the buzz log

Getting jabbed with a needle normally isn't something people look forward to. But, as H1N1 makes its way back to North America after a whirlwind global sweep, people have been scouring online to find where to get their dose of prevention. Even without a swine flu vaccine at the ready, the early awareness might help avoid the winter sniffles—or worse. Below, some signs of health:

Doing Shots  
Usually, searches for "flu shots" don't start until September, but quite a few people are spending their last days of summer looking for "flu shot clinics" and "flu shot locator," as well as updates on the "swine flu vaccine." Many had already checked government cautions (“cdc swine flu” and “flu.gov”) before President Barack Obama stepped in front of cameras Tuesday to remind people to wash their hands. (Yup, people already on top of that: "Hand sanitizer" queries are up 50%)

Could be too late for some:  Some are self-diagnosing and looking up details for “flu symptoms” (+69%), “early swine flu symptoms” (+52%), “signs of swine flu” (breakout) and “swine flu incubation period” (+60%).

Kids Tracking Swine
Normally mom, dad, and the school nurse worry about what's going around, but this time kids may be handling the situation themselves. Ages 12 and under—among the most vulnerable in this pandemic—have made up one out of four lookups for "swine flu vaccine on Yahoo! in the past 30 days. They also account for one out of 10 queries for "swine flu" (teens comprise another 13%). With all those school closures during the last H1N1 round, this crew's taking no chances. 

How Many Shots?
Exactly how many jabs to get this season? The latest regular flu shot (available now) covers three strains of the seasonal virus. News reports have been warning that people may need to double-dose for the H1N1 vaccine, with a three-week incubation period between shots. Stanford researchers, though, are tinkering with the dosage to see if they might stretch the current supply (about 45 million doses expected for October 15) closer to what the government wants (120 million doses).

So far, that's two to three shots. But, that's not counting the recommended inoculation for bacterial meningitis, also a danger preoccupying the Search box. Kids 11 and up (and younger if they travel overseas) might expect at least three, if not four, sharp pokes.

The New Flu Etiquette
Media reports have been talking up prevention, and AP and Fox News offer tips aplenty. But just to make the message more palatable, the goverment has sent out spokespeople to teach proper sneezing and handwashing techniques—Elmo for the kids and a giant Teddy Roosevelt head for the adults.

Roll up your sleeves: It's gonna be a long winter. Below, a message (of sorts) from Teddy.

Filed under: Medicine, Kids, Flu

No intervention, no on-camera psychotherapy couch sessions. For the couple behind TLC's "Jon & Kate Plus 8," the ampersand will be removed. But what about the kids?

Not the Plus 8, Cara, Mady, Alexis, Hannah, Aaden, Collin, Leah, and Joel. We're talking about the kids in the audience. After all, this is (was) a family show that started off when the twins turned six and the rest were toddlers. What youngster wouldn't find appealing the notion of multiples of oneself running about (even if they didn't look exactly like you)?

Before the first of the tabloid reports broke in early March, kids under 13 made up 23% of the reality series' searches on Yahoo!—nearly a quarter. While dad Jon Gosselin (tellingly) didn't get many Web lookups, supermom Kate Gosselin got her share (14%) of queries from pre-teens and younger.

Now, nearly four months later and a broken family later, their proportion has dropped to 7% of people looking up the show. By the way, that percentage is pretty close to their share (8%) of stomach-twisting "jon and kate divorce" look-ups.

The lower numbers probably don't mean the original young fans stopped following the Gosselins online. They simply got swamped by all the adults who tuned in to monitor the downfall. Basically, the kids got lost in the shuffle, but they're still there, watching.

Filed under: TV, Reality TV, Divorce, Kids

I'm just a bill. Yes, I'm only a bill, and I sit here on Capitol Hill.

If those words have triggered an incessant yet pleasurable hum in your brain, you belong to a generation exposed to Atari video games, Shaun Cassidy, jelly sneakers (when they appeared the first time around), and "Schoolhouse Rock."

Musical cartoon shorts or "educational interstitials," the '70s-era "Schoolhouse Rock" comprised enlightened breaks between Scooby Doo adventures and Bugs Bunny reruns, and put topics like multiplication, grammar, and history to a jazzy uptempo or moody folk beat. Culling from that vast repertoire, Disney (which now owns the cartoons) has repackaged an election special DVD this week, to help a new generation get in tune during a presidential year and induce random lyrical outbreaks among older folks.

Oh, we were suffering until suffrage.
Not a woman here could vote no matter what age,
until the 19th Amendment struck down that restrictive rule.
Oh yeah!

As with all seemingly good acts, ABC's motives to air "Schoolhouse" weren't entirely pure: Consumer activists rebelled against the inordinate advertising time on Saturday mornings targeting kids, and the FCC decreed children's programming had to have an educational component (a ruling lifted during the Reagan years).

Oh, elbow room, elbow room,
Got to, got to get us some elbow room.
It's the west or bust, in God we trust,
there's a new land out there...

After a long absence, rock versions of the songs were released, Disney bought the franchise, and attempts at a musical have been made. While the math and grammar lessons still hold up, Time magazine's TV blog Tuned In took Tuesday's DVD release to muse about these segments as a post-Watergate "kind of socio-political time capsule," and how they couldn't perhaps be made today.

We're gonna elect a president! (No more kings)
He's gonna do what the people want! (No more kings)
We're gonna run things our way! (No more kings)
Nobody's gonna tell us what to do!

All the more reason to brainwash a new generation, although serious reviews suggest getting the comprehensive 30th Anniversary edition, released in 2002. After all, in any good election year, you also got to know some choice interjections.

Hallelujah. Yea.

Filed under: TV, Politics, Videos, Animation, Cartoons, Kids, Animated Characters, Elections