Celebrity Endorse-O-Rama rages out of control
First Oprah endorses Obama. Now Barbra is jumping the Hillary train. Great. Just feckin’ great. If we can get Britney on the stump for Edwards my life will be complete.
Read moreCategory Archives: Culture
A vision of students today: the out-of-touch geezer perspective
Our friend Ubertramp sent along this little video, which certainly provides food for thought: There’s much to empathize with here.
Read moreVerse Day: an ode to banality and the poetry of consensus
We live in an unfortunate age artistically. There is more freedom than ever, more tools for creation, more outlets to publish and display, but we have largely used this freedom to fetishize banality. The great leveling, as it were – everybody is an artist, everything is poetry. When I entered my Master’s program at Iowa State the prof who would
Read moreSaturday Video Roundup: ’tis the (shopping) season
Welcome to another edition of Saturday Video Roundup. This week we take a look a holiday gift ideas. Specifically, bad holiday gift ideas. Let’s start with by reviewing the #1 item on my Do Not Want list.
Read moreReal heroes refuse to shut up and sing
A few weeks ago I watched The US vs. John Lennon, a documentary chronicling the extraordinary lengths the American government went to in order to silence an artist who had the audacity to speak out against corruption and injustice. Of course, Lennon came from an age when artists did that sort of thing, and he wasn’t the only musician to
Read moreSaturday Video Roundup: All the young dudes of 2007
Last week on SVR we looked at some of 2007’s top female artists, so this week it seemed appropriate to offer props to some of the guys responsible for outstanding CDs this year. We’ll start with CD of the Year candidate The Good, the Bad & the Queen, fronted by former Blur and Gorillaz auteur Damon Albarn, who’s shaping up
Read moreBritney coverage is in the public interest and Iran isn’t; are we as dumb as they think we are?
Well, here’s a fine howdy-do first thing this morning: an absolutely breathtaking bit of misdirection and pro-monopolist hackery masquerading as a good-faith critique of Bill Moyers. Moyers’ point seems to be that the opposite of more consolidation is the existence of more stations like this one in Chicago.This is absolutely false and Mr. Moyers should know it. The opposite of
Read moreThe problem with democracy in America…
In my most recent post, one commenter repeatedly insisted that I offer a solution or an alternative for the problems I was pointing to. As I noted there, I never suggested that there was a problem, and even if there were, it’s hardly my job to be proposing a lot of solutions that aren’t going to be acted on. If
Read moreAAA-Rod is bigger than the game
It’s always confusing to sports fans, and not a little disappointing, when they encounter great talents with second-rate character. Bobby Knight is a legendary coach but a serial bully who has, on many occasions, deserved a righteous public ass-whipping. Barry Bonds was gifted with first-ballot Hall of Fame skills, but has destroyed his reputation forever thanks to a little problem
Read moreSaturday Video Roundup: Men without…
Howdy folks – time now for yet another episode of Scholars & Rogues’ critically acclaimed Saturday Video Roundup! Today we pay tribute to men, mostly. It’s hard to be a man, especially when there are so many things that a man is without. For example, here are some men without shirts.
Read moreEvangelical litmus tests and the World Series: why we all need to be rooting against the Colorado Rockies
The World Series starts tomorrow night and people around here have gone Rockies crazy. I’m getting asked a lot if I’m excited, and the answer is yes – Go Red Sox! They all want to know “why aren’t you rooting for Colorado?” So I’m answering them: First off, the Red Sox are my favorite team. Second, I cannot abide the
Read moreSaturday Video Roundup: spotlight on advertising
There’s so much badvertising in the world, so today on the Saturday Video Roundup we’re going to spend some time with some good (or at least entertaining) ads we’ve come across recently. Let’s start with the coolest gorilla in the world.
Read moreGood cop/bad cop: the tasing of Andrew Meyer and remembering Officer Bubba
How much do you trust your local neighborhood law enforcement authorities? Hopefully a lot, and hopefully with good reason. Today, though, events at a John Kerry speaking engagement at the University of Florida have sparked another round of debate over the conduct and capability of police officers (both those on the scene and in general) and the conversations I’ve seen
Read moreMisguided University of Colorado response to campus stabbing: is it about safety or is it about litigation and the media?
On Monday, an incoming freshman at the University of Colorado was injured in a knife attack by a mentally ill former university employee. The student is fine, fortunately, and the assailant is in custody. As the Denver Post story notes, there are some disturbing issues where the attacker is concerned. The suspect, identified as 39-year-old Kenton Drew Astin, worked at
Read moreWorst porn-spam subject line of the day
Day. Week. Month. Year. Ever. > Barbra Streisand goes bra-less It’s like they’re not even trying anymore.
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lullaby pit 