Reuters has a hilarious story about the hapless German communist party’s attempts to curry favor with schoolchildren by offering them pens that project pornographic images.

To sweeten their first day at primary school German children are normally given a cardboard cone filled with sweets, but schoolchildren in Essen this year opened their cones to find pens which project erotic images.

Wait a minute.

German children are usually given candy at the beginning of the school year? German children? German children are given candy?

Typical German child enjoying sweets. [Read more →]

Tags: health & medical, travel & foreign lands by Ricky Sprague
No Comments »

Michelangelo Antonioni’s film Blowup constitutes the extent of my acquaintance with the work of the Argentine writer Julio Cortázar. But recently I posted on my blog this quote from Cortázar: “And do you accept the idea that there is no explanation?” [Read more →]

Tags: religion & philosophy, that's what he said, by Frank Wilson by Frank Wilson
12 Comments »

I consider myself an honest person. I like to think that I would never accept an award or a trophy for something that I earned in a dishonest fashion. Even so, I think that it would be extremely difficult to be in the position in which 14-yer-old Zach Nash found himself after a recent Junior PGA golf tournament in Wisconsin. [Read more →]

Tags: bad sports, good sports by Alan Spoll
No Comments »

10. You mentally divide your summer into two parts: pre and post firecracker incident

9. You have gills and you live in the Gulf

8. The only action you got at the beach all summer was when a horsefly flew into your trunks

7. First name “Tony.” Last name “Hayward”

6. Most of the phone calls you received all summer long were from Mel Gibson

5. The only summer job you could find was as a suntan lotion applier for the cast of Jersey Shore

4. You have no idea who Pedro is, but you woke up with his name tattooed on your back

3. The closest you got to a summer fling was kissing Grandma at the Labor Day barbecue

2. What everyone else thinks is a sunburn is actually a rash

1. The highlight of your summer: Reading this top ten list

Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.

Tags: all work, Bob Sullivan's top ten everything, ends & odd by Bob Sullivan
No Comments »

Last month I wrote a piece here about John le Carre’s disparaging remarks about Ian Fleming’s iconic character James Bond. The piece generated some interesting responses.

Although I attempted to offer a spirited defense of Ian Fleming and James Bond (the character from the novels not the films), I did note that I also liked le Carre’s novels, especially Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy.    

This is perhaps le Carre’s year as a film is being made of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy  (the TV miniseries based on the novel was outstanding), and he has a new novel coming out called Our Kind of Traitor.

To promote his new book, the 79-year-old author gave an interesting interview to the British newspaper the Sunday Telegraph.

[Read more →]

Tags: on thrillers and crime by Paul Davis
No Comments »

As Dan Sterlace pointed out a few days ago, a Mississippi public school was barring black students from running for class president and other offices. When I first heard about this story, I was saddened, outraged, and annoyed, so I dealt with it in the most mature way I could: I prank called them.

The image below is a copy of the election rules for Nettleton Middle School’s class officers. [Read more →]

Tags: education, race & culture by Kevin R. Breen
3 Comments »

Ok, I am going to admit, I’ve been a naughty blogger. So I want to start by apologizing for my lack of posts.  But this summer I achieved a dream I never thought possible — I had every Friday off! But now, as we savor the last tasty tidbits of summer, I am back — and armed with a summer’s worth of material. [Read more →]

Tags: art & entertainment, Marty digs, recipes & food, television by Marty O'Connor
1 Comment »

You have been warned. This will contain spoilers, but beyond those I plan to discuss a plot hole so massive I’ve continually tried to find ways to rationalize it, thinking, “There’s no way Stieg could have missed this.” I still have not. I have discussed it with other people — it hasn’t always destroyed the experience for them, but it certainly has damaged it.  Still with me?  Let’s forge ahead. [Read more →]

Tags: books & writing, movies by Sean Cunningham
3 Comments »

The number-crunchers in Washington, D.C. might want to put down their abaci and direct their attention to the wisdom of Alexei Kudrin.

Mr. Kudrin, Russia’s finance minister, wants his fellow countrymen to chain smoke and drink to excess.

Those were not his words, exactly. But one can read between the lines.

[Read more →]

Tags: money, politics & government by David A. Brensilver
1 Comment »

It’s been a long, hot summer — the longest, hottest summer I can remember. Thankfully, it is coming to an end. One of the few memories I have of this summer is reading a relentless stream of Facebook status updates telling me how much fun my friends are having. Am I the only one who isn’t having an amazing summer, or am I the only one who isn’t lying? [Read more →]

Tags: diatribes by Nancy DeGregorio
2 Comments »

I have to admit that I requested this book based on the title. Angels, Vampires and Douche Bags is a title with a lot of potential. Unfortunately, it did not live up to my expectations.

The book separates the people in our lives into three categories. Angels are the people who love you and take care of you. Vampires are the people who are sexy and seductive but ultimately bad for you, and Douche Bags are the people who make your life more difficult. Things can also be in these categories. The whole prospect is kind of muddled and unfocused. It just didn’t quite work. [Read more →]

Tags: books & writing, Lisa Reads by Lisa Hura
No Comments »

Hello, all. Once again, I’ll take advantage of Dr. Spiegelvogel and offer a dream interpretation in two parts. First, I read and Spiegelvogel mimes:

Second, we have a brief therapy session: [Read more →]

Tags: Fred's dreams by Fred Siegel
No Comments »

“Here we believe in fate,” Tareq (Alexander Siddig) tells Juliette (Patricia Clarkson). In this film, what is fate, what is circumstance and what is choice is debatable, and is left to the audience to decide.  This is a small and quiet film, but the two compelling lead actors kept me interested in the fate of the characters. [Read more →]

Tags: Gail sees a movie, movies by Gail D. Rosen
No Comments »