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Late-night Wars
In the 90s, there was a late-night show on ABC called Politically Incorrect hosted by comic polemicist and smug contrarian Bill Maher. I wasn’t a regular viewer, but I did attend a live taping once because the drummer from a Canadian rock band I like was a guest. And one of the other guests that…
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Swearing
WARNING: This post contains strong language. Reader discretion is advised. Yesterday, I underwent an outpatient medical procedure meant to diagnose some issues I am having with my bladder. As it involved the doctor looking inside my bladder with a tiny camera attached to a scope, and as there is really only one way to accomplish that…
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Wikipediasnob
I love a good dose of etymology – word origins, and how their meaning has changed over time, not to be confused with entomology, the study of bugs. But you have to be careful. There are lots of stories out there. Many are not true. Before we all had instant access to the Internet on…
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“First they came for…”
Martin Niemöller, the German theologian and Lutheran pastor, is a complicated figure. You may not know his name, but you are, no doubt, familiar with his famous quote which begins “First they came for…”. The quote is sometimes mistakenly referred to as a poem. And through the years, it has been adapted and modified to…
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It just sounded better
On October 26, 1945, President Harry Truman signed Executive Order 9646, redesigning the presidential seal. Among other changes, he proposed that the eagle should face away from the arrows, signifying armed conflict, in its left talon, to demonstrate a desire to avoid war. The first President to have a seal was Woodrow Wilson. Prior to…
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The Penguin Lessons
Last March, I wrote a movie review here. I mentioned how I tend to steer clear of recommending movies (or tv shows, or albums, or books) because I realize that tastes vary and what I think is good you might regard as rubbish, and vice versa. I could tell you my favorite tv show right…
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Speech Therapy
Back during the winter of 2006-07, I was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai in West Hollywood. Following brain surgery which yielded a diagnosis of PML, I spent about a week in the ICU and then another week “recovering” in the posh “celebrity wing” I’d finagled my way into (just how is a story for another time). The…
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Let’s just skip this month in the future
I am not one given over to superstition. I do not believe in karma – there is no mechanism beyond mere wishful thinking to mete out the rewards and punishments based on the rights and wrongs; moreover, whether something is “right” and deserving of a reward or “wrong” and deserving of a punishment is a…
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Rock of Ages
This is the story of a rock. Not a metaphorical rock. And we could argue whether the rock would more accurately be called a stone, or a boulder. And I just made a note in my journal to write a post in the future about rocks, stones, and boulders, specifically the characteristics of each and…
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How are you celebrating DOGust?
Ever heard someone refer to their dog as their “fur baby” and thought it just a figure of speech? Research has shown that when a mother stares into her baby’s eyes, the baby’s levels of the “feel good” hormone oxytocin rise, which causes the infant to stare back into its mother’s eyes, which causes the…
Your mileage may vary.