Category Archives: down and out

Belated valentines for the broken-hearted

Posted on February 15, 2023 by oddmanout215

Swamp Rabbit was at my shack waiting to welcome me home from a long road trip that ended on the treacherous backstreets of York, PA. I drove through an intersection with a sudden slope and the car came down hard … Continue reading →

Posted in apocalypse, arts, dirty rotten scoundrels, down and out, humor, mainstream media, pop music | Tagged , , , , , | 5 Comments

Emotional weather report for April

Posted on May 6, 2018 by oddmanout215

…High tonight, low tomorrow, precipitation is expected. – Tom Waits Nature was at war with itself last month – solitary balmy days sandwiched by cold snaps with gusty winds, the sky still bright at 7:30 pm, but with temps in … Continue reading →

Posted in apocalypse, down and out, humor, life in the big city, mainstream media, Philadelphia | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Seeking disaster’s bright side in Atlantic City

Posted on January 17, 2015 by oddmanout215

Atlantic City Mayor Don Guardian is like Voltaire’s Pangloss, or Eric Idle in Life of Brian. He always looks on the bright side of life, even life in Atlantic City, which has been in a downward spiral for years thanks … Continue reading →

Posted in arts, casinos, down and out, economic collapse, humor, movies, pop music, unemployment | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Get 700,000 e-books for $9.99, then an Amazon crock-pot

Posted on December 31, 2014 by oddmanout215

Swamp Rabbit and I were eating collard greens — the new kale! — and reading about Amazon’s all-you-can-eat strategy for handling books: …For much of the last year, mainstream novelists were furious that Amazon was discouraging the sale of some … Continue reading →

Posted in down and out, economic collapse, fiction, food, humor, mainstream media, The New Depression | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

‘Abundance without attachment’ is right-wing doubletalk

Posted on December 17, 2014 by oddmanout215

Swamp Rabbit and I huddled next to the wood stove and pored over a cheery Christmas article by economist Arthur C. Brooks, who wants people to make an attitude adjustment regarding possessions. He urges readers to “collect experiences, not things,” … Continue reading →

Posted in apocalypse, down and out, economic collapse, food, globalization, Great Recession, humor, liar, life in the big city, mainstream media, philosophy, unemployment, world-wide economy | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Top o’ the mornin’ to you!

Posted on March 17, 2014 by oddmanout215

Swamp Rabbit was in a foul mood. “Snow on St. Patrick’s Day,” he muttered. “And no food in the shack. It’s the end of the world, I tell ya.” “The end of the world for you if you don’t shut … Continue reading →

Posted in down and out, food, humor, mainstream media, philosophy | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

A buy from Amazon is a vote for wage slavery

Posted on March 6, 2014 by oddmanout215

I read a piece in Salon about Amazon’s business model and almost throttled my friend Swamp Rabbit, I guess because he was the only creature in sight. But I was glad to see that at least one media writer wasn’t … Continue reading →

Posted in down and out, economic collapse, globalization, humor, mainstream media, plutocracy, The New Depression, unemployment | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Regarding Coca-Cola (corporate America’s rotgut)

Posted on February 12, 2014 by oddmanout215

I recently discussed with my friend Swamp Rabbit the sappy Coca-Cola commercial that features, as Guardian UK put it, “a multi-lingual rendition of ‘America the Beautiful’ sung by children and illustrated with a diversity of New Americana scenes…” The usual … Continue reading →

Posted in arts, campaign finance reform, Congress, down and out, globalization, humor, mainstream media, movies, Occupy Wall Street, plutocracy, The New Depression, world-wide economy | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

Beware the polar Gore-Tex… or is it cortex?

Posted on January 8, 2014 by oddmanout215

It seemed I might be able to change my socks two days in a row, but then Arctic air crept in on big bear claws and pushed the swamp back into the deep freeze. Swamp Rabbit, flipping out from cabin … Continue reading →

Posted in apocalypse, climate change, down and out, fiction, globalization, humor | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Bread and water beats jail food

Posted on January 7, 2014 by oddmanout215

Pig meat gives me bad dreams; I don’t eat it unless there’s nothing else. Philosopher and Animal Liberation author Peter Singer would tell me there is always something else, that “We are, quite literally, gambling with the future of our … Continue reading →

Posted in down and out, economic collapse, food, mainstream media | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments