The Onion unpeels another layer

The Onion is best known as a spoof newspaper, with a lesser known spinoff book series and radio clips. 

Now comes a weekly half-hour TV version of the brand, the Onion News Network. This spoof of TV news (mission statement: "A tomahawk of honesty in the skull of lies") is currently broadcast on the IFC cable channel. 

As with the newspaper, website, books and radio show, there are some dud jokes that fall flat. But for the most part, ONN is a spot-on spoof of local and national news.

The spoofs start from the get-go, with a bombastic, sound-effect heavy intro that weaves in the ridiculous (images of digital fingerprints, ala "CSI"). "Anchors" spoof the latest in overwrought broadcast TV gadgets, such as touchscreen pinch-and-zoom monitors that look good but add little to the storytelling. ONN cut no corners when it comes to production values. 

Actress Suzanne Sena plays anchor "Brooke Alvarez" perfectly. Sena has a real-life TV background so she knows the ins and outs of the business. She's perfect as ONN's caustic voice of reason, regularly chastising ONN reporters, sources and viewers for being mere shadows of her greatness. 

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A bike ride few of us have the guts to try

Mountain bicyclist Filip Polc gives us a rider's view as he speeds down the streets of Valparaiso, Chile. 

Talk about having a pair of big ones. Some of the holes he worms through at high speed are pretty tight. Wonder how many takes it took to get one clean shot?

The power of poop

I can't make this stuff up. 

Freakonomics -- the books, the blog, the podcast -- is often the source of enlightenment for me but this "Power of Poop" episode hit a new high for me. The topic: fecal transplants, and how they can be used to fight diseases like multiple sclerosis. 

I usually don't give these kinds of medical-miracle stories much credence and this topic is certainly high on the gross factor, but being close to someone with MS can make you set that skepticism aside. And the Freakonomics guys do a nice job of addressing the expected listener reaction with a nice dose of humor.

There's still no rigorous research that proves without a doubt this crazy medical treatment works, but given Dr. Thomas Borod's success in treating a variety of patients and ailments, the effectiveness of fecal transplants are certainly worth more research.

Brody has experienced backlash from fellow doctors for his work, but he takes it in stride, saying skeptics decried the research that led to the pasteurization of milk and treatment of smallpox.

" ... even now my colleagues would avoid talking about this or meeting me at conferences, although this is changing, "Borod told Freakonimics. "I’ve just had an invitation to speak at an international conference about fecal transplantation, that’s state of the art. So I think we might be turning a new leaf, and I think we should, with poo especially."