"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter." —Mark Twain
There’s a new blog post category this morning: reviews. Never fear — they’re short. I’ll start with a few recently-watched movies: An American Crime (2007). Beautifully acted, and who doesn’t love Ellen Page? But now I better understand those who condemn movies about the underbelly of life. Yes, it’s a true story; no, this is […]
“Death Map”: Where Americans Are Most Likely to Die You see a headline like that, you just can’t not read the article, right? I mean, if we’re less likely to die in Dubuque than in Tucson, hey, let’s all move there. Today! But you know there’s gotta be a gimmick. Too good to be true, […]
I’ve been neglecting the motorcycle lately, which, if you believe machinery and the skills required to operate machinery work better if regularly used, is a bad thing. So I woke up this morning determined to ride, and even though it’s cloudy and wet, put on my gear and went for it. Okay, it was only […]
I wrote about eggcorns a few days ago, and in one of those coincidences that make you think “huh?”, spotted one in the wild this morning. From a customer review of a true crime movie on Amazon: “If you think the film is gut retching, I dare you to actually review the case.” Gut retching! […]
When I drove disabled veterans for the local VA hospital in Tucson, one of my first regular patients was an elderly man who made daily trips from the VA hospice to the university hospital for radiation oncology treatments. One day he pointed out several areas of skin cancer on his arms, neck, and face, then […]
Did they just have a coup in Canada? It sure sounds like it: parliament was about to vote out the current prime minister, Stephen Harper, and put in someone else, and Harper . . . with the blessing of the colonial governor (i.e., someone who represents the Queen of England) . . . has shut […]
Recently posted to a Hash House Harrier board: Do to popular request, this Fridays hashy hour will be at the Old Chicago Unremarkable, save for the fact that the guy who wrote this earned post-graduate degrees in marine biology and optical engineering. I judge people by the way they speak and write. C’mon, you do […]
My September 2007 prediction on the upcoming Sirius/XM satellite radio merger: Okay, one more and then I’m done: the Blues Channel on Sirius Radio. How come they have such a restricted playlist? It’s the same old stuff, all the time, and never any new blues. Apparently they’d rather spend my subscription money on executive salaries, not […]