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	<title>When Falls the Coliseum</title>
	<link>http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com</link>
	<description>a journal of American culture (or lack thereof)</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Thu, 24 May 2012 18:15:36 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>Book Review: VISIONARY: The Odyssey of Sir Arthur C. Clarke</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Out of a sense of professional obligation (I teach a “Sci-fi and Fantasy” class and I knew nothing about the guy, outside of a few short stories and that movie) I agreed to review a biography of Arthur C. Clarke. I was being a dutiful teacher, but, at the same time, I welcomed the opportunity [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2012/05/24/book-review-visionary-the-odyssey-of-sir-arthur-c-clarke/</link>
			</item>
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		<title>Lisa reads The Professionals by Owen Laukkanen</title>
		<description><![CDATA[What a ride! The Professionals is the kind of book that you get about 75% through, then you set it down because you don&#8217;t want it to end&#8230;then you spend the next hour looking at it, sitting on the table, until you can&#8217;t take the suspense and you grab the book and finish another chapter [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2012/05/24/lisa-reads-the-professionals-by-owen-laukkanen/</link>
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		<title>Back to the high life and into the breach again!</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more; Or close the wall up with our English dead. In peace there&#8217;s nothing so becomes a man As modest stillness and humility: But when the blast of war blows in our ears, Then imitate the action of the tiger; Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood, [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2012/05/23/back-to-the-high-life-and-into-the-breach-again/</link>
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		<title>Audio files: The awesome, evil genius of &#8220;Friday&#8221; producer Patrice Wilson</title>
		<description><![CDATA[Some of you may recall the catchy viral strains of Rebecca Black&#8217;s &#8220;Friday,&#8221; which was popular on the Internet last year. This year, journalist Jon Ronson visits &#8220;Friday&#8221; producer Patrice Wilson to conduct a viral experiment. Ronson&#8217;s theory is that journalists wield too much power in the subject/chronicler relationship. To subvert that dynamic, he submits [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2012/05/23/audio-files-the-awesome-evil-genius-of-friday-producer-patrice-wilson/</link>
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		<title>Mitt Romney: our King Joffrey?</title>
		<description><![CDATA[“There’s a wild and crazy man inside of there just waiting to come out.” – Mrs. Romney on her husband I used to watch Mitt Romney and think, “He&#8217;ll make a fantastic villain on Dexter.” (Maybe not one to hold our interest for an entire season – he&#8217;s no John Lithgow – but definitely a [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2012/05/23/mitt-romney-our-king-joffrey/</link>
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		<title>Gatz and Gatsby</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The curtain rises on a dingy office. It could be the 1980’s: a man sits silently at an ancient computer screen and pushes buttons but nothing happens.  In frustration, he rifles through a box next to the computer, and finds there a copy of  F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. He begins reading aloud &#8211; [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2012/05/22/gatz-and-gatsby/</link>
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		<title>The Emperor decrees that there shall be no more &#8220;knowing smiles&#8221; in automobile commercials</title>
		<description><![CDATA[I have been declared Emperor of the World. Let us not waste time explaining why or how; let’s all simply accept the fact that we are better off, as a result; hence, my next decree: Emperor’s Decree No. 34-A: While directors of automobile commercials will continue to be permitted to cast the ubiquitous “slightly-graying-youngish-but-not-old man” [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2012/05/22/the-emperor-decrees-that-there-shall-be-no-more-knowing-smiles-in-automobile-commercials/</link>
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		<title>Bad sports, good sports: The Miami Heat are the kings of drama</title>
		<description><![CDATA[The NBA playoffs started a few weeks ago, and the second round is more than half over. There has been plenty of drama, and much of it has recently been focused on the Miami Heat, as expected. Once the Heat assembled its current roster before the 2010-2011 season, adding LeBron James and Chris Bosh to [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2012/05/21/bad-sports-good-sports-the-miami-heat-are-the-kings-of-drama/</link>
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		<title>Top ten signs you’re not going to graduate from high school this year</title>
		<description><![CDATA[10. Your guidance counselor gave you a booklet on how to operate a fryolator 9. In History Class, you identified Roe v. Wade as “Two ways to cross a stream” 8. On the true/false test, you answered every question “C” 7. In your high school yearbook, you were voted ‘Most Likely to Appear in Next [...]]]></description>
		<link>http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2012/05/21/top-ten-signs-you%e2%80%99re-not-going-to-graduate-from-high-school-this-year/</link>
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		<title>Obama inserts himself into more than just Presidential bios</title>
		<description><![CDATA[]]></description>
		<link>http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2012/05/18/obama-inserts-himself-into-more-than-just-presidential-bios/</link>
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