Various amusing or interesting topics, or things that shock and appall me. Kind of a miscellaneous bin.
I’ve had occasion to wish that these were built into all modern clothing, and it was impossible to buy anything without them. I suspect it’s going to be a long while before that happens though, unfortunately.
This video (safe for work) is just plain freakin’ funny. Watch out for the cameo of the “Unspeakable Horror.” 😀
Talk about fighting dirty… 😉 Really though, this is a pretty shrewd move. Scent is a powerful anchor for memories. Anyone with a sense of smell who looks at this is going to be hard-pressed forget the association. Of course, it might backfire. Think “my esteemed opponent, when he’s not playing in garbage…” 🙂 I …
Continue reading ‘“Republican NY governor candidate sends out garbage-scented fliers”’ »
I always loved the comic “The Far Side”, as did GoddessJ and most of Western civilization. It was a sad day when Gary Larson retired from writing it. But this very humorously-written article on doing business the Far Side way brings back some very fond memories, and the article itself has more than a few …
Continue reading ‘“6 Tricks for Doing Business on The Far Side”’ »
Apple’s “Time Machine” backup just got a lot more interesting. I’d buy one of these in a heartbeat.
The students are back in town, very obvious in their official school tee-shirts (and by the fact that the city’s population has jumped by nearly 20% in the last couple weeks — and the traffic has gotten worse all out of proportion to that). While driving yesterday, I saw four groups of such students, and …
This kind of thing is a pet peeve of mine, and of my wife’s. We’re both avid readers, and she’s the daughter of a teacher as well; we know how these phrases are supposed to be spelled, even if we don’t know the background of them (I never knew where “beyond the pale” actually came …
Continue reading ‘“Commonly Misheard Expressions to Avoid (or Fix) in Your Writing”’ »
Some of these are interesting, others are amusing. Especially since I know several Canadians (and yes, several of them would take offense if you called them American, and almost all of them would quickly correct you), and a couple who’ve spent several years in Japan and have adopted some of the Japanese culture. And my …
Continue reading ‘“Advice for Britons on serving foreign guests”’ »
I don’t have much to add to this, I just thought people might find it useful. In addition to some fun neurobiology information, it offers some concrete steps to use the next time you start thinking that you’re having a “bad day.” (Hint: as I’m sure you suspected, it’s essentially all in your head, and …
Continue reading ‘“The Science Behind ‘Having a Bad Day’ (and How to Solve It)”’ »
I’ve often wondered why some people can’t just use plain English. I understand that there are some specialized terms in every occupation, but making up whole new words when existing words will do? Or using flowery and obfuscating phrases instead of well-known ones that mean the same thing? So far as I can tell, the …
Continue reading ‘“Unsuck It Translates Awful Corporate Speak into Plain English”’ »