Category Archive

I learned yesterday (from NPR of all places) that reciting facts about Chuck Norris is a teenage fad these days. So naturally, I had to check it out.  A "Chuck Norris Fact" is a statement showing how bad-ass Chuck Norris is.  Sort of like the "You’re Momma" jokes of the 1990’s. And now, here, free of charge, are some of … Read More

Yes. it’s real — not an SNL skit or something:

The manufacturer of Bubble Wrap (the bubble packaging that you addictively like to pop, squeeze and step on) is complaining about the popping sounds coming from a nearby police shooting range. Seriously.

…if all the kids who spent countless hours playing Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero II, and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock actually picked up an actual guitar and learned to play it.

You big city folk think yer so fancy with yer dropping mirror ball on New Year’s Eve? Well, that ain’t nuthin’ compared to how we party in the New Year down here in Carolina.  No sirree.  Betcha didn’t know that over yonder in Mt. Olive, we all celebrate the New Year by dropping a pickle.  Yat’s right — a pickle.  … Read More

It happens more often than you think: In a recent poll of 1,219 mothers conducted by BabyCenter.com, 10 percent considered changing their baby’s name. The reasons they gave ranged from being inspired by another name to having a relative disagree with the choice. Regret is common after any big decision, and few prenatal decisions these days are as open to … Read More

My 2007 predictions from last year (see this earlier post, dated December 26, 2006): The Red Sox will not win the World Series.  This may not be a startling prediction, but it does serve a function: to prevent me from getting my hopes up. Wrong.  Happily, wrong. The Patriots will not win the Super Bowl. I was right (I was … Read More

From Safire’s annual column.  The rules: for each item, choose one, all or none.: 1. The business headline of the year will be: (a) Big Bounce to 15,000 Dow After Soft Landing (b) Recession Has Brokers Selling Apples for Five Euros on Wall Street (c) Subprime Mess Was Greatly Exaggerated (d) China Buys Boeing My guess: (a) 2. The Academy … Read More

The best New Year’s I’ve ever had was in Madrid Spain.  In the Nocheviela ("Old Night") festivities, people gathered in the town plaza and, by tradition, ate a grape for each of the 12 bell tolls. You’re supposed to wear red underwear too — for good luck in the coming year — but I didn’t.  A few days later my … Read More

Michigan’s Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie compiled a list of overused and tiresome phrases and cliches after receiving thousands of submissions.  It is suggested that we retire this phrases. They are as follows (in order from worst to not-as-worse): PERFECT STORM — a phrase used to describe any event that comes together as a result of other … Read More

Political assassinations?  Tigers on the loose?  Stuff like that? UPDATE:  In case you missed, Channel 4 obtained new footage of the Bhutto assassination, showing that — contrary to the official government statement — she was struck by an assassin’s bullet before the bomb went off.