One shouldn't laugh at the notion of a narcoleptic poodle. But one does.

[Narcolepsy] is more common in humans but has been documented in some dogs, horses, ponies and a single Brahman bull. It is caused by a disconnect between the normal sleep-wake cycle, triggered by excitement that causes the afflicted to go from being awake straight into a deep sleep. In humans, strong emotion triggers attacks, and dogs have strong emotions about eating, said Rowntree [veterinarian to the dog, Skeeter].

It's true. Wheat grass kills.

Prosecutors say the Andressohns starved the baby to death by feeding her a diet of wheat grass, coconut water and almond milk. The couple is also charged with neglect in the treatment and feeding of their other four children, who have been living with a relative under state supervision.

I wondered a couple of things with this. One, is why, if you were so obsessed with natural foods that you became a raw foodist, you wouldn't breast feed your baby. And two, is why soy-based baby formulas -- vegetarian and served, uh, more or less raw -- wouldn't be acceptable. My conclusion: raw foodists are crazy. Which is sort of what I thought anyway.

Death Cab for Cutie. They're a Bellingham band! Well, sorta.

Gibbard formed Death Cab for Cutie with Western Washington University classmates Walla and Harmer in 1997, their last year of college, and he's still explaining the band name -- taken from a song performed by the British combo Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band in the Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour" film -- to his grandmother.

"I was a fan of the non sequitur," Gibbard says <..> "The problem is it doesn't roll off the tongue very well. You have to say it 15 times. If we pull up in a truck stop and someone asks, 'What band are you?' I just say Slayer."

They are a pretty good example of a modern trend that I like to call "sad rock." Not angry or despairing or even depressed, really. Just sort of...sad. Wistful. Kind of slow and quiet, but not exactly easy listening. Sad like a rainy day by the ocean.

Cafe of the World : New Orleans' Cafe Du Monde, the French Market location famous for its beignets and coffee, reopened on 19 October for the first time since August 27 when it closed as Hurricane Katrina approached.

I haven't talked about the Kashmir earthquake yet. I think I probably am suffering from disaster fatigue, plus, I've never been to Kashmir, I wasn't planning a trip to Kashmir, and I don't know anyone from Kashmir. Which makes everything horrible, but abstract. (Although now I can never hear that Led Zeppelin song without thinking about it.) But when I read this, Death toll in Asian quake soars to 79,000 and realized -- that's like -- if the entire population of Bellingham plus 12,000 people from out in the county, were all killed. Just like in Footfall, only real. So when I read that I walked around for a while picturing every single person I saw suddenly dead.

I guess I'll end on that sobering note.