Film violence has become so extreme (extremely awesome!) that there’s hardly any point in saying “this might be the most violent movie I’ve ever seen” anymore, but with that caveat the fake-Grindhouse-preview-turned-feature film “Hobo With a Shotgun” may be the most violent movie I’ve ever seen. Director Jason Eisener’s vision is exactly what it sounds… Continue reading ‘‘Hobo With a Shotgun’ is Fun, Subversive and Kinda Brilliant’
I really can’t say enough about the Chicago architecture tours. Not only do you get to cruise down the middle of this badass city, but Chicago is a town with enough fantastic and bizarre history that it would take a real wet blanket of a tour guide to not make it interesting. I also long… Continue reading ‘Moms Love Chicago Architecture Tours’
I recently watched a speech by prospective Republican presidential candidate Tim Pawlenty to the Iowa College Republicans in which he made a pitch to the “youth vote.” This was one of those speeches that was so awkward, so cringe-inducing that I felt bad for the two visible college kids flanking Pawlenty, who will now be… Continue reading ‘It’s About Issues, Not Gaga Jokes’
The pile-on on NPR makes perfect sense as it is one of the slim and dwindling examples of fantastic, fascinating journalism that is also wildly successful and popular. The recent controversies over a guy on the business side calling Tea Partiers racist (the video subsequently found to have been conveniently edited) or taxpayer funding do… Continue reading ‘Attacks Fail to Make NPR Any Less Awesome’
I know I just wrote a column trumpeting the wonder of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, and I stand by everything I said. However, I will add to that the caveat that professional basketball–the NBA–is, on average, much better basketball. One need look no further than Monday’s UConn-Butler final, which was one of the most… Continue reading ‘Butler-UConn Proves NBA Is Better’
Here’s the problem: I’ve been living in this apartment with my roommate Erik since mid-February and he still has yet to get a bed. He’s been sleeping on fourth-hand, pea-green couch in our living room that we got from a friend of a friend for the price of removing its hideous existence from her apartment.… Continue reading ‘Let’s See How Long it Takes My Roommate to Get a Bed’
I went to Body Worlds at the Museum of Science and Industry, which is the display where they take a bunch of cadavers, fill them with some kind of crazy goop to “plastinate” them, and then pose them in bizarre contortions in the guise of an educational experience. So you have a guy doing the… Continue reading ‘Plastinated Bodies Make for Poor Existential Ruminations’
[Editor's Note: Normally, the author of this blog doesn't go in for that tabloid, TMZ, society-distracting crap, but upon learning that actor, activist and all-around badass George Clooney may be called to testify against Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi in his sex trial, he was forced try his hand at tabloid-style writing in order to… Continue reading ‘G-Cloonz to Testify Against SilBer?’
The New York Times has a great story explaining how the higher cost of food and other raw materials is hidden from the American consumer. In “Food Inflation Kept Hidden in Tinier Bags,” Stephanie Clifford and Catherine Rampell explain how companies disguise the rising cost of food by adding more air to potato chip bags… Continue reading ‘Increasing Food Costs Hidden from Americans’
If there is one lesson that Hollywood has taught us, it is that we should not worry about an alien invasion. Yes, there will probably be some infrastructure damage. Yes, a number of people will die/disintegrate/be farmed for their blood, but in the end we will turn the tide against our potential colonizers/invaders because they… Continue reading ‘It’s Going to Be So Easy to Beat These Stupid Aliens’