Day 271: Virtual Boy – A Virtual Disaster

originally published September 27, 2012 Well this was supposed to change the world. Growing up, I’d always considered Nintendo to be the everything of video games. They invented the console that defined a generation, or at least the kids within that generation who didn’t leave the house very often. The Super Nintendo’s release coincided roughly […]

Day 270: Figuring Out My Digital Camera

originally published September 26, 2012 Today’s article is presented as a public service. And by ‘public’, I mean ‘me’. Allow me to explain. Next week, my wife and daughter are going on a school trip to New York. I will not be going; instead I’ll be right here, writing a thousand words each day for […]

Day 269: The Bitter Pill Of Reality TV

originally published September 25, 2012 Everyone I know claims to despise reality television. Still, everyone I know has a single exception – some piece of scriptless drek that keeps them tuned in, despite their invested time running counter to the logic of their convictions. That’s okay, we all need a vice of mindless buffoonery. Maybe […]

Day 268: Emptiness, As Taught To A Grade Two Class

originally published September 24, 2012 Good morning, class. I’m your substitute teacher, Mr. Pezsnecker. Mrs. Kwibble left me some notes on what you kids have been working on, so we’re going to jump right into some math. Let’s see… she was talking to you about mass and volume. Can anyone tell me something about volume? […]

Day 267: The Little Tough Dead End East Side Bowery Kids Boys Guys

originally published September 23, 2012 1935 was a good year for Sidney Kingsley, 29-year-old New York playwright. His first production, Men In White, dealt with the touchy issue of illegal abortion and had netted him a Pulitzer Prize for Drama the year before. His sophomore effort was also a hit, and launched an unexpected string […]

Day 266: Go, Stagger Lee!

originally published September 22, 2012 “The night was clear, and the moon was yellow, and the leaves came tumbling down.” When those words trickle through my headphones or ooze from my speakers, it’s a call to the volume knob. Lloyd Price’s “Stagger Lee” is one of the finest rock ‘n roll singles from 1959 – […]

Day 265: Ear-Marking The Confluences

originally published September 21, 2012 One of the greatest things about the Internet is its vast repository of seemingly inane and/or insane projects. I tell myself this in the mirror every morning; sometimes this is the only way I can get through the day. There is a metaphorical plate of warm, crispy bacon in my […]

Day 264: The Seven Ancient Big-Shots

originally published September 20, 2012 With so many things (Disneyland, West Edmonton Mall, Christina Hendricks) being billed as the ‘Eighth Wonder of the World’, you’d think the unspoken first seven should be branded on the surface of our collective brain. But the average person would trip over their garbled memory if they tried to list […]

Day 263: A Feast Fit For A Grunt

originally published September 19, 2012 Here I am, tasked once again to write about food. Not necessarily good food – I’ve already covered bacon – and not necessarily food I know. This one has me nervous. This is military food. I have a close friend who has attained a rather impressive rank in the United […]

Day 262: Beyond The Valley Of Russ Meyer

originally published September 18, 2012 Okay, fellow film scholars, movie lovers and culture critics, here’s a question for you. You’ve got a filmmaker who specializes in “nudie” films, carving out the standards by which the sexploitation genre will be measured, and almost exclusively employing large-breasted attractive women to be his stars, all during the heyday […]