It’s no big news to anyone that U.S. soldiers are disproportionately from rural areas, and more are from the Southeast than any other region of the country. What isn’t widely known is that 2010 had the highest suicide rate of returning veterans in U.S. history. This Friday I’ll hope to ask an Afghanistan veteran why…
Finally in Bumblefuck Part Two: Blue Valentine is Greeted with a Shoulder Shrug in Alabama
As I identified last week in my review of 127 Hours, some movies in limited release take a while to get to Alabama. Some movies never come, and some wish they never had. Blue Valentine might be an example of the latter. I’ll start by saying I like this prickly, difficult film about a young…
No Strings Attached Vs. Season of the Witch: When a Sincere Dud is Judged More Harshly Than an Ironic One
First off let me acknowledge that I am waaay behind the eight ball in reviewing these films about a month after their release. I saw both of them before the blog was started and I figured, hell, if I had to sit through both of these movies the least I could do is write a…
Seth Rogen: The Godfather of fat, charmless sidekick roles becomes an action hero. And Doesn’t Change All That Much to Do It
In The Green Hornet Seth Rogen plays a fat, hard partying loud mouth who stumbles into being an action hero. The role is a huge departure for Rogen who has played a fatter, pothead loud mouth who stumbles into being a porn star in Zach & Miri Make a Porno, a fugitive in Pineapple Express,…
TV Review of Big Love: Is HBO Still Worth It?
We all know HBO’s legendary roster of some of the greatest shows ever made (The Wire, The Sopranos, Rome, Deadwood, The Larry Sanders Show, and countless others) but taking a look at its schedule you can’t wonder if HBO’s best days are behind it. The Sopranos—its last unqualified hit with both audiences and Emmy voters—is…
Mom Jokes, resending the best joke my mom emailed me last week:
A woman walks into a used pet store and notices a beautiful parrot is only 20 dollars. Shocked, the woman asks, “Why is that bird so cheap?” The pet store owner explains that the bird used to belong to a whorehouse and the bird had picked up a lot of bad language and remembered a…
The Black Elephant in the Room and the White Lion on the Rooftop: Why People Won’t Say They Hate Obama Because He’s Black but Will Say They Hate Him Because of His “Religion”
“I am uncomfortable with a black President.” You won’t ever hear these seven, direct words uttered out loud about Obama, but you will hear people say everything except it. I have heard people hate him. I have heard he’s not really black (although he’s black enough for the same white people to never let him…
Bubba’s Sex Tips for a Seductive Evening: How to be a Player in a Rural Area. Tip 1: Who Needs a Big Penis When You’ve Got a Big Truck?
Anyone can be a player in a big city like New York when you just have to throw a rock to hit a 5 foot 10 glamazon aspiring model. Being a player inside an area locally known as “the county limits” is pretty damn hard. Most women are 15 (illegal as my buddy Brad would…
Interviews with the Invisible: “The Welfare Bum”
In the national debate about cutting out “entitlements” to trim the deficit, over and over I keep that “welfare bums” are the ones bleeding the country dry. Well I decided to ask a “Welfare Bum” who has drawn unemployment and food stamps how much he really makes. The following is an interview with Michael Baranick,…
Larger Editorial: Why Old People Should Vote Democrat
In the ongoing debate about what fat we need to cut off our budget in an attempt to reel in our 14 trillion dollar national deficit, a clear distinction emerges between the two parties. The Democrats want to cut the military budget—largest in the world—which is also the government sector most directly responsible for the…
Petty Issues Week 1
Jewelry companies have advertised 400 times more than usual in the run up to Valentine’s Day. Why don’t they just show a picture of an angry girlfriend opening a box of candy with the tag line “Our advertising is designed to make her disappointed?” I wonder if alcohol commercials will increase around St. Patrick’s Day……
Now What? (Life Post Grad): The Vicious Cycle of Experience
Welcome to “Now What?” a weekly feature for figuring out what to do after you graduate college. It is the best time of times to be young. It is the worst of times to be young. This is the worst economy for recent college graduates in almost a century. All the promises of wealth you’ve…
The Fast Food Critic: Reviewing the Latest Foods Designed to Kill You
Today I’m reviewing the latest Frankenstein burger, the Jalapeno and Cheddar Stuffed Burger King Steakhouse Burger which sounds more like a sentence than a sandwich. As a general health rule, if your burger needs a period at the end of it (like Chili’s Bacon Ranch Cheddar Fried Onion Chili Burger), you might want to go…