http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com a journal of American culture (or lack thereof) Tue, 16 Mar 2010 20:21:14 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Once upon a time two boxers fought round after round until one couldn't continue. This was bad for two reasons: 1. It often took a very long time. (Frankly, once you reach round 80 or so, the crowd's losing interest.) 2. After hours of punches, fighters tend to suffer fatal internal injuries. And ... http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2010/03/16/damn-the-decisions/ I watched The Marriage Ref on Sunday. This is not TiVo's fault (I love you, TiVo, and I know you're reading this because you can do anything. ANYTHING.) TiVo knows I'd basically lay over train tracks for Ricky Gervais and, so, it thought it perfectly acceptable to tape the latest episode ... http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2010/03/16/the-marriage-ref-i-now-know-for-sure-that-something-is-wrong-with-jerry-seinfeld/ ...if, for example, you're jogging on the beach and listening to your iPod and a small experimental plane has to make an emergency landing and the pilot can't see because there's oil on his windshield and he lands on the beach and you don't hear the plane coming because you're jogging on ... http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2010/03/16/ipods-can-kill-you/ Nobody has enjoyed a late career renaissance like Johnny Cash. The series of collaborations he made with Slayer producer Rick Rubin reignited critical interest in his work at a time when Cash believed he was destined to become a touring nostalgia act. The first of these, American Recordings is a ... http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2010/03/16/aint-no-grave-johnny-cashs-last-transmission-from-beyond/ "A 40-year-old Racine man is accused of killing a 2-year-old boy, punching him because he was spilling his milk." Manuel Garcia "lost his temper with his girlfriend's son, punching him numerous times in the abdomen on Thursday, killing him." He "admitted punching the boy at least three times because the child ... http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2010/03/16/people-who-should-be-killed-this-week-15/ I'm interested in the recent flap between Chief Justice John Roberts and the White House over comments that President Obama made at the State of the Union address. In the speech, you'll recall, Obama criticized the Court's decision in Citizens United to roll back campaign finance ... http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2010/03/16/exaggeration-nation-indecorous/ Ignatius Perrish spent the night drunk and doing terrible things.  He woke up the next morning with a thunderous hangover, a raging headache...and a pair of horns growing from his temples. It's a great beginning to a promising story: part thriller, part horror, part treatise on the nature of the devil.  ... http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2010/03/16/lisa-reads-horns-by-joe-hill/ Some weeks back I mentioned Robinson Jeffers's poem "Science," which is a meditation on the development of the atomic bomb. It ends thus: A little knowledge, a pebble from the shingle, A drop from the oceans: who would have dreamed this infinitely little too much? This, of course, is merely a 20th-century gloss ... http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2010/03/16/a-little-knowledge-is-a-dangerous-thing/ You know what's amazing? Sometime this week, almost everyone you know will fill out an NCAA Tournament bracket. Male, female, young, old, basketball fan, non-basketball fan, it doesn't matter. The numbers are staggering. I don't have the research on this, but I have to imagine that it is the sporting ... http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2010/03/15/bad-sports-good-sports-time-to-fill-out-those-basketball-pools/ Whenever someone proposes spending money on a new government program, critics will say that we should balance out the effect on the budget with a matching tax increase. That would be great if it worked, but it's a mistake to think that we can make up for increased government spending by ... http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2010/03/15/spending-is-worse-for-the-economy-than-taxing/ Two of my favorite things in the world are fine food and game shows. There is nothing I enjoy more than curling up on the Victorian settee to watch the latest episodes of "Jeopardy!" and "The Price is Right" while eating foie gras-stuffed quail with asparagus and drinking port wine. ... http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2010/03/15/a-hell-of-a-guy-attempting-to-understand-the-ununderstandable-popularity-of-the-food-networks-most-annoying-personality-guy-fieri/ 10. “No, that’s my shillelagh, but I’m still glad to see you!” 9. “But I love the taste of Bailey's Irish Cream!” 8. “Every time I see you, somethin’ starts Dublin in size!” 7. “What’s this I hear about Meredith Baxter practicing her Gaelic?” 6. “Because of you, my Irish thighs are smiling!” 5. “I’ll ... http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2010/03/15/top-ten-punchlines-to-dirty-irish-jokes/ For many of us, our lives don't work out the way we planned. But that doesn't mean that there isn't a plan. It's very apropos that Lost's "Dr. Linus" episode was named for a teacher since it taught us some very valuable lessons about who we are and what our ... http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2010/03/14/lost-in-myth-the-lesson-of-%e2%80%9cdr-linus%e2%80%9dwhat-about-you/ To those who believe that the ongoing war on terrorism against Islamic fanatics is a war without end or a war that can't be won,  I suggest they read up on the anarchists' 19th Century international terror campaign. The Times of London published a good review of Alex Butterworth's The World That Never Was: A True Story of Dreamers, ... http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2010/03/14/dreamers-schemers-and-secret-agents-the-anarchists-international-terror-campaign/ I love the Florida Keys. I love the laid-back, tropical, "Margaritaville" lifestyle of the local characters. But one laid-back inhabitant should not be behind the wheel of a moving car. While public affairs campaigns warn against drinking and driving and talking or texting on a cell phone while driving, we must now ... http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2010/03/12/close-shave-accident-caused-in-the-florida-keys-caused-by-woman-bikini-shaving-while-driving/ BBC News reported this week that the Treasury Department has eased sanctions against Iran, Cuba, and Sudan with the hope of "[helping] further the use of web services and [supporting] opposition groups." While I generally disagree with sanctions on principle, and so certainly welcome any removal of them by our ... http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2010/03/12/does-internet-freedom-political-freedom/ Throwing the baby out with the bathwater Based on the off-chance that someone working for the Washington DC Archdiocese might be gay and want to marry their partner, the organization, employing about 850 people, has announced that they're eliminating all health care benefits for their workers' families. As Tiny Tim would ... http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2010/03/12/5-things-i-was-hoping-the-catholic-church-would-give-up-for-lent-this-year/ I am so sick and tired of hearing Republican hack after Republican hack telling those of us who are conservative, and yet not also Republican, that we are the ones screwing everything up.  From Limbaugh and Rove on the squawking boxes to actual Republican leaders like Romney, it's a virtual litany these days... It pisses ... http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2010/03/11/a-warning-to-the-tea-party-beware-republican-talking-heads/ The new Iron Man 2 trailer has appeared to much fanfare, as the sheeple begin to salivate over the return of their military-industrial complex savior. Well, you'll excuse me if I'm not excited about the so-called "super" hero known as "Iron Man." I know he is not all the media ... http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2010/03/11/iron-mans-shameful-union-busting-past/ Paramedic Daniel McIntosh died in the line of duty in Bensalem, PA.  On Sunday night, the squad's ambulance crew had rushed to the 2600 block of Knights Road for a report of a suicidal man. When they arrived, the man ran away and McIntosh chased after him, hoping to save the man ... http://whenfallsthecoliseum.com/2010/03/11/paramedic-dies-while-trying-to-help-suicidal-man/