How to Tell If You’re in a Film Noir

I love infographics. Here’s one about my favorite genre of American movies.

More Songs about Buildings and Food

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Thanksgiving Trivia!

Norman Rockwell’s “Freedom from Want” (1943)

Here in the U.S. and in Canada, we celebrate an annual national holiday dedicated to giving thanks for our abundant good fortune.  Our holiday evolved from much older ones celebrating the gathering of the Autumn harvest.  Since we’ve been having this party for a long time, it has gathered many traditions including special foods and activities. Here’s a quiz about some of the more obscure facts related to Thanksgiving. I want you to leave the blog smarter than when you came in! (The answers are at Comment #1.)

• The first Thanksgiving Day feast between the new immigrants at Plymouth and the resident Wampanoag tribe lasted three days in 1621. They ate venison, game birds, fish and cranberries (in pemmican). The pilgrims brought beer, but what available vegetable was avoided out of superstition?
• What basic eating utensil was unavailable at that first feast?
• Two of the Founding Fathers disagreed over the choice for a “national bird”. Thomas Jefferson favored the bald eagle. Who argued in favor of the turkey?
• Sarah Josepha Hale began petitioning sitting presidents in favor of adopting a national day of thanksgiving in 1847. Abraham Lincoln acted upon her suggestion in 1863, but Sarah Hale is even better known for what work?
• The National Football League started having big games on the holiday in 1934. That contest was between the Detroit Lions and the Chicago Bears. When did the tradition of watching football on Thanksgiving begin?
• There are many food traditions associated with Thanksgiving Day besides eating turkey. One popular side dish was created in 1955 by Dorcas Reilly and a team of home economists at the Campbell’s Soup Company, to take advantage of two simple ingredients Americans generally had on hand. Name the dish.
• There’s a tradition of U.S. Presidents periodically “pardoning” a selected turkey that goes back as far as JFK, but officially retiring a bird (or two) to a farm or zoo each year began in 1987. This year’s recipients are named Mac and Cheese. Name any of the previous lucky turkeys.
• Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade began in 1924. The first giant balloon was introduced in 1927, a likeness of which cartoon character?
• How many calories (on average) are contained in an American Thanksgiving “one-plate”?

Why do people get drowsy after the meal? Don’t over think it.

I hope each and every person reading gets some time off for reflection in good company, with ample provisions.

Happy Interdependence Day!

What the Hobby Lobby Ruling Means

(Picked this up via stephtheawesome on tumblr.)

Here’s another link to this popular meme: https://twitter.com/bakerbk/status/483642132750553090

What, Me Worry?

MAD Magazine was the reason I learned to read early. It was a huge influence on my sense of humor growing up. It’s why I still believe nothing in life is too sacred to satirize.

Nexus

Al Feldstein died last Tuesday. He was the editor of MAD Magazine from 1956-1985 and I confess, in that capacity he totally shaped my world view. I was addicted to MAD . I was lucky that my uncle ran a small bookstore so I was always flush with the magazine from its very beginnings. I couldn’t get enough of its irreverent, sarcastic, smart-alecky take on the world. There was nothing sacred in its pages. Everything was fair game– from politics to Madison Avenue advertising, from popular culture to Wall Street, MAD took a swipe at it all. Its loads of marginalia also supported close reading.

And it was Al Feldstein who created the environment of out of the box thinking that allowed this creativity to thrive. Born in Brooklyn in 1925, he attended the High School of Music and Art in Manhattan. He received a scholarship to the Art Students League and attended Brooklyn…

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The Definitive List of 2014’s Attacks on Christianity Which, Um, Aren’t That at All.

This made me laugh.

I Am 60 Today

In the 1950s:

We had a 19” Black & White TV.  I watched this and laughed.

Sad Thoughtful Mysterious Intimate Reverent Merry Redeemed

2013 Christmas Clip Show

Deflection and Projection

In this article, “Wyrd Smythe” explains some key aspects of how we achieve our points of view. I admire his ability to simplify these concepts, and present them in an entertaining fashion.

Logos con carne

In his 1982 book, Megatrends, John Naisbitt famously wrote, “We are drowning in information, but we are starved for knowledge.” What was true 30 years ago is true today at a level that is both jaw-dropping and mind-numbing. The interweb highway speeds past at a breath-taking pace; yesterday vanishes rapidly behind while tomorrow constantly barrels down on us. The sheer volume of traffic (meaning both ‘lots of’ and ‘very loud’) can be overwhelming.

I’d like to take the topics from last Thursday and Friday to a new level and talk about how we find knowledge and truth amid all that information. In a world filled with opinion and conflicting assertions, how do we tell fair from foul? When facts and expertise compete with ideology and status quo, how do we pick among them?

This is about ways to separate the wheat from the chaff.

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Cute Little Devils

Invisible Mikey

When I was a child, kids went out “Trick or Treating” with other kids.  Adult escorts were only employed to take infants door-to-door so they could also participate.

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For the Glory!

Our season of festivals ends each year with a contest.  You can’t win by being the best.  The results have no value except to amuse.  It’s a celebration of imagination, combining art and adaptive mechanics.  It’s a Kinetic Sculpture race!  No advanced degrees required.

Getting High

One of the clinical support jobs I perform when not taking x-rays is drug testing.  We have different kinds of kits, ones that test urine and ones that test saliva.  There’s also a portable “breathalyzer” to check for alcohol consumption.  Some local companies hire us to go to their location a few times each month to do random tests.  Others send employees to the clinic.  The employer specifies what drugs are to be tested for, and in what situations to test.

A Perfect Day Out

It was time to shake up my routine.  I decided to take a half-day off to do fun, unusual things my wife would also enjoy.  We began by arriving for the Grand Opening ceremony of our little town’s Farmers Market.  All the newspaper said was “9am Goat Parade”

Mikey’s Absurdly Geeky Oscar Trivia Quiz

In Search of Ancient Oscars

Did you know the word “quiz” originally meant an odd person?  That’s from the Oxford English Dictionary.  In the days before the Internet I used to read dictionaries and reference indexes while in residence upon the porcelain throne.  Some prefer magazines, I’m told.

In Anticipation

Like the weather in my region, I’m in a holding pattern.  I haven’t felt the need to write much lately.  I’m recharging my psychic batteries, reading, dreaming, and waiting for it to get warmer and dryer so I can enjoy more outdoor activities.

Irrationalities

I’ve been hearing a lack of reason in the current debate over how to deal with our violent culture, including through gun control.  I can’t go very deep with this subject, because the flaws in these arguments are so obvious, but I still feel the need to give some simple reactions.

Weird, Retro, Whatevermas!

You can’t look good in that sweater.

 

You guys know I’m a fairly traditional sort of holiday observer, right?  No, really, it’s true.  STOP LAUGHING!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I have a bad cold, so I have to stay in alone while my pals are feasting together, and I’m kind of grumpy about it.  I had the good fortune to help restore a truly remarkable film, Giant (1956), a decade ago.  It’s full of honest, meaningful glimpses into the contradictions of American life.

Election Day Trivia

Archie Roosevelt, with Presidential pet badger Josiah, who bit visitors.

WOO-HOO!  It’s OVER!  Those suffering from arrested development will continue to whine for a bit if their man or woman didn’t win, but the wisest will progress to more important matters.   Like raking leaves, cleaning the gutters, and throwing out those stupid lawn signs.

The Talking Dead

(You may stop selling.  I have already voted, by mail.) “Chaaange!  CHAAANGE!”

Because Presidential elections follow a week after Halloween, it’s fun to make visual associations between traditional zombies (the walking dead) and politicians (the talking dead).