Posts under ‘Blog stuff’

Turns out “tiger” parenting isn’t such a good idea. When pirate costumes go wrong. “Children today are tyrants. They contradict their parents, gobble their food, and tyrannize their teachers. Oh, and they should put those damn smartphones down and get off my lawn already.” Please turn off your portable electronic devices prior to takeoff. Unless [...]

On Homeland and The Americans. I don’t watch the former, so I can’t comment on it. I will say that I have been struck by a parallel between The Americans and The Sopranos in the sense that as with Tony Soprano, there are only so many ways that Elizabeth and Phillip Jennings’ story can end, [...]

It was Cinco de Mayo, I was down on the bayou… Here’s a video of a cat, dressed as a shark, chasing a duckling while riding on a Roomba. Also features a dog in hammerhead shark costume, because of course it does. If this doesn’t represent the pinnacle of the Internet, I don’t know what [...]

Better music through data. Metadata, that is. It’s hard to find a scripted drama that hasn’t used rape and/or murder as a plotline at least once. I will note that their list is incomplete – by my reckoning, “Royal Pains” and “Veep” are not listed, and there may be others. But you get the point. [...]

An Anthony Weiner mayoral candidacy would be a gift for shameless headline writers, if nothing else. It’s time for MLB to honor all of its pioneers, without whom there couldn’t have been a Jackie Robinson. “People who assumed Siskel & Ebert was just about movies were never really paying attention.” “Eden Foods — an organic [...]

The first obstacle for Hillary Clinton to overcome if she wants to run in 2016 is to not have Mark Penn on her campaign payroll in any fashion. The untold story of how Apple built an operating system. Maybe Mark Sanford isn’t the right guy to defend traditional marriage. Superhero women wearing pants? It could [...]

Ah, baseball. I’ve missed you. Twenty great Billy Joel songs that haven’t been overplayed. It’s great living in the future, isn’t it? “Many big network breaches begin not with brainy hacker code but with workers who are tricked by so-called social engineering, which manipulates people into revealing sensitive information. So companies are trying to get [...]

And out like a lamb… Geez, now even I’m worried about Gmail. Thanks, Ezra. The Nielsen Family ain’t what it used to be. This five-year-old girl discovered a new species of dinosaur, which is now named for her. What have you done with your life? “70′s Actor Erik Estrada To Star In Right Wing ‘Religious [...]

I understand there may be a basketball game on TV right about now… First and foremost, what Charlie Pierce says. “Can we challenge ourselves to come up with some new or adjunct language for mean girl? How about angry girl? Fearful girl? Insecure girl? Perhaps this would shift our conversation to one of less judgment [...]

Are we feeling a little green today? RIP, What Not To Wear. I hope by now we all have it figured out. Latinos love movies, and Hollywood has noticed. Need some good female role models from the world of fiction for your budding scientist? Now you have them. Personally, I’d like to see him pay [...]

What self-inflicted crisis is next on the agenda? I’ve lost track. Ain’t no party like a toddler birthday party, ’cause a toddler birthday party don’t quit till everyone loses their pants and pees on their shoes. A Lego Hogwarts that will make Olivia insanely jealous. This is a lousy reason to build a park. You [...]

In like a lion… The way we measure how we watch TV is about to reflect how we actually do watch TV these days. The same will be true for how we listen to music, too. Some geeky origami to help celebrate Pi Day. “Cruz is a very smart guy. There’s no question about that. [...]

“I asked Jack White if Jack White had met Jack Black. They had. It has been on my mind for a long time. Now I know.” I’m not embarrassed to punctuate with exclamation points where I feel they properly convey my intentions, but I’d totally use an ElRey mark if one were available on my [...]

Dunk or dunk not. There is no try. James Harden is a Zen master. And then God made a more accurate representation of farming in America. No, we don’t have a fertility crisis in the US. Illegally uploaded movies on YouTube aren’t being blocked as often as they once were. Twenty-five years of “Raising Arizona”, [...]

There needs to be a constitutional right to vote. So how do owls twist their heads so far around, anyway? From the Don’t Criticize What You Don’t Understand department. Now this is how you deal with an obnoxious troll. When was the last time you saw the Shakespeare insult generator? Well, that’s too long. On [...]

See you in the fall, football. What if Jimmy Olsen were a woman? Doesn’t bother me. Derek Jeter goes to Davos to talk about climate change. Maybe they’ll listen to him. Please don’t photograph the food. Thank you. The march towards equality continues apace. What Nate Silver gets wrong. App and mortar retailing is the [...]

Jimmy Carter makes a stand for equality. I hope many of his fellow Baptists follow him. There are a lot of things we don’t know about gun violence. The HP Lovecraft problem. On “healthwashing” Girl Scout cookies. When a (Yankees fan) man loves a (Red Sox fan) woman. Beware the rogue cloud. Google says “Death [...]