Just when you think we’ve reached the nadir in the arc of human social development, you read a story about “toilet gaming” — and you realize there are entirely new depths waiting to be plumbed by modern homo sapiens. You read it right: “toilet gaming.” Or, to be precise, urinal gaming. Apparently modern men simply [...]
Posts Tagged ‘modern culture’
“Toilet Gaming” And The March Of Human Progress
Posted in Humor, Technology, tagged Technology, Humor, modern culture, Video games, Civilization, Urinals, Public Restrooms on November 30, 2011 | 2 Comments »
The “ReadyBrush” And The Purse of Preparedness
Posted in America, Humor, tagged America, Breath, Camp, Humor, modern culture, Oral Hygiene, ReadyBrush, Toothpaste on November 16, 2011 | 2 Comments »
When I was tailgating at an Ohio State game recently, a fellow fan handed me a “ReadyBrush” packet from her purse. Not familiar with this groundbreaking product, you say? A “ReadyBrush” is a “toothbrush with toothpaste bonded to the bristles.” You just wet the bristles, and you are ready to attack the plaque. The packet [...]
A “Performance” Life
Posted in Art, Humor, tagged Art, Giving Birth, Humor, Life, modern culture, Performance Art on October 27, 2011 | 1 Comment »
I read with interest the article about the pregnant “performance artist” who gave birth inside a Brooklyn art gallery. She contended that the delivery of a child is the “highest form of art” and that the experience would help to address social taboos about the human body. The “artist” specializes in performances about everyday existence [...]
VRBO Changes The World (Paris Edition)
Posted in Family, Technology, Travel, tagged Family, Ile de la Cite, Internet, Latin Quarter, Luxembourg Gardens, modern culture, Pantheon, Paris, Rental Properties, Technology, The Louvre, Travel, VRBO on April 29, 2011 | 2 Comments »
So, I’m in Paris, meeting up with Richard to spend a week with him as he moves slowly through Europe and soaks up what the continent has to offer. Rather than spend a ridiculous sum on a hotel, and be squirreled away in some sterile tourist area of the City of Lights, Kish and I [...]
Royal Wedding Versus Jersey Shore
Posted in America, Humor, TV, World, tagged America, Great Britain, Humor, Jersey Shore, modern culture, Royal Family, Royal Wedding, Snooki, TV, World on April 27, 2011 | 1 Comment »
On Friday many Anglophilic Americans will get up extra early, brew some good strong tea and let it steep, heat up scones with clotted cream, and tune in the royal wedding. Great Britain’s Prince William is getting married to Kate Middleton, and the royal watchers will be agog at the extraordinary display — commenting on [...]
VRBO Changes The World
Posted in America, Technology, Travel, World, tagged America, Internet, modern culture, Rental Properties, Technology, Travel, Vacation Properties, Vacations, VRBO, World on April 26, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Lately we have started to use a website called VRBO whenever we are thinking of taking a vacation and want to check out the rental properties at our destination. If you are planning a holiday, or just want to do some dreaming, take a look at the VRBO website, click on a location or two, [...]
In Defense Of Spitting
Posted in Family, Humor, tagged etiquette, Evil Eye, evil spirits, Family, Humor, modern culture, Spitting, Tiger Woods, Watermelon on April 22, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
In America, spitting is frowned upon, unless you are in the dentist’s chair and have just been handed a cup of mouthwash or are participating in a watermelon-eating contest. My grandmother called spitting a “filthy habit.” It is flatly contrary to the rules of etiquette and the norms of polite society. Still, people keep doing [...]
Oh, For The Glamour Of Business Travel!
Posted in Humor, Travel, Work, tagged airports, Bush International Airport, Business Travel, Ellis Island, Humor, modern culture, Travel, Work on April 18, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
Back in the days when the firm unwisely allowed me to interview law students, I would occasionally ask what they hoped they would do with their practice. Some of the fresh-faced, dewy-eyed students responded, with complete sincerity: “I’d really like to travel.” It was all I could do to avoid bursting into laughter at their [...]
Mona Ghoulish
Posted in Art, Science, tagged Art, DNA, Leonardo da Vinci, Lisa Gherardini, modern culture, Mona Lisa, News, Saint Orsola, Science, Silvano Vinceti on April 7, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Obviously, some people wonder about who Mona Lisa really was — but is it really worth digging up the remains of some woman who has been buried for centuries in the potentially forlorn hope that you can figure it out? Italian authorities apparently have answered that question in the affirmative. An art historian named Silvano [...]
Eyelid Woman And Unnecessary Surgeries Gone Bad
Posted in America, tagged America, law, Life, modern culture, News, Plastic Surgery, Surgery Risks, Unnecessary Surgery on March 31, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
From New Jersey comes the unhappy story of a woman whose plastic surgery left her unable to fully close her eyes. She went in to fix “bumps on her eyelids” left by an earlier cosmetic procedure and was left with her current condition. So, she’s suing the surgeon. It turns out that she has [...]
Whistling, In The Graveyard
Posted in America, Humor, Reflections, TV, tagged America, Humor, June Lockhart, Lassie, modern culture, Reflections, Swan Lake, the '50s, the '60s, The Andy Griffith Show, TV, Whistling on March 29, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
When was the last time you hear someone whistle a tune? Doesn’t it seem like whistling has become much less common than it used to be? I’m a whistler. When I walk the halls at work, I often unconsciously whistle an off-key rendition of a snippet from Swan Lake. It’s something I’ve done for years, [...]
The Houston In-And-Out
Posted in America, Columbus, Travel, weather, Work, tagged air travel, airports, America, business, Business Travel, Columbus, Houston, modern culture, Port Columbus, Travel, Work on March 11, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
The modern world is a pretty amazing place. Yesterday morning I went to soggy Port Columbus, checked in, and boarded a Continental flight. Three hours or so later I was in sunny and warm Houston, Texas, in a conference room on the 41st floor of a downtown office building, looking at the view shown above. [...]
The Emptiness Of Cubicle Life, Confirmed
Posted in Reflections, Work, tagged Cubicles, modern culture, News, Office Space, Office workers, Reflections, Work on February 16, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
There was an awful story in the news yesterday: a county employee in Los Angeles died at her desk, in her cubicle, and was not found until the next day by a security guard. The police think she may have been dead for as long as a full day before her body was found. The [...]
Who Was Ghoulardi, And Why Should Anyone Care?
Posted in Ohio, TV, tagged Cleveland, Ernie Anderson, Ghoulardi, Local TV, modern culture, Ohio, Parma, the '50s, the '60s, TV on February 4, 2011 | 2 Comments »
The ’50s and early ’60s were a pretty standardized time. There were three TV networks, and they offered similar programming: morning news shows, soap operas and game shows during the day, the evening news, and variety shows, westerns, crime shows, and silly sitcoms at night. There were good shows, and bad shows — but mostly, [...]
What Would You Do?
Posted in Columbus, crime, Family, tagged Columbus, Coumbus Police, crime, Family, Life, Mental Health, Mental Illness, modern culture, News, Police on January 23, 2011 | Leave a Comment »
This past week in Columbus there was a tragic story that makes you think about how you would respond if you were confronted with a very difficult situation. At midnight last Sunday night, a naked man knocked on the door of a West Side home and stood on the porch asking for help. At the [...]
