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 so the sport was changed so that you could win by decision, which was great as spectators had places to be and the athletes didn’t die quite so frequently. Still, there’s a basic flaw in the system: people pretend decisions are accurate and should be treated with respect, when time after time that’s shown to be wrong. [Read more →]

Tags: sports by Sean Cunningham
1 Comment »

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 of Jerry Seinfeld’s new show on NBC, The Marriage Ref, where Ricky Gervais joined “panel” guests Larry David and Madonna. Larry David and Ricky Gervais in the same room? I am only human for God’s sake.

And, clearly, that’s exactly the reaction that Jerry Seinfeld was hoping for- that I would dumbly follow my comedy gods anywhere. I spent the next forty minutes wincing and burying my head in my hands.

[Read more →]

Tags: television by Judi Cutrone
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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 fantastic album — raw, dark, stark, stripped down to the Man in Black’s voice and primitive guitar playing. Cash had never sounded young, and he’d always been good with death, but I was shocked by the simplicity of the first lines, the frank, naked, blasé expression of brutality: [Read more →]

Tags: music by Daniel Kalder
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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 restrictions. Then, last week, a tape was released in which Roberts characterized Obama’s open criticism as indecorous. The New York Times has a roundup of the argument, along with the jabs of several writers who have weighed in — the word “crybaby” comes up frequently.

[Read more →]

Tags: language & grammar, politics & government by Neil Verma
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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.  While Horns occasionally gets bogged down in reminiscence, it’s still an extremely entertaining read. 

A year ago, Ig’s girlfriend Merrin was raped and murdered.  Ig was the prime suspect — an alibi like “I was passed out in my car parked behind an abandoned Dunkin Donuts” is not very convincing — and although he was never charged, he was also never cleared.  There is a cloud of suspicion hanging over him already, and growing horns is not going to make him look innocent. [Read more →]

Tags: books & writing, Lisa Reads by Lisa Hura
2 Comments »

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 on something Alexander Pope said a long time ago: “A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.” [Read more →]

Tags: science, that's what he said, by Frank Wilson by Frank Wilson
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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 event that pulls in the most non-fans this side of the Super Bowl. [Read more →]

Tags: bad sports, good sports by Alan Spoll
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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 increasing taxes.

[Read more →]

Tags: money, politics & government by Mark Draughn
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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. The extreme pleasure of consuming great food combined with the excitement of a thrilling game show causes the cares of the world to just drift away.

Given my love of food and of game shows, the appearance of the NBC program, Minute to Win it, should be cause for celebration. After all, it is a game show, and it is hosted by a popular figure from the Food Network.

You might think that one such as I would enjoy the Food Network. You might think that, but do not say it out loud, because if I hear you, I will remove my gauntlet and slap you across the face. [Read more →]

Tags: diatribes, television by Ricky Sprague
10 Comments »

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 show you who’s hung like a leprechaun!”

4. “They don’t call me Lord of the Pants for nothing! ”

3. “You’ve made my sham rock hard!”

2. “It’s those two Irish smoothboys: Patrick Fitzgerald and Gerald Fitzpatrick!”

1. “Oooooooooooooooooo! Danny Boy!”
 

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

Tags: Bob Sullivan's top ten everything, ends & odd, race & culture by Bob Sullivan
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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 purpose here may be. In other words, it really was all about you.

[Read more →]

Tags: religion & philosophy, television by Marc Oromaner
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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.

[Read more →]

Tags: books & writing, terror & war by Paul Davis
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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.

[Read more →]

Tags: ends & odd by Paul Davis
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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 gov’t, I can’t help but make a few quick points regarding the general narrative that this move fits into. [Read more →]

Tags: politics & government, technology by Calvin Pollak
1 Comment »

1. 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 say, “God bless us, everyone!” [Read more →]

Tags: religion & philosophy by Ari McKee
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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 me off.

[Read more →]

Tags: politics & government by Mike McGowan
6 Comments »

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 would have you believe. I know that Iron Man, AKA Tony Stark, is a heartless businessman who cares for nothing more than the padding of his own massive bank account.

Tony Stark is more than just an opportunist and war profiteer. He’s also got a shameful secret he’d like to keep hidden. A shameful union-busting past, as stated in the explosive headline of this post.

[Read more →]

Tags: art & entertainment, politics & government by Ricky Sprague
6 Comments »

When Falls the Coliseum is looking for bloggers to post commentaries, essays, rants, satire, and reviews about current events, politics, entertainment, culture, and many other topics from a broad range of personal and political perspectives. We appreciate both serious discussion and merciless mockery. We like humor — the funny kind. If you’re interested in being a regular contributor, visit our submissions page and tour our site (see FAQ, Welcome, and History). We don’t care if you are libertarian, liberal, conservative, other, or don’t pay attention to politics. As long as you can write posts that interest readers and you want to do so regularly, we’d like to hear from you. We’re looking to increase our coverage of movies, books, TV, video games, celebrity news, pop culture, politics, current events, social issues, online oddities.

Tags: announcements by Coliseum
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March 7, 2010
I dream I am with friends who cultivate eccentricities. I am fussy about the kinds of eccentricities I am willing to cultivate, but with them, anything goes. For example, I am reluctant to use the new inspirational paper towels. I am ok with the old ones imprinted with general homilies that might be appropriate in a wide range of contexts, but my friends prefer the new ones that are thought to be the word of God. If anyone has a problem or question, all they do is rip off the next paper towel and do what it says. My friends recline together in enormous beds and think up odd things to do. I feel out of it, and begin work on a list of eccentric activities.

[Read more →]

Tags: Fred's dreams by Fred Siegel
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“Sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast,” says Alice (Mia Wasikowska) to the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp).  So have I. I believed that it would be impossible for Tim Burton to make a film of Alice in Wonderland that is: 1) not funny, 2) not dark,  3) not adult, 4) dull, even with the help of 3D effects, 5) heavy handed and 6) lacking in imagination. But, curiouser and curiouser, I was wrong. [Read more →]

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