When I’m not railing against Israel or otherwise decrying imperialism, sometimes I like to write about music on my blog, Dogs Thought. I’ve combined here a two-part post I published there listing, in no particular order, ten albums I liked from this past year. WFTC does not have as much content about current music as current movies or TV, so I figured it couldn’t hurt to throw in my two cents on the various tra-la-las and boom-boom-baps that emerged from stereos, headphones, tin cans, etc. in 2009. Enjoy. [Read more →]

Tags: art & entertainment, music
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With the year and season turning; perhaps also the decade and undoubtably the aging of the millenium that seemed so young moments ago, Americans high and low, both bailed and swamped are reflecting on their lives, their faith, the state of the world and the state of their relationships. Many find themselves feeling trapped in arrangements they made joyously and optimistically; wedded in haste and in public, they now regret at length and in the dark privacy of their hearts. Not exempted from this is the enthusiastic practitioner of plural, whimsical marriages, our fine and debonair President, Barack Obama. [Read more →]

Tags: environment & nature, politics & government, terror & war
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A commander-in-chief’s first and foremost duty and responsibility is protecting American citizens. Obama gave a speech and announced that a terrorist’s ability to board an American airliner with explosives in his underwear was a “systemic failure.”

But as Toby Harnden, the U.S. editor of the British Daily Telegraph noted in his column , Obama is in charge of that system.

I agree with Harnden that Obama gets an F for national security.

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Tags: terror & war
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New Year’s Eve is one of America’s greatest traditions. And, as is true of all great American traditions, New Year’s Eve brings with it a new set of scary rumors each year. Will the world come to an end? Will all the dogs start talking and turn out to be very mean? Y2K? Maybe!

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Tags: Kelly Conaboy saves the world
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(N.B.: Tongue is firmly planted in cheek throughout. Expect offense in response to one of the more offensive decades in recent memory.)

It’s that time of the decade again. The toll of tonight’s midnight church bells or the image of that big-ass crystal ball slowly descending into the madness of Times Square will signal that we’ve let another decade slip away. The…um…“naughts” have been a decade like no other, so I’d like to take an opportunity to honor this decade in what seems the only way possible: with an egocentric list.

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Tags: diatribes, ends & odd
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One question I have concerning full body scans at airports, and the threats they pose to personal liberties, travelers’ dignity, yada-yada-yada … what about the poor schmucks who will have to look at way-too-many images of way-too-many travelers such as myself?
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Tags: technology, terror & war
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10. 2001
9. 2000
8. 2005
7. 2003
6. 2008
5. 2002
4. 2009
3. 2006
2. 2004
1. 2007

(Personal reasons.)

Tags: ends & odd
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It’s the end of 2009 and the end of the single digit years in the 2000s. When this time of year rolls around we get bombarded with “the year in review” or the “decade in review” or the “top ten bakeries of the year,” etc. Now, I’m not opposed to lists. In fact, I spend a lot of time discussing and refining my own mental lists of the best things. Movies, bands, comics… I’m not sure why I do it. I suppose I want to definitively know, through aggressive research and discussion, what the best anything is. That way when some dude comes up and says P.S. I Love You is the greatest movie of all time, I can walk him through my list and he can see that maybe it’s just a little lower than he thought.

But what about the last decade? Not something of all time but just the last decade? Sort of narrow the scope a bit. Separate the wheat from the chaff. Let the cream rise to the top, ya know? As I’m deployed to Africa, presumably defending the United States, I figured why not rank the 50 states over the last decade. I’m willing to die for these states and they should know what order they are in. [Read more →]

Tags: ends & odd
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Of course what children really want for Christmas is a list of commands, prohibitions, and threats. To this end I have compiled the following words of advice for young people. This is the wisdom I have painfully accrued over 33 years of stupidity, and I do not hesitate to pass it on to the next generation. [Read more →]

Tags: animals, ends & odd
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October 30, 2009
I dream I am waiting for a party to begin and I am sitting on the curb outside practicing a magic trick in which four popcorn kernels magically leave my left hand and reappear in my right. A young tough comes by and ridicules and insults me. I don’t like the ridicule and insult, but I am more upset that he does not want to see this beautiful magic trick. I try to explain this, but he insults me more and throws my popcorn kernels and punches me. I am concerned for my well-being, but I am still upset about the magic trick.

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Tags: Fred's dreams
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People sometimes ask me, “Scott, what is this blog you’re always blogging about?” Sometimes, confused, they add, ”Blog.”

I try to tell them about When Falls the Coliseum, about our more than 60 writers, about our regular columns and reviews, that since Thanksgiving more than a dozen new voices have joined us, that we actually have readers and lots of fun things to read here, that they should give us a visit and tell their friends. But all some of them hear is “blog.” Everyone’s got one of those. [Read more →]

Tags: books & writing
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As the closing credits roll for 2009, this column is two months shy of its year anniversary. In the spirit of the holidays and that almost anniversary, it is time to look back at the 41 movies Gail has seen and give out some awards. [Read more →]

Tags: Gail sees a movie, movies
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Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has been justifiably criticized for her odd statement that “the system worked” in the case of a would-be terrorist on several watch lists who boarded a U.S. commercial with explosives in his underwear.

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Tags: terror & war
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In the belief that the end of the year is best celebrated by staring into the implacable face of death, here’s a roundup of 2009’s most egregious overstatements and lame eulogies written about people whose latest error in life was to pass away.

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Tags: art & entertainment, language & grammar
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The past year has given women proof for their argument that men are idiots*. 2009 might appropriately be called the year of the Homer Simpson D’oh! Although we said goodbye to eight long years of George W. Bush’s antics, plenty of men are vying to take his place as the knucklehead of the year. (Listen, I know women aren’t perfect. But when do we read stories of women acting like fools? That’s right, never. That’s probably because women are not acting like fools.) Let’s recap some of the men who unraveled in 2009 and the lessons it taught women. [Read more →]

Tags: his & hers
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It’s nearly the end of the year, and you know what that means: lists. And ferret-wrestling matches, though I don’t want to get into that now. No, the end of the year is a time when we look back, and compile lists of things. And happenings. And celebrity deaths. Usually ordered backwards, though in the case of the famous the lists are usually ordered by cultural importance or the number of original teeth the celebrity had at their death.
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Tags: diatribes, ends & odd
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Every morning, the first post on my blog is titled “Thought for the day.” It is simply a quote I find interesting from a writer (usually, it’s a writer) born on that date. Recently, the one I chose was by Italo Svevo, author of The Confessions of Zeno: “God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December.”

This struck me as a magical turn of phrase. [Read more →]

Tags: language & grammar, that's what he said, by Frank Wilson
3 Comments »

The following 10 words and phrases can be added to the previous list of 10. Both lists can be printed out, kept in wallets and purses, taped to the bathroom mirror, and given away as gifts. I like all of my friends and family and would hate to lose anyone. [Read more →]

Tags: diatribes, language & grammar
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It’s the end of the holiday season, but the memories are fresh in our minds.  Since Christmas is supposed to be a season of giving, let’s use those memories to respond to a request that I defend the assertion that “Nature selects against purely altruistic behavior”.  Jump in the car of your imagination, crank ‘er up, and drive with me to the local Wal-Mart parking lot of two weeks ago…

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Tags: environment & nature, religion & philosophy
9 Comments »

I worked as a bouncer/bartender for many years while I was in college.  As the New Year’s parties get kicked off on Thursday evening, here are a couple of things to think about when you run into the guy at the bar wearing the funky colored shirt with “crew” or “security” written on the back.

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Tags: drugs & alcohol
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I spent most of this week with my wife’s family in Nashville, Tennessee. More so than ever before, I was witness to a very odd phenomenon that goes against the very fiber of my being as a football fan. If you read this column regularly, you know I am a Philadelphia Eagles fan. In the last 7 years, I have also become a fan of the Tennessee Titans, due to the fact that my wife is from Nashville and was a Titans fan when I met her (and still is, although she also roots for the Eagles). Allegiance to a team is a personal thing. Some people are true fans, living and dying with their team, while others are casual fans. Titans fans, at least the ones I know, are a different breed entirely, and it’s all about Peyton Manning. [Read more →]

Tags: bad sports, good sports
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10. The only noisemaker involves the host and a can of beans

9. All Macarena, all the time!

8. When you come through the front door, you spot a large table and a 10,000-piece jigsaw puzzle

7. The only toast all evening involves actual bread

6. It breaks up at 11:45

5. Everyone is speaking Klingon

4. The “champagne” is really just ginger ale and Mentos

3. It’s just you and three Zhu Zhu Hamsters

2. It’s February 12th

1. You’re still waiting for your ball to drop

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

Tags: Bob Sullivan's top ten everything, drugs & alcohol, ends & odd
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Today marks one year since Israel’s military incursion into the Gaza Strip, known officially as “Operation Cast Lead.” On December 27th of ‘08, Israel began a week of targeted air-strikes which included, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, “37 houses; 67 security and training sites; 20 workshops; 25 public and private institutions; seven mosques; and three educational institutions” in the Hamas-governed territory. This was followed on January 3rd by an air-land phase which lasted until Israel withdrew all combat forces on January 17th. At the end of the offensive, somewhere between 1150 and 1450 Palestinians had been killed — three different pro-Palestinian human rights sources estimated 1444, 1409, and 1387, respectively, while the Israel Defense Forces counted 1166; thirteen total Israelis had died at the end of operations. [Read more →]

Tags: politics & government, terror & war
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I don’t know what it is that keeps you up at night worrying, dear reader, but I think I’ve got something more important to bring to your attention. It’s not anything mundane like the economy, airline terrorism, or global climate change-these simply are not the biggest problems facing humanity, and we’ve all got to be on the same page if we’re going to survive. So pull yourself together for this.

In the last week, two news articles caught my eye. Taken separately, they might be merely interesting tidbits of zoological behavior research. But when taken together, they indicate an alarming pattern, and they paint a clear picture of impending doom for our species. [Read more →]

Tags: animals, science
2 Comments »

I have been more than a little slack in my blogging in recent weeks. But, sometimes, the actual world will do that … make demands upon the time you would normally spend in the virtual world. Such was the case with me for the better part of two weeks this month. Sure, at times, it was tiring and annoying … but it was also educating and inspiring … and it reminded me that the best way to shut out the hectic hustle of the holiday season might not be shutting one’s self into a darkened and sound-proofed room but, instead, to go out into the world to serve, to accept added tasks and responsibilities.
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Tags: race & culture
2 Comments »

November 2009 — It is Sunday here in Africa. The sun is pretty strong for it being a “Dark Continent” and all. Regardless, the weather is predictably hot but not near as bad as what I call “The Devil’s Breath” or what others might call Kuwait. Wait… let me back up…

…I flew up to Cleveland, Ohio to meet with the small group of guys that were picked for this unique mission. I wonder what I can say about the mission, as most of what I specifically do is classified. Please don’t mistake that for actually being cool. I just simply can’t talk about it. If I did tell you, you most likely wouldn’t think it was all that cool. Real secrets aren’t like in the movies. They are, in actuality, pretty boring. [Read more →]

Tags: terror & war, travel & foreign lands
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I just watched what is quite possibly the most brilliant and hysterically funny movie review I’ve ever seen. This masterpiece critique was created by Mike of Red Letter Media and consists of seven parts that can all be viewed on YouTube. I highly recommend everyone viewing at least the first two parts of his videos, but it will not be necessary to understand what I’m about to say. His analysis brought to the forefront something that I’ve pushed down deep into my psyche for over ten years and am only now ready to release: The Phantom Menace is not only the biggest disappointment in movie history, it is also very likely completely responsible for screwing up our world’s history. [Read more →]

Tags: movies, religion & philosophy
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I went to see James Cameron’s new film Avatar with my family yesterday. To call it a lot of fun seems almost unnecessary. It’d be better to offer a command than make a judgment: go check it out. I defy anyone who sees it on the big screen to deny the beauty of the locales, characters, spacecraft, and weaponry — all computer-generated, mind you — or the roller-coaster thrill of the battle scenes. It’s all directed and edited with precision and flair. As Dana Stevens wrote in her very apt Slate review, this is “a world so richly and specifically imagined that it’s thrilling just to dwell inside it.” And it culminates in a showdown that is immensely exciting and gratifying. [Read more →]

Tags: movies, politics & government
4 Comments »

I’ve realized the other day that the reason I may be feeling so blasé about the whole “Nothing Less Than The Survival Of The World Is At Stake!!!” hysteria is that I’ve been desensitized by watching too many “Nothing Less Than The Survival Of The World Is At Stake!!!” movies. In every one, it all works out somehow. [Read more →]

Tags: diatribes, environment & nature
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I wrote a blog last year that centered around growing up as a Jewish kid during Christmas and how to now handle my daughter during this time of year. You can read it here. I used to think it was pretty funny; I kept it light and to the point. But now I don’t think it’s that funny. I’ve been finding people’s assumption that saying “Merry Christmas” to everyone is totally normal and acceptable to be pretty fucking presumptuous and rude. [Read more →]

Tags: family & parenting, going parental
7 Comments »