If you’re a fan of “what the heck is going on in Space” movies, then Moon is right up your alley.

While I hesitate to call it a science fiction film because there isn’t too much science going on, it does fall under that category. The premise of the movie is one that has been trotted out there before — a person spends too long in one place and starts to hallucinate. The place, in this case, is the Moon, where Sam Rockwell’s character of Sam Bell is closing out a multi-year stint mining for helium-3, a substance vital to Earth’s energy supply. [Read more →]

Tags: movies
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If you are having company this weekend and you don’t know what to cook, I wrote this for you. An easy three-course meal that won’t stress you out.

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Tags: easy weeknight dinners, recipes & food
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Who is your God?  Is your God a man?  A woman?  A transvestite?  Does your God have a skin pigment that matches your own?  Does your God have long hair?  A mohawk?  Does your God even evince anthropomorphic characteristics at all?  What is your God’s opinion of homosexuals?  Sexual intercourse before marriage?  What of divorce?  Stem cell research?  Does your God approve of the ongoing resistance movement in Iran?  Is your God a vegetarian? [Read more →]

Tags: religion & philosophy
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The Road is bleak and forbidding and utterly beautiful. You know from early on that no happy ending is possible in this desolate future world. Everything is burned to ash, there is little sunlight, nothing growing, only a few desperate souls left alive. And yet, a father keeps going for the sake of his son, born in the aftermath of whatever catastrophe brought down the world: [Read more →]

Tags: Lisa Reads, books & writing
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Last night was meet-the-family night on The Bachelorette. Family night always reveals a lot about the guys and last night was no different. Sometimes the families help the guys’ chances and sometimes they hurt. Here’s how it went in my eyes… [Read more →]

Tags: Lauren Likes TV, television
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I read somewhere that the average age of a video gamer is approximately 30.  At 276, I’m still on the young side of life, but I can remember the days of 8-bit heroes and light guns.  (I kept all of mine, even the bad ones.)

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Tags: games
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A quick post from vacationland. Every year for more than a decade, when driving through southern Michigan, I play for my family one of the best songs of the 90’s: “Hindu Rodeo” by the Minneapolis band of the same name. Their eponymous album has two incredible songs, “Blue Sky” and “Hindu Rodeo.” The latter, though, at over 7 minutes, is what I call a “kitchen sink song”. It has everything. [Read more →]

Tags: music
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Now read this! is taking a brief vacation, because I am! Last week I wrote about my favorite novel of all time. Now it’s your turn. Leave a brief comment about your favorite novel of all time and we’ll see if any of us agree. Until next week!

Tags: books & writing, now read this!
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I mentioned last week that I was on my way to Disney with my family. We spent the whole week down there, and returned Sunday evening. I really didn’t get to follow much in the way of sports, aside from a bit of fantasy baseball. The only TVs I encountered seemed to have nothing but Michael Jackson coverage. So the only sports I can discuss this week involve the challenging task of not being injured by the omnipresent strollers and motorized carts that you find all over Walt Disney World. [Read more →]

Tags: bad sports, good sports, travel & foreign lands
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10. Every night: free back rubs.

9. The prison laundry offers one-hour Martinizing.

8. His inmate number will be unlisted.

7. Every Saturday night, there’s a mixer with the nearby women’s prison.

6. The prison cafeteria features an open bar.

5. His cell features open bars.

4. Every inmate gets a choice of three premium channels.

3. His conjugal visits include a Jacuzzi.

2. Every summer, he’s allowed to stay at his beach cell in Avalon.

1. If things get too rough, Bernie and his buddies have a daring plan to go “over the hedge!”
 

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

Tags: Bob Sullivan's top ten everything, ends & odd
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I read about Michael Jackson’s death this morning, about ten minutes before leaving for the last day of my TEFL course. On the bus I reflected that death may have come as a relief to the man; the casting away of a life that was both public and secretive; luridly broadcast and darkly cloistered. [Read more →]

Tags: art & entertainment
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We’re drowning in an ocean of forced sentimentalism. The current’s too strong to swim against. So let’s acquiesce. Let’s take a little moonwalk on the Sea of Neverland and pay tribute to Jacko with a fun little When Falls the Coliseum sing-along. [Read more →]

Tags: art & entertainment
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Cause of death: exposure.

Tags: art & entertainment
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I saw Transformers: Rise of the Fallen, aka Transformers 2, in IMAX on Wednesday night. Oh, My Fuck! This movie is terrible, so terrible that it’s good in a bad way. I have tons of problems with the film. However, like Speed Racer, a film that totally embraced the “so bad it’s good genre,” Transformers: Rise of the Fallen is fun to watch.

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Tags: fan boy says, movies
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“Curtis Jason Powell was arraigned Tuesday on two counts of murder for the shooting deaths of two sisters in an Oakland motel room last week.” We won’t say that having two first names was reason enough to arrest him. But we will say that having two first names was reason enough to keep a close eye on him.

In addition to being charged with two counts of murder for the deaths of Geraldine Latchison, 23, and Angel Latchison, 20, at the Value Inn at 370 W. MacArthur Blvd. on June 15, Powell, 28, is charged with being an ex-felon in possession of a gun and having a prior conviction for mayhem.

Mayhem?  [Read more →]

Tags: on the law, people who should be killed this week
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Monkey See is a charming and satirical examination of the question: “what would happen if monkeys could talk, and they had their own 401(k)s?”

It is also a love story, an etiquette manual for talking apes, parenting help for said primates, and a demented “how-to” guide for the aspiring evil scientist. [Read more →]

Tags: books & writing, technology
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Although I was sorry to hear of Michael Jackson’s death yesterday at 50, and I sympathize with his family, I can’t forgive the damage he has caused to untold innocent children over the years.

Yes, he was found innocent of child abuse, but O.J. Simpson and Robert Blake were found innocent of murder. It’s good to have money and fame.

[Read more →]

Tags: music
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As a devoted fan of Michael Jackson, it’s very hard for me to comprehend that he is no longer with us. I never thought Michael would live a long life, but I wasn’t prepared for him to leave us today. I’ve never felt such sorrow following the death of a famous figure or someone I didn’t know, but while remembering Michael, I find it hard to hold back tears and emotion. It’s extremely difficult to write a tribute to the King of Pop. I won’t even attempt it. However, I will remember Michael only through his music and dance. It’s difficult to narrow down to my favorites, but my heart is set on the following: [Read more →]

Tags: music
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As a child of the 80’s, I’m a great fan of Michael Jackson’s music. Whenever I hear “Thriller” or “Billie Jean”, I still crank up the volume. He was just a brilliant musician, and his music resonates with millions of people. However, I’ve never been too keen on Michael Jackson as a person. The plastic surgery was odd enough, but the sleepovers at Neverland Ranch and sips of “Jesus juice” were beyond creepy. Still, it’s shocking and sad when someone passes so suddenly. [Read more →]

Tags: health & medical, music
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While never a great fan of Michael Jackson, I always appreciated his talent.  Just to watch his music videos was to see a performer doing what he was born to do.  The flexibility of his movements, all in perfect sync with the music.

While we may have envied his talent and the success which he achieved, in large part because of that talent, we with smaller talents and much less material success, may well have found more happiness in our lives than did the late King of Pop.  Yes, Jackson enjoyed a level of success that none have since equaled and few could even imagine, but happiness seemed to elude him. [Read more →]

Tags: music
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The weird thing is that in death Michael Jackson looked more like Farrah Fawcett than he did himself. He had a Farrah Fawcett nose, a Farrah Fawcett chin, and as close as a black man could have, a Farrah Fawcett complexion.

And wouldn’t it be like a Farrah Fawcett wannabe to die the same day she did, stealing her headlines and screen time. I don’t know much about Farrah Fawcett except that she was a hot babe who died with more dignity and courage and honor than any honest man has a right to expect from an honorable death.

Michael Jackson was a fruit. Whatever that word means. He was a different genus. Deciduous or something other than human. Farrah proved herself to be the most decidedly human of babes. A mench. A force of nature. A human beautiful being. A better man than the name that stole her dying moment.

Tags: music, television
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The folks whose lives are intertwined with the tendrils of the Internet believe the meme is something new, but there have always been memes. The latest thing, the knowing smile, spreading from person to person. The sandals of the meme now have wings, but there have always been things we pass along knowingly, loving the knowing.

The purpose of this column is to twit the leet and ponder the creeping kudzu of the Internet. Is there anything new under the sun? Or are those memes on the walls of the Great Hall of the Bulls at Lascaux?

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Tags: stone age memes, technology
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As promised in an earlier post I’m going to start each blog with a random personal fact about myself. Here goes: I hate taking my daughter to parks; public parks, private parks, hell even your backyard swing-set makes me mental. You know why? [Read more →]

Tags: family & parenting, going parental
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10. He wanted to demonstrate the detrimental effects of being forced to accept a $700 million economic stimulus package.

9. He just has a weakness for Latin spitfires.

8. He wanted to show his four sons what happens when you cheat and then get caught.

7. As the governor of South Carolina, he was just “Aiken” to see his girlfriend.

6. He thought his wife might enjoy a breather.

5. He wanted to see if he could out-Blagojevich Blagojevich.

4. To help him better deal with South Carolina’s growing immigrant community, his mistress was teaching him Spanish.

3. He was checking if he could sneak in and out of the country unnoticed, to see how porous our borders are.

2. Governor Sanford wanted to be home on Father’s Day, but Governor “Johnson” had different ideas.

1. He thought the Appalachian Trail ran through Argentina.
 

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

Tags: Bob Sullivan's top ten everything, politics & government
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If you said, “Five-hundred dollars!” and can stand chilling with a Cocker Spaniel for twenty minutes, good lawd does Craig’s List have a deal for you!

Tags: animals, money
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A few weeks ago when someone said “Iran” the most common responses would have been “to where?” or “why?” or “wait, Iraq?” Lately, though, the word has been getting all different kinds of responses, mostly due to political unrest in a country of the same name. 

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Tags: Kelly Conaboy saves the world, politics & government
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Author’s note: For 10 months I traveled to work in New York City from my home in southeastern Connecticut. Notice I used the word “traveled” and not “commuted.” The difference, to me, is mileage and duration. My daily “commute” was three hours each way, including a 45-minute drive, an hour-and-40-minute train ride, and subway rides across and uptown. Occasionally, I took notes on the people sitting around me on the train. What follows is the sixth of several stream-of-consciousness entries I made in an untitled journal.

Monday, August 4, 2008

The gentleman sitting across the aisle from me represents what I am loathe to become. The cell phone in the holster on his belt, Bluetooth earpiece attached to his head leaving him free to fill out some sort of official-looking pink piece of administrative paperwork, his laptop a convenient table to be deployed for use during his commute. He is plugged in, always connected. [Read more →]

Tags: diatribes
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I’m packing my bags for a vacation. This trip is different from others I’ve taken in recent years because this time, I’m vacationing with my entire family. That’s right, the whole clan: the parents, the siblings, and their families. Ten personalities trying to peacefully coexist under one roof, for one week. My father has decided that the theme of the week is “tolerance.” I’ve decided that the theme of the week is “homicide.” [Read more →]

Tags: family & parenting, travel & foreign lands
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Faith is a test. As a Catholic, I was asked to believe in Papal infallibility even as the Church actively protected pedophile priests. Now Iran’s Supreme leader instructs his people to accept they had an honest presidential election, even as the government concedes there are at least 50 cities where there were more votes cast than actual voters. And that’s as it should be. It’s simple to believe something clearly accurate — where’s the challenge in that? — but to embrace a thing that’s demonstrably wrong requires a leap of faith separating the truly devout from the casual follower. It’s possible the recent international humiliation will lead Iran to shove their Ayatollah into the shadows. But if he survives with his power intact, it’s a reminder that in the battle between faith and reason, irrational dogma still holds its own.

Man of the Moment appears each Wednesday.

Tags: politics & government, religion & philosophy
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June 13, 2009
I dream a production of All My Sons is to open at school in a week. It has yet to be cast and it does not have a director. I try to convince Bea Arthur to direct. Bea doesn’t want to do it in one week, so I’m stuck with it myself. The students are reluctant to audition because they want to do something funnier. I assure them that Arthur Miller is hilarious.

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Tags: Fred's dreams
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