So glad you asked. Cujo’s got your answer. I love it when pop culture and political news can be combined into teachable moments, don’t you?
Category Archive: culture
Apr 19 2009
Things That Piss Me Off: Shallow Culture Edition
Back when Tarja quit Nightwish, I remember reading the band’s criteria for a new lead singer. They nattered a bit about great voice, etc., but above all, they said, the singer must be physically beautiful. With extra emphasis on the beautiful. And you know what? They ended up with someone gorgeous – who’s not a …
Apr 08 2009
Huzzah! We’re Not So Special
Pretty soon, the only thing that’ll mark humans as unique among animals is the fact that we can build skyscrapers and have to argue constantly with creationists. We sure as shit can’t claim culture: Now, Andrew Whiten from the University of St Andrews has published the first evidence that groups of chimpanzees can pick up …
Nov 29 2008
Satire – It’s ALLLIIIIVVVEEE!!!11!!
Remember your Poe’s Law, my darlings, and enjoy: Unfortunately, liberals have distorted the history and meaning of Thanksgiving because they see everything through the ideology of victimhood, which is a glass-half-empty view of history. Thanksgiving to liberals is a celebration of purported genocide against the Indians perpetrated by the Christian pilgrims. But in fact this …
Sep 26 2008
Condemned to Repeat
EX PRAETERITO PRAESENS PRVDENTER AGIT NI FUTUR- ACTIONE DETVRPET History became a living thing in Roz Ashby’s and Ken Meier’s hands. On the first day of Western Civilization I, they handed out a quote and asked us to date it. It was a typical “kids these days” rant, full of complaints about their manners, their …
Aug 12 2008
The Current Impossibility of Satire
I adore skilled satirists. Voltaire and Mark Twain enjoy a special place in my personal pantheon of literary and philosophical heroes for their immense talent in the art. Every time I read them, I wish I could be even a fraction as good. Sarcasm I can do. Mockery comes easy. Snark seems an inborn trait. …
Aug 08 2008
Outstanding
Kaden frequently ships me over little cultural gems I never would have found on my own. He outdid himself tonight. I’d never heard of Def Poetry, and if I had, would’ve written it off – it’s the “Def,” you see, brings up terrible memories of my hair-band days, when I thought bands such as Def …
Aug 02 2008
Thoughtful (If Snarky) Answers to Thoughtless Questions
One of the things that stood out like a red coat on a soldier during the whole cracker debacle was the sheer quantity of snivelling. In a thousand permutations, the charming and concerned Christians raised the cry: “Why don’t you desecrate the Koran? Why are you always picking on Christianity? Wah!” Religious fuckwits being religious …
Aug 02 2008
Popular Tastes Frighten Me
I took some time away from the blogging to mess about with Project Playlist and my Amazon recommendations. The results have been instructive. First off, it disturbs me that Amazon thinks I want Madonna CDs just because I bought Duran Duran and U2. They need to develop a smarter program, one that can look at …
Jul 31 2008
Of Course He’s Just Like Batman – In the Bizarro Universe
If I’d had any cookies before reading this Andrew Klavan excerpt, they would’ve been tossed: What Bush and Batman Have in CommonJuly 25, 2008 A cry for help goes out from a city beleaguered by violence and fear: A beam of light flashed into the night sky, the dark symbol of a bat projected onto …
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