Category Archives: humor

Ding dong! Maggie’s dirty deeds live on


From a 2004 column in Daily Mail on what happened to the working class in Britain after Margaret Thatcher’s successful crusade to kill the miners’ union: … What the [coal miners’] strike represented to us was a set of values … Continue reading

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When life feels like ‘Groundhog Day’


I was biking through a school-free drug zone, on my way to a temp job, cultivating bad habits. Not overtly bad habits — Marlboros and meth, and so on — but rather those drab little habits meant to ensure the … Continue reading

Posted in economic collapse, humor, Iraq war, life in the big city, mainstream media, movies, Philadelphia, pop music | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Easter story, updated


And they said among themselves, Who shall roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulcher? — Mark 16:3 My friend Jesus the taqueria owner was whacked on Friday by demented jerks with nail guns. It wasn’t pretty. … Continue reading

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‘The Next Day’ a surprise gift to Bowie fans


David Bowie’s low visibility in recent years led to rumors he might be dying, or simply too bored to record again. At some point, he got over his ennui, if that’s what it was, and began working on The Next … Continue reading

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Are perfect storms the wave of the future?


The Day After Tomorrow (2004) has a cheesy script, but the spectacle of New York City immersed except for the upper floors of its tallest buildings is worth the DVD rental fee and doesn’t seem silly in our post-Hurricane Sandy … Continue reading

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Throwing truth to the lions


There’s no such thing as the simple truth. The goodness of the good guys is always exaggerated by the media. History is written by the victors. From Laura’s Miller’s review of The Myth of Persecution: How Early Christians Invented a … Continue reading

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Bits and pieces, Oscar night


We all know the Academy Awards are more about commerce than art, that the best picture award rarely goes to the film that deserves it. But how is it that a film can win for best picture but not best … Continue reading

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Sun flurries and sportswear in South Philly


On Sunday there were sun flurries. Very pretty, swirling on the parking lot under a semi-clear sky, but only for a few minutes. I was working outside a big-box store that sells sportswear. Ball caps bearing team logos, shiny clown … Continue reading

Posted in humor, life in the big city, pop music, sports, The New Depression, unemployment | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

William Faulkner does Super Bowl XLVII


[The Sound and the Fury and the outage:] Through the drapes, between the Jell-O football trays, I could see them hitting. They were up on the picture wall, coming to where the ball was and I was looking in the … Continue reading

Posted in arts, fiction, humor, mainstream media, weasel | 2 Comments

Boyz II Men to make sexy time in Russia


Russian President Vladimir Putin addressing his fellow citizens: “I have beeg announcement. American sexy band Boys II Men come to Moscow this week. Show love, comrades.” OK, Putin didn’t exactly say that, but the Grammy-winning R&B band really is flying … Continue reading

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