawberries they tasted weren't sweet enough. This isn't a case of underperforming strawberry farms, either — it's all by design. Back in 2012, Marvin Pritts, a horticulture professor from Cornell University, dropped by NPR's "All Things Considered" podcast to explain why store-bought strawberries were getting blander. Basically, strawberries have been bred over the past few decades to enhance desirable traits, including size, yield, color, and hardiness. Flavor just so happened to be less of a priority when it came to these breeding programs, which is probably why overall sweetness ended up becoming such a huge difference between store-bought strawberries and wild ones. Commerce plays a role, too. Store-bought strawberries often have to travel long distances to make it to local groceries, so some experts recommend helping them last longer by harvesting them while they still have white tips, before they're fully ripe. The problem with this is the idea that strawberries continue to ripen after harvesting is one of the biggest false facts about strawberries out there. While a 1998 study in Acta Horticulturae (via Research Gate) found strawberries can sometimes get redder after picking, they also stop ripening, which means underripe strawberries don't get any sweeter. The main reason growers prioritize sweetness less in strawberries these days It all boils down to capitalism. Strawberry growers earn a living by selling fruit, so they need to prioritize the qualities that get people to buy. A 2017 study published in Agribusiness found that people who bought strawberries could be classified into three groups based on their preferences for the fruit's traits. The largest group, which comprised more than 65% of participants, preferred buying strawberries with brighter colors, larger sizes, firmer textures, and more intense flavors. Another group specifically prioritized size, external color, and texture over flavor and internal color. Why do size, external color, and texture matter so much? Because these are the three qualities we can examine without even opening the package. A 2024 study in the peer-reviewed journal Foods (via MDPI) found that a strawberry's appearance played the biggest role in getting people to buy them. We equate a strawberry's freshness and flavor with how big it is, how red it is, and how firm it appears. Since we usually can't taste the strawberries before buying them, their looks are all we have to go on. During a 2020 online workshop with the Snohomish County Fruit Society, Marvin Pritts explained that strawberry growers in California and Florida decided to prioritize size and yield when it came to their fruits because that's what the market wanted; flavor was secondary to appearance and availability. As of 2021, the USDA reported that 98% of all strawberries grown in the U.S. come from California and Florida, so the odds of you buying these looks-over-taste strawberries are pretty high. Tips for buying sweeter strawberries Since most commercial strawberries were bred for their appearance, you have to rely on other qualities to find the sweetest. One thing you can do is check the packaging to see if they're fungicide- and pesticide-free. Not only did a 2023 study in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry (via ACS Publications) find that two common fungicides reduce the sugar content of strawberries, but a separate 2019 study in Scientific Reports (via Nature) showed that strawberries grew sweeter after researchers simulated insect damage on their leaves. Turns out, strawberries' defense mechanisms against pests also led to increased sugar production. You can also try to smell the strawberries. According to a 1989 study in Chemical Senses (via Apa PsycNet), scientists found that a stronger strawberry aroma made taste testers perceive a simulated strawberry solution as sweeter. You can essentially trick your brain into thinking your strawberries have more sugar in them by getting the most fragrant ones. Lastly, you can look for strawberries grown outside California and Florida. New Jersey is a good place to start; in 2022, researchers at Rutgers University unveiled the Rutgers D'Light, a special breed of strawberry that took 15 years to develop. It was bred to have the ideal balance of sweetness, acidity, and fragrance that make for a flavorful strawberry. If you're willing to drop $20 on an eight-pack, you can also try Oishii's Omakase strawberries; these luxury strawberries are grown under highly controlled conditions to boost their flavor, and the high-tech farm they're from happens to be in New Jersey, too.

https://www.aol.com/articles/bad-news-youre-probably-wiping-163422916.html The preferred method of wiping “is not wiping,” nationally renowned anal surgeon Dr. Evan Goldstein told Raj Punjabi and Noah Michelson, co-hosts of HuffPost’s “Am I Doing It Wrong?” podcast. “When you’re looking at someone’s [anus], to the left and the right are these wrinkles ― it’s like an accordion. It opens. It closes,” said Goldstein, who is also the CEO and founder of Bespoke Surgical. “The front and the back ― towards the vagina, towards the penis and testicle area, or the tailbone, the skin there is not wrinkled. It’s very thin. When we wipe, where do we wipe? Usually front to back — thin skin! We all wipe so much, so what happens over time? People tear the skin. It gets irritated. It gets angry at us.” Instead of wiping, Goldstein suggested cleaning the area without toilet paper. “I’m a huge bidet [fan],” he told us, because it can thoroughly wash the anus without harming it. He also recommended a quick shower or rinse if you don’t own a bidet. “You always want to make sure you’re drying yourself,” he added, because moisture in that area can cause irritation. This is one of the reasons why he is firmly anti-wet wipes. “They are so terrible — not only for the environment, but for your hole,” he said. “There’s so many companies out there throwing wipes and I think they should all be banned. I see 90 people a week [in my surgical office], and I would say one-third of all the people coming through are coming in from wet wipe-induced issues.” That’s because using them can change the microbiome of that area of the body. “Think about it — we have good bacteria, we have bad bacteria, but they are in homeostasis. They are in equilibrium. Wet wipes **** that in a really bad way,” Goldstein said. “I see ridiculous dermatitis [in my patients] ... bacterial infections. ... Now that you’ve messed up that microbiome, it’s causing so many problems.” If you are going to wipe using toilet paper, he recommended more of a “blot” than a wipe and doing it in a “standing squat,” because there’s less blood flowing to that part of the body when you’re standing. And that means less potentially problem-causing pressure on the delicate area. “The longer you’re sitting on the bowl, the more blood [down there], the more wiping, the more irritation. The body senses that,” Goldstein said. Instead, we want to get vertical again as soon as possible to relieve that pressure. “So, you poop, wipe once or twice [while seated], finish standing up. Why? The blood starts to leave [when you stand up]. The mechanism starts to go back to the normal, daily [position],” Goldstein said. “There are some people that it’s harder [to wipe] when they’re standing,” he noted. “They don’t feel like they’re getting the full hole. ... But we don’t need to go all up in there. If you are going all up in there, we need to go back to diet and fiber and pre- and probiotics, and thinking about better strategies. I always say, ‘It’s not butt health; it’s gut health.’ If you have gut health, you will automatically have butt health.” Goldstein also chatted about why squatting is the best position for pooping, what a perfect poop should look like and much more. For more from Goldstein, visit his website or his Instagram page, and check out Future Method’s Butt & Gut Daily Fiber.

When Shane starts dating Rose and appearing on social media the teammate who shows it to Ilya and makes crude comments then is reading the room service menu when Ilya says he needs to go out and get laid was played by the only female to male transgender pro player. He played three seasons in the women's pro league then transitioned and played minor league hockey. Btw, there is one 'out' minor league player but he is not a prospect.

On tonight's second episode of Family Guy (at 9:30) Peter and the guys have an adventure.

and my phone says 8-9 inches Monday of NEXT week after 14-17 in the next 24 hours!

A FILM THAT BREAKS THE MOLD! Joris was 11 1/2 when his dad died.

JUST FRIENDS... 2019... A Syrian man meets a Dutch guy when he gets a job cleaning his grandma's house. On Prime... I enjoyed it. Both are attractive... not that I'm shallow enough to care about that sort of thing, of course. A REVIEW I FOUND: Dutch actors Majd Mardo and Josha Stradowski deliver strong, remarkable performances as the male leads Yad and Joris respectively. Veteran actress Jenny Arean as the grandmother is wonderful in every scene that she is in. Joris (Josha StradowskI) is trying to come to terms with his broken family relationships on the tenth anniversary of his father’s death when he meets the free-spirited, Yad, who is a windsurfing instructor. Also dealing with family issues, Yad has returned home to Holland after living on his own. Joris and Yad spark an instant connection and decide they want to be more than “just friends,” to quote the title, but fear their families could threaten their relationship, especially their overbearing mothers. Throughout the movie, it is neat to watch Joris evolve from an introvert to more of an extrovert thanks to the help of Yad. This seductive and flirty romantic comedy goes beyond the usual young LGBTQ love story with the family dynamics and values that are illustrated in the film. Overall, “Just Friends” is a movie with a lot of heart to it. Stradowski, Mardo, and Arean give terrific performances and the rest of the cast is memorable. Compliments to Annemarie van de Mond for directing such a poignant film, and to Henk Burger for his solid screenplay. “Just Friends” garners two giant thumbs up. Well done.

WHO SAID GENERATION Z IS LAZY? WHAT AN ENTREPRENEUR! (or entremanure, as Archie Bunker would've said) An 18-year-old Pennsylvania high school student was arrested Friday after authorities accused him of running a massive “catfishing” and “sextortion” scheme that involved more than 20 underage victims. Zachariah Abraham Meyers, a student at Peters Township High School in McMurray, faces over 300 felony counts of trafficking in minors, sexual extortion, intercept communications, corruption of minors, child sexual abuse material, unlawful contact with a minor, sexual exploitation of children, and criminal use of communication facility. A criminal complaint alleges that Meyers instructed the juveniles to produce and disseminate explicit images and videos of themselves, requested them to “engage in prohibited sexual acts,” and demanded $500 from two of the victims in exchange for him not sharing the explicit material. The victims ranged in age from 14 to 17, according to the court documents. When one of the victims allegedly ignored Meyers’ demands to pay the $500, the victim’s sister received an Instagram message containing a naked photo of the boy, according to the complaint. Meyers is being held without bail, court records show. Attorney information was not available for him. Peters Township School District said it was made aware of the investigation earlier Friday. “The Police have indicated that there is no immediate safety risk to our schools, and we will continue to cooperate fully with the investigation,” a spokesperson said. “The safety and well-being of our students, staff, and families remain our highest priority, and we appreciate all the efforts of the Peters Township Police in this matter.” The criminal complaint alleges that Meyers coerced another victim, who is 15, to pose as an adult on “adult LGBTQ dating applications” to “engage in specific sexual acts with adult men.” Meyers allegedly instructed the teen to record the acts, the complaint says. The victim told Meyers multiple times that he did not want to engage in the acts, it says. Meyers is also accused of coercing the 15-year-old into recording the high school’s wrestling team, the complaint alleges. It says that the victim secretly recorded the locker room on six occasions, and the videos show the team “in various states of undress, including having only underwear on.” Police were alerted to the scheme in December, according to an affidavit of probable cause. Court documents identified 22 victims. Investigators said a majority of the juveniles were victimized over social media, including TikTok and Snapchat. Meyers allegedly hid behind phony profiles of an Arizona man, a female adult film star from the Netherlands, and an unidentified woman, the affidavit says. “All but one of the juveniles believed they were communicating with an attractive young female,” authorities said.

I love Toni Collette and was gonna watch it last year but never got around to it. My best friend liked it, I think.

There are restaurants you eat at, restaurants you remember, and then there are the ones that are a bit of both. Your perception of TGI Fridays may be leaning towards the reminiscent category, but the casual dining mainstay is looking to turn things around. Back in the day, Fridays made its bones in casual dining. A trip to Fridays was easy to come by via the local mall, and it was a choice spot for social occasions. It's known for an Americana atmosphere: red-and-white striped awnings, its famed potato skins served by the plateful, and Jack Daniel's grill glaze coating everything from salmon to ribs. Fridays had around 600 locations at their peak in 2008, only to spend years as one of the burger chains disappearing around the country. After Fridays announced news of pandemic-era closures, it was clear that the chain, once ubiquitous in shopping plazas and huge tourist centers, was barely hanging on. By early 2026, Fridays was among the once-struggling restaurant chains planning a big comeback, but how does the company expect to pull it off? As reported by PR Newswire, Fridays made a bold statement with its "1-2-3 Strategic Vision," led by CEO Ray Blanchette. If the vision takes hold, Fridays will grow to 1,000 restaurants worldwide and earn $2 billion in annual revenue by 2030. These are lofty goals, yes, but they would bring the brand closer to the comfort of its heyday. "TGI Fridays pioneered the casual bar and grill category and continues to introduce Americana culture to millions around the world," said CEO Ray Blanchette. "Our focus as we accelerate our growth is to resonate with the next generation of consumers." Interestingly, Fridays' "1-2-3 Strategic Vision" actually has four main points according to PR Newswire: "activating the brand, flexible growth across markets, strengthening the franchise system, and fueling performance through people." The 1-2-3 Strategic vision could surely apply to any struggling chain in need of a refresh, but what does it actually mean for Fridays? Capitalizing on promotions that worked in the past is one place the chain plans to start. In November 2025, Fridays launched TGI Elf Days, an immersive holiday-themed event that went on for nearly two months. During that time, guests could enjoy menu specials, movie nights, and opportunities to win prizes. It was a major success, and one the company hopes to build upon. Fridays also plans to invest in training programs and performance initiatives for its employees. Fridays' vision is good news for those of us who need a little, albeit corporatized, taste of Americana every once in a while. And thank goodness it's Fridays making a comeback — because we'll gladly enjoy some of those perfectly palatable loaded potato skins.

* Chelsea Handler is set to star in "Townhouse," a comedy series in the works at Hulu, according to Deadline. She'll play a washed-up reality star who "is confronted with the one role she's spent her entire life avoiding: motherhood" when her estranged daughter moves into her crumbling Manhattan townhouse. Read More: https://www.tvline.com/2105669/percy-jackson-season-3-cast-ming-na-wen-hera/

Strange episode this week but I liked it

You obviously led a very sheltered life, dear.

Burak Ates 31 years•Zurich (CH) Gender: male Year of birth 1994 (31 years) Play age 27-35 years Place of birth: Switzerland / Solothurn Turkish nationality , Swiss (Main) profession actor Housing options: Zurich (CH), Berlin (DE), Istanbul (TR) Driving licenses B - Car Eye color: brown Hair color : dark brown Boy (cm)176 DillerGerman, Turkish, some English DialectsHigh GermanSwiss German(Home dialect)Berndeutsch(Home dialect)Solothurn(Home dialect) accentSwitzerland Sports Lifting weights,CrossFit,Football,swim Saha baritone Special talentsdisk jokey

Hudson Williams says he’s received anonymous messages from closeted professional athletes, including hockey players, in the wake of the show’s recent success. “Hockey players, football players, basketball players,” Williams told Andy Cohen in an interview on Sirius XM Radio that aired Thursday. “They’re reaching out to (author Rachel Reid), who will then relay these lovely, anonymous emails. Sometimes they’re just reaching out privately through Instagram. Those ones are the ones that really just kind of hit you and go, ‘Oh, this is a fun show. It’s celebratory.’ But also, sometimes, it’s just hitting people right in the nerve.”

BEYTO is a cute Turkish man who moved to Switzerland with his family when he was six. When he falls in love with a man named Mike his parents trick him into visiting their old village where they have set up an arranged marriage with a childhood friend. It's sad but I liked it. The movie is on Prime if you have it. It is on YouTube as well but you'll have to sit through so many ad breaks you'll rather be forced into an arranged marriage than sit through even one more.

I also love his accent. He talks about his feelings around the 11:00 mark. Born 13 February 1988(age 38) Batley, West Yorkshire, England Height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Weight 19 st 3 lb (122 kg)

In 2015, this gorgeous 6'5 slab of beef became the first British professional rugby league player to come out as gay. they've broken up. He's currently single.

This guy's been popping up on my YouTube feed recently. He's hot. Hasan Doğan Piker[a] (born July 25, 1991), also known by the online name HasanAbi, is an American online streamer, influencer, and left-wing political commentator. His streams typically consist of political and social commentary, and media consumption.[3] As of 2026, Piker is the 30th most subscribed channel on the streaming platform Twitch.[4] Piker has been described as one of the biggest voices on the U.S. left.[5] Piker started streaming on Twitch in March 2018 while working at The Young Turks. A THIRST TRAP VIDEO: https://www.tiktok.com/@litupemma/video/7479498023152782623

I'm not one to watch many movies but with many network shows on hiatus and the NBA just having had its all-star weekend (which bores the $&@? out of me) I've been on a gay romance flick kick. In ESTEROS, a man agrees to let his girlfriend's makeup artist friend turn them into zombies for a costume party. Of course the friend is the boy he was in love with when he was 13. The movie takes place in two timelines, telling the story of then and now. It's not spectacular but it passed the time (especially at 1.25X).

How UnAmerican of you!

I just watched this Israeli film and the Palestinian psych student told the Israeli lawyer that his father died when he was 12. What's up with characters in gay romances losing parents when they are 12? The film was very sad but good.