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books & writingon the law

Killer strippers and Sarah Palin

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Newsweek, it goes without saying, is a tedious, dreadful rag which nobody on earth should buy unless threatened with death or — at the very least — castration. [Read more →]

bad sports, good sports

Bad sports, good sports: demonstrating in support of Vick?

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On Wednesday, an announcement was made that there would be a massive demonstration outside of Lincoln Financial Field before the Eagles preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the game in which Michael Vick would make his on-field debut as an Eagle. No surprise there, right? Many people (myself included) were outraged by Vick’s signing. It was inevitable that there would be demonstrations. Reading deeper into the announcement, though, I discovered that this demonstration would be in support of Vick, rather than against him. Huh? [Read more →]

Bob Sullivan's top ten everythingtravel & foreign lands

Top ten signs you’ve rented a bad summer house

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10. When they say “ocean view,” that includes “on television.”

9. It’s a time-share, and you only get it alternate Tuesdays.

8. There’s a security camera in the shower.

7. The “backyard pool” is only there during high tide.

6. The beach in front of the house is “bring your own sand.”

5. It’s in Nebraska.

4. The lease states that “this agreement includes free nightly massages…for the property owner.”

3. It’s in a newly opened development called Rancho Guantanamo.

2. You’re contractually obligated to ignore the shackled person in the basement.

1. The large number of cobwebs are the only thing keeping the place standing upright.
 

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

educationfamily & parenting

My son is not getting into Harvard

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Now that the moms of the world are in back-to-school mode, I’ve been thinking about my son’s education. As he turns one, I’ve discovered a sad truth. We aren’t getting into Harvard. And by “we” I mean his dad and I, because now that we are parents, we’ve forgotten about our own miserable lives and only live vicariously through him. Isn’t that what all parents do? [Read more →]

technologytrusted media & news

Stone age memes: RIP Wikipedia

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Not everyone noticed it, but the world ended last week. The Wikipedia model tanked. The New York Times reported that the English-language version of the “free encyclopedia that anyone can edit” would will soon institute the editorial review of articles about living people. So there will still be a Wikipedia but the revolutionary encyclopedia we have now will, in effect, cease to exist.

The changes Wikipedia is undergoing are likely to have broad-scale effects on the Internet and on information use throughout cyberspace. [Read more →]

health & medicalsports

No helmet for this head (of state) so far

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President Obama was photographed riding his bicycle without a helmet. Like Obama, I don’t wear a helmet when I ride. So we have that in common.

I hadn’t been on a bike in ten years and haven’t owned one in longer. [Read more →]

sports

Fan Boy Says: My fantasy football drafts are driving me mad

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Before we begin let me say I love, perhaps to an unhealthy extent, the following hobbies: Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer 40K, reading graphic novels, and fantasy football. I love the Phillies and Flyers too, but fantasy baseball/hockey isn’t my thing. Finally, this isn’t just a review — it’s also a public strategizing session. [Read more →]

on the lawpeople who should be killed this week

People who should be killed this week

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We at PWSBKTW are the forgiving sort. We know that second chances are the American way. We also know that releasing sexual predators from jail is what enlightened societies do. And we’re not talking about the seventeen-year-old who texted a nude picture of himself to his sixteen-year-old girlfriend and got registered as a sex offender, either. No, we’re talking about the real thing, the keep-you-up-at-night predators who snatch little girls off the street. They deserve second chances. They are, after all, people too. Some of them do a lot with their second chances. Phillip Garrido did a lot with his.

An 11-year-old California girl kidnapped in 1991 while waiting for a school bus has been found alive, and a convicted sex offender is accused of raping and fathering two children with her while he and his wife held her captive in their backyard.

[Read more →]

advice

Responding to the public/private family secret

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Dear Ruby,
I recently found out through my local newspaper that the nephew of a friend of mine was arrested for something very, very serious. This is not a friend I see very often, but someone I still feel close to.

The nephew does not share the same name with my friend, and I only know about him as a relative because I knew her estranged half-sibling (the nephew’s parent) during the short time (one summer) that they had a relationship with her family. I doubt almost any of her other friends from that time made the connection.

As I said, this was a very, very serious incident; the kind of thing a family will likely never live down. I’m wondering if I should let her know that I know. I’m guessing she might be hoping that no one will make the connection and if I tell her I know I’m afraid it might depress her and make her think everyone knows. I would not want to do anything that would cause her one more moment of grief right now. What do you suggest?

Afraid to Reach Out [Read more →]

family & parenting

Going Parental: Cyrus Family Intervention Needed

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I received a ton of feedback on last week’s blog about music, your car and your kids. As a result, I thought I’d approach the topic from a different perspective. I am all about exposing my daughter to all kinds of music. I think music is instrumental in a child’s development. [Read more →]

sportstechnology

A Twitter for help

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I am not a fan of Twitter. I feel that anything truly worth saying requires 200 characters at minimum. I think the fact Ashton Kutcher established himself as the F. Scott Fitzgerald of this medium suggests it is one to avoid whenever possible. I do concede, however, it’s possible it saved a life. This week Michael Beasley of the Miami Heat checked into a rehabiliation hospital to deal with “possible substance and psychological issues.” Before this, he hinted at his problems with Twitters including, “Feelin like it’s not worth livin!!!!!!! I’m done.” Did someone close to him see these Twitters? Did just typing out his thoughts help Beasley realize how desperate he was? Did he originally consider using only six exclamation points but then added a seventh to be on the safe side? [Read more →]

Fred's dreams

Motel

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July 15, 2009
I dream I am at the refuse-filled compound of a junk cult. I load up a wheel barrow/scooter so that Abby and Tina and I can escape. We peddle away through several Long Island strip malls and finally check in to a motel. Sadly, when I look out the window I see that a group of our fellow cultists has followed us.  They have a lot of crap with them. I can’t let them know of my intention to escape the junk cult, so I invite them to a junk party in the motel room.

[Read more →]

books & writing

Just Fantastic: Y the Last Man, vol. 1 & 2 — what it’s like starting a long series

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Y the Last Man, henceforth known as Y, is a long-running series that was greeted with amazing success. Critics loved it. Readers loved it. The parts I read floored me: I couldn’t put it down. The series won the Eisner Award in 2008 for Best Continuing Series. It was nominated for a Hugo. A few days ago I was in Barnes and Noble, saw the newest edition, and realized that I stopped trying to complete the series over a year ago — and wondered why. [Read more →]

movies

Gail sees a movie: Julie and Julia

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During a Q&A at a preview screening of Julie and Julia, Julie Powell (the real life Julie from the film) was asked if this film was “food porn.” Powell did not think so, and I agree with her. People who like lingering shots of voluptuous food will enjoy Julie and Julia. But you do not have to like cooking at all to love this story of two women with similar names and similar desires who triumphed over similar challenges.  [Read more →]

getting older

Thirty is the new “old”

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That’s it. I’ve officially come to the conclusion that I am getting old. When did this happen? It crept up on me so fast that I think I have whiplash. Now I know “old” is a relative term and, to some, thirtysomething is far from entering the nursing home. But it seems like only yesterday when I was riding my bike around the neighborhood, getting yelled at by the cantankerous old-timers who lived down the block. I blinked and that time, like a lot of the past, has become a distant memory. What brought on this bout of age-related depression, you ask? It’s been a series of recent incidents which I now realize are only things that happen if you are getting old. Let’s review. [Read more →]

recipes & food

Easy weeknight dinners: Steak Fajitas with simple salsa (you’ll never need salsa from a jar again!)

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This is the only salsa recipe you’ll ever need- its delicious and takes less than 10 minutes to prepare. You can use it as a base and add whatever you like, maybe jalapeno, mango, or pineapple. Make it on the weekend and use it all week on grilled fish and chicken, in burritos, and with grilled Steak Fajitas (recipe below).

[Read more →]

books & writing

Lisa reads: God Says No by James Hannaham

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Gary Gray wants nothing more than to be “normal.” He wants to fall in love, get married, have children, go to church, go to Disney Land and live the American dream. He’s got one little problem, though: he’s in love with his roommate, Russ, and lusting after other men is frowned upon at Southern Florida Christian College. [Read more →]

bad sports, good sports

Bad sports, good sports: maybe college football can skip the games and just have polls

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This week, the Associated Press published its first college football poll of the year, listing the University of Florida Gators as the number one team in the land. Of course, none of the teams in the poll have played a single game yet. [Read more →]

Bob Sullivan's top ten everythingrecipes & food

Top ten least popular summer drinks

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10. A David Frostie

9. Limburger Cheese Float

8. Rape on the Beach

7. Iguana Juice

6. A Crap Frappe

5. Khalid Shake Mohammed

4. A Screaming Sarcasm

3. Lemon & Lyme Disease

2. Dingleberry Smoothie

1. Swine Coolers
 

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

politics & governmentterror & war

Scotland’s shame

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Earlier this week I received a serious shock while watching CNN when the word ‘Scotland’ appeared on the tickertape at the bottom of the screen. I was shocked because this was the first time I had seen my homeland mentioned in the news in three years of living in America, and more than that — the context clearly identified Scotland as a separate entity from England. In all my roaming around the globe I have found that it is exceedingly rare that people anywhere are aware of exactly what Scotland is, outside of vague associations with such kitsch as kilts, bagpipes and Braveheart. For many, England serves as a synonym for the UK or Britain and vice versa, and where Scotland fits into the picture is rarely — if ever — properly understood. [Read more →]

on the lawpeople who should be killed this week

People who should be killed this week

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Jury selection in the trial of Nathan Walker and Tommy Lee Walker has begun. Lest we at PWSBKTW be accused of being in bad taste, we warn you that this one isn’t for the squeamish. [Read more →]

advicegetting older

All in good time, my pretty, all in good time

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Ruby,

Why a whisker? Why my chin? Why now?

Middle-Aged in Milwaukee

[Read more →]

art & entertainmenttechnology

Stone age memes: Photoshop on my mind

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Maslow’s hierarchy of needs should be rejiggered to feature another irresistible human drive. Who can resist drawing black curling mustaches on billboard pictures of beautiful ingénues and decorating upstanding pillars of society with devil’s horns and pitchforks? Photoshop has given us the power to satisfy this need and then some, but these days the influence of photo manipulation seems so pervasive and so powerful that its place in society is being debated in the British Parliament.

Britain is considering a law making it illegal to photoshop ads in publications intended for readers less than 16 years old, according to Jezebel.com. [Read more →]

family & parenting

Going Parental: My Car = My Music

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Music has always been a very big part of my life. I grew up in a house where music was on in every room. Standards like The Beatles, The Bee Gees, The Carpenters, Simon and Garfunkel, and yeah there was some Neil Diamond in the mix too were a part of our daily routine. I’m not gonna lie, I knew all the words to America. Go ahead and laugh. [Read more →]

television

Lauren Likes TV: Melrose Place bites off… Melrose Place

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When I first heard about the new Melrose Place… wait, let me rewind back a year. When I first heard about the new 90210 last year, I partly rolled my eyes and partly got very excited. Finding out that The CW was recreating the best show ever wasn’t the best news ever, but then I thought about the potential of a new OC-ish show entering my life with the possibility of cameos from the 90’s original cast and I began to change my mind. Excitement grew… and then the show started. [Read more →]

sports

Mercy of the Moment: Michael Vick

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Philadelphia is a town whose sports legends include Charles Barkley, Pete Rose, Chuck Bednarik, Wilt Chamberlain, and Steve Carlton, who in addition to being Hall of Fame-level talents in their respective sports also found the time to throw folks through windows, be convicted for tax evasion, joke about nearly crippling people, pleasure many ladies, and offer ideas that are at best “colorful” and at worst “anti-Semitic.” Philly itself is the town that cheered when Michael Irvin had a dangerous neck injury (in fairness, Irvin did play for the Cowboys). Now former Atlanta Falcons quarterback/ one-time Don King of dogfighting Michael Vick’s arrived. Wow. [Read more →]

Fred's dreams

Hospital

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August 7, 2009
I dream that I see in the mirror a lump the size of a cheeseburger on my left jowl. I tell Gail I must go to the hospital immediately because there is something wrong with my face. Gail says, “There is nothing wrong with your face.” I say, “Look at my ear.” My ear is diminished in size and hanging lower than usual.

[Read more →]

books & writing

Living poetry: Shannon by Campbell McGrath

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Imagine yourself wandering lost on the high plains of Nebraska and South Dakota with no companions and nothing but your wits to sustain you. Your only provisions are whatever you can kill or gather, and though you have a rifle to hunt game, you have no more than a few bullets. How long would you survive? What would you do to survive? Worse, what if the year were 1804, long before the advent of highways, gas stations, and nationwide cellular phone coverage?

My answers would probably be something along the lines of, “Not long”, “I have no idea”, and “What? No cell phone?”

[Read more →]

television

Lauren likes TV: Deuces for Chima

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Chima is a big, f*ckin’ brat. How many people would kill to be on Big Brother? I’m pretty sure I would. Jeff used his wizard power and overturned Chima’s HOH nominations so she decided to act like a spoiled, bratty sore loser and break all of the Big Bro rules. Awww, your power was taken away, boo hoo. And can we discuss how she looks exactly like a Bratz doll? [Read more →]

movies

Gail sees a movie: Paper Heart

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“Just what America needs, another quirky comedy,” says Michael Cera to Charlyne Yi  when he hears about her new documentary. Part documentary, part mockumentary,  part performance art and wholly enjoyable, Paper Heart is quirky and original, and very different from the slew of romantic comedies dropped on America this summer. [Read more →]