Lifestyle & Culture
« Older Entries | Newer Entries »Does God Really Hate Fags?
[ Comments Off ]Posted on June 7, 2009 by admin in Lifestyle & Culture
Sunday, June 7th, 2009And in a world in which rape is part of the manufacturing process for cell phones, do we maybe have more pressing issues to discuss?
 If I didn’t know better, I might be inclined to think this man were gay himself |
One of the only things I really want in life is to understand people, and to be understood. I think this is true for many of us. Understanding is a lot like love, and I feel safe in saying, therefore, that all many of us want is to love and be loved. When you have a lot of love and understanding, you usually find some peace, and if you put the three together, you get a great tune like What’s So Funny ’bout Peace Love & Understanding. Lately though, I’ve felt a little frustrated around two topics that come up a lot in social dialogue: God and homosexuality. On the God topic, I get frustrated because I feel like spiritual beliefs are something you share when someone asks you to do so, not something you run around screaming about. I just never see much of anything good happening whenever anybody actively expresses their beliefs about the origin and meaning of human life before it comes up through simpler conversation. And likewise, although I have close friends who pretty much cover all the gender orientations, I don’t really care much whom you want to have sex with unless you and I know each other and it’s somehow germane to the conversation. I’m just tired, really tired, of people telling me whether they believe in God or not when I didn’t ask, and people proclaiming their beliefs on homosexuality, whether they’re hatemongering freaks like Fred Phelps, the bent Baptist behind the “God Hates Fags” movement, or just a friend trying to further their civil rights in an obviously socially immature country. And all of this, it seems to me, has a simple basis: a kind of emotional immaturity that drives people to put the contradictions of life that they can’t accept into polarized perceptions Read the rest of this entry »
If You’re So Rich, Why Aren’t You Smart?
[ 5 Comments ]Posted on June 1, 2009 by admin in Lifestyle & Culture
Monday, June 1st, 2009Science finally explains why chimpanzees are rarely millionaires.
I’m often accused of being intelligent, but trust me, nothing could be further from the truth. I’m clever and persistent, but frankly, so are raccoons. However I am smart enough, for instance, to not waste a lot of time taking Facebook quizzes that tell me what Jesus thinks of me, or whether or not I’m a potato. First of all, I’m just not that narcissistic; secondly, I KNOW I’m not a potato; and perhaps most importantly: don’t you people realize that the NSA scrapes Facebook data daily to build your citizen profile?!? But back to the original question. This week’s Monday morning time-waster is devoted to intelligence testing and wealth, rather than dumb Flash games. Because until I manage to monetize the process of finding all those silly little games to make you late for work on Monday, you’ll just have to go find your own. So. How smart are you? Well, apparently, not as smart as a chimp. But don’t worry. In spite of books that suggest the opposite
Is Gay Marriage A Black & White Issue?
[ 4 Comments ]Posted on May 28, 2009 by admin in Lifestyle & Culture
Thursday, May 28th, 2009If you had to choose five social issues to devote your time, energy, or money to, what would they be?
As an American who has very strong beliefs about free thinking, free speech, and the idea that the government should serve the people and not the reverse, I’m often frustrated to see nuanced issues shifted into polarized, black and white debates. Since my views don’t fit neatly into our two-party system, I’m regularly misunderstood on my stance on a variety of issues. This was highlighted for me yesterday when a very intelligent friend for whom I have a great deal of respect asked if this WTF, CALIFORNIA? graphic I created meant that I supported gay marriage. My stance on that is a little more complicated. I support any union based on love, but I’m not sure if I want the government meddling in it. But at a time when millions are homeless or hungry in America, and our health care is in shambles, I wonder about how my intelligent liberal friends and I are utilizing our time, and perhaps more importantly, why wealthy (often religiously-motivated) individuals will spend $36 million dollars to ban gay marriage, but insist they don’t want to be taxed a little more to keep people alive and healthy. I mean, what are the priorities here? To assuage my personal progressive guilt, I’m doing a little work with a Kenya/US non-profit (consider joining us for the June 4 fundraiser, by the way), and also preparing a free program to teach basic computer skills to the homeless. This work feels a little feeble to me; I’d like to do more. If you had to name the 5 most important social issues of today, what would they be?
Why I’m Moving To Vienna And Forming A Balkan Funk Band
[ 1 Comment ]Posted on May 26, 2009 by admin in Lifestyle & Culture, Music
Tuesday, May 26th, 2009The Internet is dangerous. One day you’re watching an American film about suicide, the next day you’re moving to Vienna and starting a Balkan Funk Band.
The Internet is dangerous. It’s because of the Internet that I’m moving to either Barcelona or Vienna and starting a Balkan Funk Band. Let me explain. The other day, I finally saw Wrist Cutters – A Love Story (and wrote about it). I loved bits of the soundtrack
Products That Probably Had Strange Boardroom Meetings, Part I
[ Comments Off ]Posted on May 21, 2009 by admin in Lifestyle & Culture
Thursday, May 21st, 2009Has it ever occurred to you that the people that are most likely to use Viagra are the ones that you’d least want walking around with erections?
In part one, a look at The Handkerchief, Skydiving, Banks, and Viagra.
 Do we really need a man that looks like this running around with an erection? |
Viagra
A friend of mine (who happens to be black) made the joke years ago that “you can bet it weren’t no black man invented viagra“. Probably true; I always picture some lonely balding white man with a PhD in pharmacology who had never even gotten to put his “manhood” to its intended use, and was rapidly entering the age where he might never be able to. The multiple levels of irony and tragedy here are overwhelming – youth is wasted on the young, wealth is wasted on the bald and aging, etc. – but the bottom line is, how, as a man, do you pitch a product that’s intended to give you an erection to a bunch of other men? I can imagine a few awkward moments with the pitch, like “Well, it’s not something I’d use, of course” or “And you see, that’s why we want a bunch of balding old men running around with erections, and Viagra will get the job done.”
The Handkerchief
“I’ve gathered you all together today to tell you about a great (ah-choo!) new product idea”. The presenter, who has a glob of mucous hanging from his nose, reaches into his pocket and pulls out a square of high-quality silk. “This, gentleman, is the ‘HANDKERCHIEF’. Never again will we be forced to wipe the disgusting fruits of our proboscises”, he proclaims, as the mucous jiggles at the end of his nose, “on our Read the rest of this entry »