Offbeat

I still have a few years until my kids will be entering college and am acutely aware of the realities of what life was like for them growing up, but each year when I see the Beloit College Mindset list it is a reminder of how much life has changed since I entered college myself oh so many years ago! This is the 12th official list, going back to the class of 2002 list made in 1998! Here are a few samples of things from the list that made me stop in my tracks: 1. Few in the class know…

Even as a man I sometimes find myself uncomfortable and embarrassed in business situations when men who should know better show their respect for their highly educated and proficient female colleagues much as Woody Allen is showing his respect for Scarlett Johansson. Hopefully we are long past the point where someone would actually suggest that by wearing a low cut shirt a woman is ‘asking for’ untoward glances … yet somehow I doubt it. Whether it is to avoid wandering eyes or to simply feel more professional and covered up while still wearing a favorite shirt you would otherwise not…

The stark image above shows a pre-revolution era bread line in Russia in the 1915-1916 time frame, thought to be during the German occupation of Russia in World War I. Next we see that after the revolution and the promise of sharing and plenty … we still get bread lines and poverty and an authoritarian rule over those in need: Fast-forward to the time just after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and guess what? Yep, more bread lines! Yet in Moscow in 1990, we see a different sort of line. According to the post at Neatorama: What are these…

This summer has been interesting for my family: my older son had his first real date AND first kiss … but of course not with the same girl (oh the drama!), and my younger son is being pursued by the same 18-year-old camp counselor (and older sister of one of my kids’ friends) who chased my older son last summer. Fortunately I am into my third decade of not having to worry about dating … but for those troubled by this question, The Morning News is there to help! They have detailed out a ‘Can We Date’ chart in order…

If ANYONE really doubted that you could simply post something claiming to be a review and get some credible follows, here is the latest: the KFC Skinwich! A site called Brainresidue has a story saying that KFC is testing out the new sandwich at a few locations. Here is the description. KFC is testing a new sandwich: The Skinwich. 5 layers of fried chicken skin, lumped on a bun and topped with white american cheese and bacon. It’s only available at a handful of KFCs (for now). One happened to be right near our office, so I walked over. They…

How many emails / texts / whatever did you get yesterday linking to the ‘Girl Quits Job Via Whiteboard’ article at The Chive? Not too surprisingly, the whole thing was a hoax produced by the creators of The Chive, and acted by a young woman (and aspiring actress) named Elyse Porterfield. TechCrunch has the details of the hoax. If you were like me, you enjoyed it and really didn’t apply your critical thinking skills to the now rather obvious likelihood that it was a fabrication. Why? Well … why is it that Office Space remains such a popular movie? Certainly…