Of all the places to watch a soccer match, I watched the US-Algeria match at a waiting room, while my wife was undergoing surgery. Nothing anyone could have done about that, really; my wife's surgery was scheduled weeks in advance, and there was no way anyone would know that the US… Read full post »

 

Now that the opening matches for all the groups are in the books, here are 10 stray observations about the World Cup, the matches, and other miscellania:

1. Yes, the vuvuzelas are loud. Get over it. That droning BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ sound has been the bane of everyone's World Cup experien…

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By now, you've probably heard of a little something starting tomorrow at 10AM EST called the World Cup. Here's what you need to know:

The World Cup is hosted every four years, with South Aftica acting as the host nation this time around. As such, this is the first/…

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Author's Note: The following ten films, Nos. 90-81, seemed to take a bit out of me when it came to summarizing my feelings. Not sure why that happened, but it happened. At any rate, here's the next ten.

Oh, and here's a link to the previous 11… Read full post »

Author's Note: I realize this is kind of a stretch here, but I think my point's pretty obvious - Americans are irrational when it comes to voting choices

 

I posted this on my Facebook profile this morning, which summarizes my puzzlement over the American voting public's voting choices:

 

"… Read full post »

Turn on the radio these days - if you dare - and you're immediately bombarded by whatever fly-by-night recycled dance beats, or whatever Rhianna's got cooking up this week (that "Rockstar" song is truly dire, even if Slash dispenses what amounts to a lazy solo), or the disposable pop that's been… Read full post »

A random snippet of shit that's totally driving me fucking insane this week:

 

So you've probably heard all the kerfuffle regarding Dr. Rand Paul, the GOP's Teabagger-leaning Senate candidate, and his idiotic defense abhorrence open-mouth-insert-foot views on civil rights. If you've seen the vid… Read full post »

 I saw this article this morning in the New York Times online:
Four Nerds and a Cry to Arms Against Facebook. 

There's been much buzz about Facebook's perceived (mostly true) lack of true privacy on its' site, some of which have come from the New York Times, interestingly enough. This… Read full post »

 

In compiling this list of 101 Favorite Films –  and, yes, it’s 101, as there was one film I simply couldn’t justify  removing from this list – it’s important to note the distinction between  Great Films (or Essential Films) and Favorite Films. The G… Read full post »

A selected list of shit that's currently got me shooting steam out of my ears...

 

- So apparently "gnocchi" created quite a kerfuffle at the office cafeteria early today. Gnocchi, with your choice of vegetables and chicken or shrimp was the special of the day, but fuck me… Read full post »

I hereby accept Nanatehay's Open Call Challenge: Most Ridiculous Open Call .

In the spirit (borrowing his words) of OS bloggers coming up with ridiculous Open Call blogs, I humbly submit my blog. Let this also be a challenge to the OS community to also answer this Open Call.

 Here… Read full post »

No, this isn’t about some Mel Brooks movie.

Anxiety rules my life, in a quiet fashion. I do well to mask my anxieties from the outside world, but, more and more, my anxieties are eating me up, slowly but surely.

I’m anxious about our soon-to-be 3-year-old daughter. She’s showing… Read full post »

A long time ago, I got it in my head that I was a writer. I attended writers' conferences, hoping to mingle and learn from others. I eagerly sat through hundreds of writers' workshops, producing material on the fly for the immediate approval of others. I subscribed to several literary journals… Read full post »

With the new baseball season upon us, it's time for me to present my not-so-fearless and modestly-biased predictions for the 2010 Baseball Season. But first, some questions to be answered:

1. Will the Yankees repeat as World Series champions? You'd be a fool to disagree, but they do… Read full post »

In case you haven't heard:

 Supreme Court Rolls Back Campaign Finance Restrictions

Once we cut through the bluster and rhetoric of the 5 activist (yes, activist) Supreme Court judges who turned back nearly 100 years of law imposing restrictions upon the financial capable (read: corporations and… Read full post »

Hooray for Conan O'Brien:

Conan O’Brien Says He Won’t Host ‘Tonight Show’ Following Leno

Here's his statement:

    People of Earth:

    In the last few days, I’ve been getting a lot of sympathy calls, and I want to start by making it clear that… Read full post »

 Author's Note: It's been a while since I last blogged here, and I won't go into reasons why, but I'm back to blog here again. Thanks for reading.

Mark McGwire's admission that he took steroids for the better part of his career comes as little to no shock to baseball people everywhere.… Read full post »

 Dear Voters of the State of Maine,

 

I was prepared to write a lengthy and possibly quite hateful letter to you expressing my disgust over your decision, through the ballot box, to repeal your state's new law allowing same-sex marriage. What pains me about the 53% of you who voted… Read full post »

By hook or by crook, I was going to see Leonard Cohen in concert, and when I learned he was to perform at the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium in Asheville, NC, there was no way I wasn't going to miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I'm so glad I was there on November 1st.

You
…

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David Letterman isn't the first public celebrity to acknowledge he's carried on an affair, nor will he be the last. Judging from a sampling of comments posted in the paper or on boards across the web, people are rather indignant over his admission that he's had several affairs with women on… Read full post »

Unless you're Latin American or a fan of "world music" (a mildly insulting term used to describe any kind of music that doesn't involve the English language), chances are you've never heard of Mercedes Sosa. I was saddened to read in this morning NY Times obituary that Mercedes Sosa… Read full post »

This might just be the best quote I've seen so far on the whole Roman Polanski thing, of which I've sworn to stay the hell away from; this quote comes from Chris Rock:

 

“People are defending Roman Polanski because he made some good movies? Even Johnnie Cochran don’t have… Read full post »

The 1976 film Network was, at the time of its' release, a groundbreaking satire on the ability of corporate-owned television's ability to spread information (false or not), and memorable for one of its' protagonists, the news anchor turned Cassandra of the airwaves, Howard Beale. In without question… Read full post »

You've all no doubt have heard that Margaret Atwood, highly-honored author of such literary masterworks as The Handmaid's Tale, The Blind Assassin, and Oryx and Crake, has a new novel out called The Year of the Flood...right? You've also heard that Joyce Carol Oates, prolific super-author of such lit… Read full post »

When it became apparent that Barack Obama was to be tapped as the Democratic Nominee for the Presidency, I braced myself for the inevitable defaming language that was certain to be used by a significant segment of our society. This notion became more prevalent when Obama was elected President. With t… Read full post »