The hot hot ladies of the Washington Redskins cheer squad are in India shaking their shapely hips in those short shorts, matching go-go boots and bikini tops. Needless to say male fans were left salivating for more, our culture guardians gasping at the "vulgarity", purists demanding that the "Indian" sport be spared of such cheap thrills, and some fence sitters (me included) wondering and analyzing to no end what this all means and if all this fuss is warranted. Background: The American squad is cheering for the Bangalore Royal Challengers , one of the eight cricket teams of the newly-formed , flush-with-funds, Indian Premier League. [The Royal Challengers, incidentally, is owned by Vijay 'King of Good Times' Mallya, the liquor baron who also owns Kingfisher Airlines of the "red skirt" fame that our very own Elana Centor blogged about .] The IPL is similar to the American NFL or the British (soccer) Premier League, and is backed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India as well as the International Cricket Council. Players are drawn from across the cricketing world through a bidding process -- a first for international cricket. The teams are owned by just about anyone with big bucks -- from Bollywood superstars to industrialists to media houses. The format follows the new, shorter version of the game, popularly called the Twenty20 or T20 , and is packed with entertainment. It has appropriately been nicknamed "cricket on crack" :) [ I'd like to clarify the cliche about the game that repeatedly appears in the media here -- T20 is the shortest of the three popularly played versions of the game -- (i) the Test matches -- which are considered the real test of athleticism and tenacity by players and purists alike -- can run up to five days, (ii) the highly popular one-dayers, where the game wraps up in a six-hour day of play (the traditional World Cup is played in this format), and (iii) the latest fast-paced T20, that takes up half the time. So, cricket is NOT making a direct jump for the five-day format to T20. And for many of us who love the game, it does not put us to sleep, despite its length. Had it been so, cricket, a primarily British game, would have died in India a long time ago. ] And then the cheerleaders arrived .  read more »

Menu for Hope 4 kicks off today and in case you didn't know, this fabulous charity event that is the brainchild of Chez Pim and involves food bloggers (and others) from around the world each donating something to be raffled off on-line for charity . This year's campaign will run from the 10th to the 21st of December 2007. We are supporting the WFP's school feeding programme provides a daily nutritious meal to nearly 150,000 school kids in Lesotho, many of them orphans. After five years of drought, it is estimated that disease and malnutrition in Lesotho claim the lives of one in 12 children before they reach the age of five. Chronic and persistent vulnerability prevails in Lesotho. The kingdom is confronting the triple threat of increasing chronic poverty, rising HIV/AIDS rates and weakened government capacity. This threat takes a heavy toll on the households of the rural poor in Lesotho, who are faced with a limited number of coping strategies to respond to the intensifying hazard. 56% of the population live on less then $2 per day. Think about that. That's less than a pound. However many raffle tickets you buy, you will be greatly improving the lot of these school children and contribute to giving them a fair chance in life they so dearly deserve. Below is a list of all prizes sponsored by foodbloggers and associated restaurants and companies in the UK. The global list of prizes is hosted on Chez Pim . For details on how to donate, please read on.  read more »

Many questions have plagued humankind for eons: Are we alone in the universe? Does god exist? What is the meaning of life? What is the difference between English muffins and crumpets? Well folks, after a day of research and experimentation, I have the answer to one of those. No, not the first three - I took the tough one: English muffins v. crumpets. One might wonder how dull my day was to spend it hunting down the answer to such a question, and one might be right. In my defense, however, that's not what I started out to do...kitchenmage

Eric Akis' Skillet Mac and Cheese (yes, I know, I used penne and I served it in ramekins; I am quirky like that). It is interesting how the world works sometimes. Just before our household grew from three to four , I was offered the opportunity to review not one, but two books on the subject of quick meals for busy cooks. Everyone seems to be talking about how hard it is to find the time to cook.  read more »

Gender-based abortions in India is no longer the man-bites-dog breaking news story. It's such a pervasive  practice that it probably doesn't outrage us enough to tackle it on a war footing. It is recognized as a problem by law, it makes some men shift in their seats and many women unhappy. In other words, it runs the risk of becoming just another addition to the endless list of gender issues that we know the country needs to deal with, and hope that time and a robust economy will drive it to its natural death.

After weeks of "restraint" and insistence that Tibet was China's internal problem, India was put off this week, just a wee bit. China summoned her ambassador at 2 a m to hand over details of protests that exiled Tibetans were allegedly planning in India. India immediately called off a high-level commerce-related visit to China. The government has denied that the 2 a m call had anything to do with it and blamed it on a scheduling problem . India will also go ahead with its plans for a pomp-and-show inauguration of its first tourism office in Beijing in July. India has remained remarkably tight-lipped and low-key about Tibet, insisting that Tibet was an integral part of China and that India would not allow any "anti-China" activities on its soil.  read more »

I'm sorry we had to delay the announcement of the winners of Menu for Hope raffle for a couple of days.  I'm sure you've all been on pins and needles, but before I get to the prizes, I'd like to take a bit of time to thank a number of people without whom our Menu for Hope campaign would not have been such a smashing success. This year, Menu for Hope raised $91,188.00.  It's a 50% increase from the total of last year.  That's just mind-blowing, isn't it?  read more »

From the people who brought you The Week in Craig, one of the all time great uses of the internet, comes The Week in Yelp, wherein Amy Blair takes aim at the ridiculousness that is the world of Yelp. Her...Lesley

From the people who brought you The Week in Craig, one of the all time great uses of the internet, comes The Week in Yelp, wherein Amy Blair takes aim at the ridiculousness that is the world of Yelp. Her...BL