Lol ok RT @doug_hanks: @Skraw_Berry Thanks Skraw_Berry. Check out tomorrow’s People page in the Herald for the final write-up.

— I’m A CELEBRITY™ (@Skraw_Berry) January 30, 2012

‘Who is Newt Gingrich?’ asked Skrawberry, a 26-year-old Miami stripper occupying a back table at Jerry’s Famous Deli during the live broadcast. She and friends gathered there for a post-clubbing breakfast, drinking from a $450 bottle of Moet pink champagne left over from their night at the Fontainebleau’s LIV.

On the web, usually pictures trounce words, and yesterday’s picture of talking head TV crews overlapping with South Beach nightlife at dawn was pretty choice, but actually the written story is even more hysterical and great. If only it was like 3000 words longer! Oh wait, GOOD NEWS: Here is a nice long interview, in which Skrawberry (and her lady pal, Tipdrill) explains her actually quite reasonable politics. (“Make sure everybody’s eating before you build a fucking casino downtown.” WORD. SKRAWBERRY FOR PRESIDENT. That is what I’m saying.) Anyway, happy Florida Primary Day! Because after this, it’s the Nevada caucus, which, blech.

Previously: Office Colds And The Heroes Who Perpetuate Them, How To Write A Satirical Pop Culture Book Sold At Urban Outfitters and A Field Guide To Your Office Nemesis

Jon Methven is the author of This Is Your Captain Speaking, due out in 2012 by Simon & Schuster. He can be reached here, or follow him on Twitter @jonmethven.

Max Rivlin-Nadler, who recently wrote for us about the National Funeral Directors Conference, talks to New Hampshire Public Radio about the way we are laid to rest now.

“Design aside, you’ve got to question the capacity. The pint is too much. These colossal containers made sense back when Britain was a manufacturing power and when sweaty browed folk could quaff large quantities of liquid (often around 3–4% ABV) after a hard day hitting stuff, building things and generally working up a mighty thirst. But they’re outdated in a nation where more people work in marketing and PR than manufacturing, where the majority of construction lies in building the hopes of deluded reality TV contestants or mountains of debt. Why don’t we drink smaller measures? The pint really is an absurd amount of liquid when you think about it. That the only other drink sold in pints is milk says it all. Lovingly crafted beer shouldn’t be classified as a commodity like semi-skimmed — it’s a quality artisan product deserving of reverence equal to wine and spirits.”
 — Man, they are gonna carve this guy up and throw the little bits left of him into the pond. [Via]

Barack Obama is big into the fist-bumping.

“Why do we laugh at ducks?

Why do we find them funny? Did Walt Disney choose Donald Duck as a cartoon character because ducks are inherently comic, or do ducks seem all the more comical because of the creation of Donald Duck?… Because ducks are fat? Is it because we eat them? (At least, some of us do). Is it because of both attributes combined, so that when we look upon them and see how bulbous-bodied they are, we somewhere deep in our minds — at least, the carnivores amongst us — cannot help seeing them upside down on a plate, and so cannot take them seriously as living beings?”
 — Well? IS IT?

Photo by Vasyl Helevachuk, via Shutterstock

“Women in the northern German town of Lüchow have expressed their dissatisfaction with the design of two urinals in the men’s toilet of a museum dedicated to the Rolling Stones. They are shaped like red lips, similar to the legendary logo of the band, but they look more feminine, and they lack tongues. Local activist Roda Armbruster wants the urinals removed. ‘That’s discrimination against women,’ she told regional broadcaster NDR. ‘Why does it have to be a woman’s mouth? If it had been based on the emblem of the Stones with the tongue, it would have been OK. But the tongue’s been left out and they really looks like women’s mouths.’”

We hear a lot about the teams that play in power conferences like the Big East, Big 10 and the ACC. Stronger teams from the mid-major conferences often get overlooked — which is too bad as many of them would present strong competition given the opportunity.

In basketball, unlike football, a single talented player can be the difference between a competitive team and a truly dangerous one. When a lower-profile program manages to end up with either a superior, pro-caliber player or more than one guy who could suit up at a high major program, that team goes from an upset possibility to a potential Sweet 16 team.

With a look ahead to the next month or so of games, here are several players and programs from the mid-majors worth keeping an eye on.

Doug McDermott And Creighton
When then-Iowa State head coach Greg McDermott chose to leave his Big 10 job for Creighton, which plays in the Missouri Valley Conference, it definitely caught people’s attention. It’s rare for coaches to willingly leave a major conference job, even a tough one, for a lower profile position. But after struggling to get Iowa State turned around, Creighton offered McDermott the chance to start over with a ten-year contract and, even more importantly, the opportunity to coach his son, Doug.

No one could have guessed at the time that Doug McDermott would turn out to be such a terrific player. ‘The Dougie,’ as a few cheeky jock pundits have come to call him, has been among the nation’s top players all season long; he’s now starting to attract the kind of attention last season’s trendy mid-major star, Jimmer Fredette, did. The younger McDermott’s performance merits the hype: He’s been shooting over 60% from the field and an astounding 50% from beyond the three-point line. McDermott is the nation’s third leading scorer, at over 23 a contest, and is on pace to appear on nearly all of this season’s All-American lists.

The emergence of Doug McDermott as a force to be reckoned with has, unsurprisingly, also been a boon to the Bluejays, who sit at 20–2 and 10–1 in the very viable Missouri Valley. But it’s not just McDermott’s play that has Creighton ranked in the nation’s top 15. Rutgers transfer Gregory Echenique, a burly 6’9” forward from Venezuela, has anchored the low post for Creighton, hauling in almost eight boards a contest. With two players of that caliber on his team, coach McDermott’s decision is looking smarter all the time.

The St. Mary’s Gaels
Each year, a few Australian high-school basketball stars come to the United States, and ach year, it seems at least a few of them decide to matriculate at tiny St. Mary’s College of California. Maybe it’s the sunny locale or just the chance to assimilate alongside fellow countrymen, but whatever the reason, the Gaels’ Down Under connection has been hugely helpful on the basketball court.

weak on power conference teams — the Gaels…
This season, St. Mary’s is 21–2 with a win over West Coast Conference rival Gonzaga, and they’re currently ranked 16th in the country. Certainly, their schedule’s been weak weak on power conference teams — the Gaels lost to Baylor in their only real test — but on balance St. Mary’s looks like a solid team.

The Gaels definitely pass the eye test. Surrounding Australian floor leader Matthew Dellavedova are capable players in center Rob Jones (non-Aussie) and Jorden Page (Aussie), as well as shooters Clint Steindl (Aussie) and Stephen Holt (non-Aussie). They’re balanced on offense, have scoring in the paint and can stretch defenses with shooters. In fact, the Gaels have five players who have hit at least 20 three-pointers already this season, including Jones, the center. A year-in, year-out well-coached team, SMC also has tournament experience, having reached the Sweet 16 in 2010.

Of course, there’s plenty of basketball left for St. Mary’s to play. A February 9 game at Gonzaga could determine the conference’s regular season champion, and will set up what’s bound to be a slog through the always-entertaining WCC postseason tournament.

The Nevada Wolf Pack
After a few down years, the Nevada Wolf Pack is again among the best teams in the West. This year’s edition has now run off 15 wins in a row and remains undefeated in the Western Athletic Conference.

For a mid-major conference team, Nevada is blessed with an abundance of quality Division 1 players, in part thanks to transfers. Senior forward Olek Czyk (Duke) and junior guard Malik Story (Indiana) have formed a strong core with recruits Deonte Burton and Dario Hunt. Czyk is a versatile forward with shooting ability, and Story has hit 48% of his three-pointers to date. Sophomore point guard Burton keeps the offense flowing, leading the team in scoring and assists, while Hunt snares in almost 10 rebounds a game.

The WAC isn’t exactly a murderer’s row this season, but Nevada does have a 76–73 overtime defeat of Washington to hang its hat on. But despite that win, the Wolf Pack must likely take home the WAC conference title to take any questions about NCAA tournament fitness off the table entirely. If they do reach the NCAA tournament, expect Nevada to be a difficult 7–10 seed type, capable of stopping a lesser major conference team and even winning a second round game as well.

Will Barton and Memphis
When preseason top-15 Memphis lost at Georgetown just before Christmas, most prognosticators dubbed the then 6–5 Tigers among the country’s most disappointing squads. But young coach Josh Pastner and his team have overcome their rough start and rebounded nicely, winning nine of their last ten games.

But all of those non-conference losses do complicate Memphis’ NCAA profile. It’s unlikely that Conference USA will be more than a two-bid league this season and, like Nevada in the WAC, Memphis would do well to take any decision-making out of the equation.

The principal weapon for the Tigers is sophomore guard Will Barton, a 6’6” stringbean who’s also a surprisingly strong rebounder. Barton paces the Tigers with 18-plus points per game as well as more than eight rebounds per outing. He’s taken his game up a notch in recent weeks as well, topping 24 points in three of his last four games and snaring eight or more rebounds in six of the team’s last seven. This has been critical for Memphis, who lost talented freshman forward Adonis Thomas to injury for the season.

With only one more out-of-conference match-up (Xavier) left to strut its stuff, Memphis must take care of business in Conference USA down the stretch. The Tigers have more than enough talent, thanks to Pastner who is an ace recruiter, but the season’s ultimate outcome will likely hinge on the lanky frame of Barton, a potential star in the making.

In college basketball, having a true go-to star can make all the difference, whether it’s in helping navigate a three- or four-game conference tournament or, having earned a bid, taking a team on his back for a game or two (or more) come mid March. Here’s guessing some of the folks listed above will do just that.

Originally from Kentucky, Joshua Lars Weill now writes from Washington, DC. His take on things can be found at Agonica and on Twitter. Photo by Devin Sizemore Photography, via Flickr.

“16 percent of Gen Y report they have made an online purchase while in the bathroom.”

Rabbit Olympics!