We at PWSBKTW are at the beach today and hope not to be thinking about people who should be killed this week. That depends on how well the other beach-goers behave. Still, our short vacation doesn’t mean that no one should be killed this week. Probably some people should. We invite you, dear PWSBKTW-ers, to nominate your own people who should be killed this week. Tell us who should be killed, and why, and provide a link (basic html is permitted in comments, but no more than one link per comment) to a news item with details.

Note that people you merely dislike — politicans, celebrities, annoying neighbors — are not qualified to be killed this week. Take a look at past weeks to see what it takes to make our prestigious list. When we at PWSBKTW return from our peaceful weekend, we will accept or reject nominations.

Tags: on the law, people who should be killed this week by Scott Stein
No Comments »

I’ll state from the outset that I greatly admire Chuck Palahniuk for his inventive storytelling, muscular language, and his ability to talk about really nasty stuff in a funny way. So, my reading of his latest novel, PYGMY, is definitely colored by that bias.

I’d say this is a worthy addition to his canon. But like his other work, PYGMY isn’t without its challenges. It’s dark, visceral, and dripping with various bodily fluids. [Read more →]

Tags: books & writing by Mark A. Rayner
No Comments »

PowerPoint is passé, in my world at least, but does it deserve to die? It has been faulted for taking away our creativity and inhibiting communication, but that is not the real problem with it. The presentation software has been blamed unjustly for the lack of creativity that, unfortunately, riddles our culture. PowerPoint will be used for a long time to come, especially in business, but gradually the Internet will nibble away at the domain of the well-entrenched presentation software, replacing it with more interesting, and interactive ways of conveying our thoughts.

If you work at a university, as I do, you see a lot of PowerPoint used badly: slides in all caps and no bulleted points, tables with a sea of numbers. Passing by the door, I look in and wonder that the students haven’t fallen out of their seats, dizzy from looking at the screen. [Read more →]

Tags: stone age memes, technology by Eva Thury
1 Comment »

Here’s the gist: I have a potty mouth. No denying it. I drop F-bombs and A-bombs like they’re going out of style. Most of the time I manage to earmuff my daughter or at the very least, wait for her to leave the room. I’m an adult, I can say what I want. But I don’t want my daughter running around cursing or even worse, teaching her friends to curse. [Read more →]

Tags: family & parenting, going parental by Jaclyn Roth
8 Comments »

“Bond,” said the dark, cruelly handsome man in a tuxedo as he lit a cigarette languidly. “James Bond.”

And so film-viewers in 1963 were introduced to the suave yet rugged fictional British secret agent James Bond. Portraying Bond in the film, Dr. No, was a young Scottish actor named Sean Connery.

Dr. No and the subsequent Connery-Bond films in the 1960′s inspired millions of film-viewers to go on and read Ian Fleming’s thrillers. I was one of them.

[Read more →]

Tags: books & writing, on thrillers and crime by Paul Davis
No Comments »

A number* of you have been writing in asking me to explain what exactly the G-8 is and what all the commotion is about them this week. At first I was excited to answer the question, wrongly under the impression that you had all asked about the vegetable drink V8. “Oh, I know this,” I thought. “V8 is a vegetable drink made from (presumably) 8 vegetables. They also have drinks that don’t taste like vegetables for which I have seen many commercials. I would like to try one of these drinks because I don’t think I eat enough vegetables due to their not-so-good taste. I haven’t gotten around to it yet, though. As for the commotion about them this week, I must say I am unaware. Thank you for your question,” was going to be my reply. When I noticed my mistake, I decided it would be best to scrap that reply.

Here’s a new one:
[Read more →]

Tags: Kelly Conaboy saves the world, politics & government by Kelly Conaboy
2 Comments »

Writer David Sedaris recently lost a fan. Despite the admiration that Sathnam Sanghera feels towards the famed American writer, there is a philosophical disparity that cannot be resolved among the two once-amiable parties. The cause of such rift, you ask? Simply put: Sanghera feels that any dramatic additions to a true story must be properly acknowledged. But Sedaris, the author of five New York Times bestsellers, feels otherwise: [Read more →]

Tags: books & writing by Nathan Cushing
No Comments »

What do Americans want in a President? People have offered qualities ranging from the lofty (say, strong moral convictions) to the trivial (height). In recent years, however, a very simple answer has emerged: swing voters go for the candidate who seems the least annoying. Even Obama’s opponents concede he’s personally likable, while McCain had just enough of a temper for undecideds to muse, “Do I really need this guy screaming on TV for the next four years?” (Similar reasoning helped Clinton take Dole in ’96.) Dubya’s not particularly ingratiating — the oft-cited survey about how Americans wanted to have a beer with him always struck me as crap, particularly since as a recovering alcoholic Dubya’s drink would have to be immediately followed by a ride to the closest rehab center — but he had the good fortune to run against Kerry and Gore, who were often knocked for being robotic, but that seems unfair to robots (they wish they were half as charismatic as WALL-E ). [Read more →]

Tags: politics & government by Sean Cunningham
No Comments »

May 19, 2009
I dream it is snowing and I am at work at a combination university and hotel complex. Much to our surprise, various structures around the facility start to crumble. The entire campus is livid about the arrogant and obviously incompetent architect who is responsible for these problems. There is nothing to do but go home, so I crawl over bleachers filled with people and rubble. Just near the exit I find an ice cream freezer. I ransack the freezer and give the spoils to the people.

[Read more →]

Tags: Fred's dreams by Fred Siegel
No Comments »

Johnny the Homicidal Maniac is a comedy/serial killer book that explores morality and destiny. Its wild, almost incomprehensible drawings and plots are deranged. They twist back on each other in a terrifying gore-fest that ultimately left me feeling like I just read a piece of history. But it’s also funny and self-satirizing.

[Read more →]

Tags: books & writing, just fantastic by Steve Mazzeo
1 Comment »

Can you think of anything more hilarious than three adult men waking up in a trashed Las Vegas hotel room with a tiger, a baby and no memory of the previous night’s drunken revelry? Unfortunately, director Todd Phillips and writers Jon Lucas and Scott Moore could not. Although The Hangover has a few laugh-inducing scenes, we do not really care about the story or the characters. But the biggest problem with this film is that it is just not that funny. [Read more →]

Tags: Gail sees a movie, movies by Gail D. Rosen
No Comments »

There are six weeks left to enjoy wild (Florida) Red Snapper before the end of the season. Below is a simple, healthy way to prepare this nutritious fish.

[Read more →]

Tags: easy weeknight dinners, recipes & food by Jessica Alfreds
No Comments »

I live in a college town and we have our fair share of tattoo parlors. There are 2 shops almost next door to each other on the main drag through town and a tattoo and body piercing place down at the end of a row of bars, near where I turn onto my street. That one has an interesting crew that hangs around outside — both people and animals — and Tattoo Machine made me want to stop in and hang out with these guys a little. It’s full of great stories (and you know a busy, urban tattoo shop has to have a million of them), inside jokes, and even some talk about the art of tattoos. Johnson makes it a wild and entertaining ride. [Read more →]

Tags: books & writing, Lisa Reads by Lisa Hura
No Comments »

On last night’s Bachelorette, Jillian made the decision to not spend the night with the guys she really has a connection with, which was very unslutty of her. Good for her. However, that line of mierda went to mierda once she invited Ed back to the suite for some horizontal flamenco. One-on-ones in Spain: [Read more →]

Tags: Lauren Likes TV, television by Lauren LaBumbard
4 Comments »

“Poetry is not the proper antithesis to prose, but to science,” Samuel Taylor Coleridge declared in “Definitions of Poetry,” adding that “poetry is opposed to science, and prose to metre. The proper and immediate object of science is the acquirement, or communication, of truth; the proper and immediate object of poetry is the communication of immediate pleasure.” [Read more →]

Tags: books & writing, that's what he said, by Frank Wilson by Frank Wilson
No Comments »

I know, I know. But, a.) I’m on vacation, so I needed something I could write about off the top of my head and briefly, and, b.) while you may have read it, you’d be surprised how many people, particularly young people brought up on the LOTR movies, have not read Tolkien’s masterpiece.   [Read more →]

Tags: books & writing, now read this! by Christopher Guerin
No Comments »

I am amazed at the fact that I can be regularly surprised by things that happen in the world of sports, despite the number of years that I have spent watching games. When the surprising things involve incredible acts of athleticism, it’s a great thing. More often, though, I am amazed at the lengths to which the media will force us to bear witness to whatever crap they think we should be talking about today. I am generally not one to rail against the media, realizing that what we watch and read is often a real reflection of what we are already discussing. Sometimes, though, there really is something to the idea that certain omnipresent sports outlets (read: ESPN) have a vested interest in making sure that we focus closely on the things that they are most interesting in bringing to us. [Read more →]

Tags: bad sports, good sports by Alan Spoll
1 Comment »

10. “Wish somebody had told me this BBQ was BYO!”

9. “The DVD that Weird Uncle Frank rented certainly sounds patriotic: The British Are Coming! The British Are Coming!”

8. “My hot dog has an engagement ring on it.”

7. “Come on upstairs; I’ll show you some fireworks!”

6. “Tell Lester to get on the other side of the volleyball net! He’s too fat to be jumping up and down directly over the septic tank!”

5. “Which is the burger and which is the charcoal?”

4. “Who chugged all the lighter fluid?”

3. “Alright, nobody light their cigarettes near Donald!”

2. “I think Grandma lost her dentures in the coleslaw again.”

1. “It’s deer meat! Couldn’t have been in the road more than a day or two.”
 

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

Tags: Bob Sullivan's top ten everything, ends & odd, recipes & food by Bob Sullivan
No Comments »

A bizarre airplane crash, mysterious whispers, a foreboding set of numbers, a strange group of outsiders who seem to know what’s going on, and a shiny black stone which hints at clues to a resolution. While these themes could apply to Lost, all of them are also featured in Knowing — the recent sci-fi movie with Nicholas Cage that comes out on DVD on Tuesday, July 7th. [Read more →]

Tags: religion & philosophy, television by Marc Oromaner
No Comments »

Slings and Arrows is a little-known Canadian comedy show about a Shakespeare troupe filled with goodies for fans of the immortal bard. Like most viewers, I first experienced Slings and Arrows after its cancellation.  The series ran from 2003 to 2006, three seasons of six episodes each. Each season covered a different tragedy, all but Othello, as well as a smattering of theater jokes and general love interest/banter. 

[Read more →]

Tags: fan boy says, television by Steve Mazzeo
No Comments »

Saturday is the Fourth of July. For most Americans, it is a day to barbecue and watch fireworks. For me it is a chance to watch the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Championship on Coney Island, sandwiched by a Twilight Zone marathon. Whatever the tradition, some Americans, including our President, have become almost apologetic for America over the last decade. They have  no problem confessing our imperfections to others around the world… and yes, we do have a lot of them. Other Americans are downright adamant about being American. They say that we are the best country in the world, and they are biased against other countries. But do they know what they are proud of? [Read more →]

Tags: race & culture by Robert O'Hara
No Comments »

We at PWSBKTW are all about starting your holiday weekend with sunshine. And rainbows.

For four days, 17-month-old Nicholas Miller was in pain with a badly broken back, which made it difficult for the toddler to walk or even breathe. His brain was bleeding, and he had other wounds.

He got no medical help.

Tylar Hokanson, Nicholas’s stepfather, has confessed to shaking Nicholas. [Read more →]

Tags: on the law, people who should be killed this week by Scott Stein
1 Comment »

I’ve never experienced “Radioactive Cats,” Sandy Skoglund’s 1981 installation, in person, but I love the photographs I’ve seen of it: a gray kitchen, with an old man and woman, and everywhere, cats, painted neon green, crawling, writhing, looking lanky and predatory and anything but cute. Skoglund likes to take the things that seem tame and comfortable to us and render them in ways that make us squirm. Lately I’ve begun to think that “Radioactive Cats” suitably predicted the status of the feline on the Internet.

If the Internet is a collective unconscious, we are in big trouble, and I don’t think you have to find sites by child-molesters or terrorists to prove the point. When child-molesters are few, cats will do.

[Read more →]

Tags: animals, stone age memes, technology by Eva Thury
No Comments »

I’m going to try to keep today’s post light, but it is with a somewhat heavy heart that I write today. My grandmother (Baba, as she is known to us) fell down the stairs the other night and is in the hospital with broken ribs, bruises from head to toe and the looming fear of pneumonia. She suffers from dementia and so she often goes in and out of lucidity. The fact that she mainly speaks Yiddish makes for an interesting dynamic between her, the doctors and the nurses. [Read more →]

Tags: family & parenting, going parental by Jaclyn Roth
5 Comments »

Wed Him Before You Bed Him is book six in Sabrina Jeffries’ School For Heiresses series, and, I thought, the final book in the series. However, after reading the book, there are new characters and hints that there may be two more books, which is exciting because book six definitely lived up to the hype. [Read more →]

Tags: books & writing, romancing history by Katie Colvin
No Comments »

It has been a tragic week for the families, friends, and fans of many popular American icons. Ed McMahon, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, Billy Mays, and Karl Malden have each been taken from us long before their* times and I can’t be the only one wondering why. Their deaths are senseless and the toll they have taken is massive and widespread. The question needs to be asked: How many more celebrities have to die before the implementation of universal health care? 

[Read more →]

Tags: health & medical, Kelly Conaboy saves the world by Kelly Conaboy
1 Comment »

I was going to write about Michael Jackson’s passing, but that topic seems fairly well covered so instead I’ll address the man who made it all possible: his father Joe. This last week has seen Joe officially establish himself as the ultimate stage parent. He raised a boy so famous he crashed the Internet. Surely this is the dream of every mother or father forcing their child to go through that choreography just one more time so it’s perfect. Yes, Joe was tough on Michael and his brothers (indeed, some might say abusive), but in the end it was all worth it because his little boy turned out just… [Read more →]

Tags: art & entertainment by Sean Cunningham
1 Comment »

March 12, 2009
I dream I have a top secret government job and I push an enormous gun on wheels into a gymnasium. There is a banner stretched across poles and when I shoot it the banner disintegrates. I bring one of my underlings to the gym and I have her push the gun into position and shoot at another banner. This time the gun shoots, but the banner is invulnerable. She shoots again. The bad guys have come up with a new fortified banner.

[Read more →]

Tags: Fred's dreams by Fred Siegel
No Comments »

Boris Yellnikoff (Larry David) argues that since parents send their children to sports camps, magic camps and other specialty camps, they should instead send their children to concentration camps.  At least concentration camps would provide valuable life lessons. Although part of the humor is in the delivery, your reaction to this line is probably a good predictor of whether you will enjoy Whatever Works. Woody Allen’s latest effort takes him back to New York, with an old screenplay originally written for Zero Mostel. I am not yet sure where Whatever Works ranks in the panoply of Allen’s films, but Woody’s words in the mouths of this excellent cast elicited hearty laughter from the depths of my neurotic Jewish soul. [Read more →]

Tags: Gail sees a movie, movies by Gail D. Rosen
2 Comments »