Day 881: The Terrifying Hammer Of Olga

originally published May 30, 2014 It’s been quite some time since I’ve dropped a little bit of Eastern European history on y’all, and even longer since I last used the term “y’all”, which I think I should retire from my lexicon o’ forced quaintness. I was not a fan of history in school. This was […]

Day 880: Litigious Humping, According To The Supreme Court

originally published May 29, 2014 When Paul Ferber found himself behind bars for participating in a routine business transaction, he was outraged. How dare they? So he sold a couple of video tapes to an undercover police officer – is that a crime? Even if the videos featured young boys masturbating? It’s art! Maybe the […]

Day 879: When One’s Writing Cup Overfloweth

originally published May 28, 2014 Were it not for the six or so hours of procrastination that has siphoned away my productivity today, I might have ascribed a new disorder to myself, in that special way that we net-snooping nutjobs are prone to do. Anyone who has ever tried to diagnose themselves using WebMD or […]

Day 878: A Dingo Took Your Baby?

originally published May 27, 2014 I generally avoid topics that have been made into major motion pictures starring Sam Neill and Meryl Streep, since I figure the story is already out there, and told in a much more thorough and entertaining way than I could tell it here. But some stories are too strange to […]

Day 877: One Last Gut-Cram Before I Go

originally published May 26, 2014 Sometimes sinking one’s brain-fins into the waters of a good hypothetical topic and paddling about with one’s friends can be a healthy exercise. “What ten albums would you want on a deserted island?” “Which three children’s books would you travel back in time to read to a young Calvin Coolidge?” […]

Day 876: Big Ben – The Boisterous Bell In The Belfry

originally published May 25, 2014 If your first instinct when you looked at the above photo was that you were looking at London’s famous Big Ben, I’m afraid you’re mistaken. Bemused Brits would scoff and toss old scones at you. Chances are you’ve never seen Big Ben. Until 2012 that structure was known simply as […]

Day 875: Why History Is Missing 10 Days (Plus The Weird Story Of February 30)

originally published May 24, 2014 One day in the mid-1570’s, a Calabrian doctor named Aloysius Lilius deduced precisely how grotesquely wrong our calendar was. We had spent centuries dragging along this defective Ancient Roman relic known as the Julian calendar, completely mucking up the proper documentation of history. Easter wasn’t landing where it was supposed […]

Day 874: Browsing The Naughty Bits Of Reddit

originally published May 23, 2014 I’m going to let you, my loyal readers, in on a secret. My weapon of choice with which I take aim at any number of strange stories, from murderous ice cream vendors to toilet gods, is Reddit. If you’re unfamiliar with the social news site, let me fill you in […]

Day 873: The Movie-Money Juggling Game

originally published May 22, 2014 A spoiler for today’s article: it may shatter your innocence, lay waste to your humbling yet lavish optimism regarding the spirit of humanity, and rend into tatters your perceptions of Hollywood studio executives as upstanding, honest and forthright folk. If this won’t be a problem for you, read on. The […]

Day 872: Here Come Ol’ Levy, He Come Groovin’ Up Slowly

originally published May 21, 2014 A survey of music lovers who possess even so much as a passing interest in the Beatles’ music will undoubtedly reveal “Come Together” to be one of the most universally beloved bullets in their melodic clip. From its swampy bass, its percussive “Shoot me” refrain to its absurdist and almost […]