Day 61: Send Me Your Money! (and other internet lies)

originally published March 1, 2012 Looking to make some extra money? Do I have a deal for you. Welcome to the 419. No, I’m not referring to the area code for Toledo, Ohio (but great guess!), I’m talking about that rocket-road to regretless riches, the 419 scam. You’ve seen these before, and even if somehow […]

Day 60: Speed Niggs & The Weirdness Of German Rock Music

originally published February 29, 2012 Who says the Germans don’t have a sense of humor? Today I’ll be checking out the German indie rock scene, or at least as much of it as I can fit into a kilograph. My interest was immediately piqued by the card I pulled from the Wiki-deck today: Speed Niggs. […]

Day 59: The A-Z List Of Defunct Sports Franchises

originally published February 28, 2012 A – Philadelphia Athletics (1860-1876) – This team, which bears no relation to today’s Oakland team, finished with a record of .500 or greater for all but its final year in the National League. In 1876 they were horrible, and at one point refused to head out west for a […]

Day 58: The 1715 Jacobite Uprising, As Taught By An Awkward Substitute History Teacher Who Tries Too Hard

originally published February 27, 2012 Yo. My name is Mr. Leppswig, and I’ll be your substitute teacher today. Your teacher, Mrs. Griffle, asked me to lay it down for you all about the 1715 Jacobite Uprising in Great Britain. Will you pick it up? Alright, take out your notebooks. Last week you learned about the […]

Day 57: A Trip Down The Strip

originally published February 26, 2012 One thing that makes a great city great is its Street. Every magnificent metropolis seems to have one street that defines its culture, broadcasts to the world where the city is at, and where the rest of us will someday be. New York has Broadway, Los Angeles has Sunset Strip, […]

Day 56: Double Indemnity – The Art Of Murder

originally published February 25, 2012 It was a little surreal this morning to click on ‘Random Article’ and see a familiar film pop onto the Wiki-screen, let alone one I saw only six days ago. Today’s article is brought to you in part by my film noir class, the reason I spent my afternoon at […]

Day 55: Pretending I’m Well-Read… The Books Of ’55

originally published February 24, 2012 Wikipedia has a number of groupings by year – births, deaths, I even wrote about the news events of 1927 in one of my less memorable practice articles months ago. I was not aware, however, that they grouped the events in the literature world year-by-year. Now I am. So are […]

Day 54: Pledging Confusion To The Flags Of Burma

originally published February 23, 2012 Flags can tell a lot about a nation’s history. And the story is always that much more interesting when the nation in question has a history as full of defeat, imperialism and international bitch-slapping as Burma. This is the Golden Hintha flag, used by Burma from about 1300 to 1500. […]

Day 53: A Hunk-a Hunk-a Burning Matrimonial Commitment

originally published February 22, 2012 Talk about timely and poignant. Right in time for the annual day when thousands of people start to regret their spontaneous decision to get married on Valentine’s Day in Vegas, I get to write about true love. Vegas-style. My wife and I visited Las Vegas for the first time on […]

Day 52: Forgotten Sports – From Finger Jousting To Chessboxing

originally published February 21, 2012 Sometimes we as a society allow ourselves to become complacent, inviting certain repeated activities into our lives almost rut-like, ignoring fresh ideas and innovation. I’m talking about the sports world today. We see enough hockey, enough baseball, enough football… we see some curling, and that’s more than enough. What about […]