Contrary to the trite assertion made every year by people who don’t know how to appreciate football, it’s not really true that the commercials are the best thing about the Super Bowl (at least not always). Sure, it seems that way because the television viewer is seeing commercials than actual game play (in an average [Read More…]
I Was Watching a Commercial and a Football Game Broke Out
February 4, 2013 by 132 Comments
Football fans like me (How ’bout them Cowboys?) like to think the sport is more action-packed than more boring games, like golf or soccer. But research shows that minute-for-minute a Samuel Beckett play has more action than an NFL game: According to a Wall Street Journal study of four recent broadcasts, and similar estimates by researchers, [Read More…]
God Made a Farmer
February 4, 2013 by 131 Comments
And on the eighth day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, “I need a caretaker.” So God made a farmer. (Via: Reformissionary) [Read more…]
Not Cool Robert Frost
February 3, 2013 by 124 Comments
A charming pep talk from Kid President. [Read more…]
People Who are Amazing—and Amazingly Reckless
January 30, 2013 by 146 Comments
All of the people in this video are amazing. And about 90% of them are also amazingly reckless and willing to take unnecessary risks in order to perform incredible feats. God bless these danger-loving idiots. Related: The Improbable is the New Normal [Read more…]
Teenagers Spend Too Much Time Around Teenagers
January 29, 2013 by 146 Comments
From an interview with psychologist Robert Epstein, author of The Case Against Adolescence: Teens in America are in touch with their peers on average 65 hours a week, compared to about four hours a week in preindustrial cultures. In this country, teens learn virtually everything they know from other teens, who are in turn highly [Read More…]
Why Does the English Language Have So Many Silent Letters?
January 29, 2013 by 126 Comments
Imagine how much time would be saved if we were take all of the silent letters out of the words we write. [Read more…]
Why We Should Memorize Poems
January 28, 2013 by 137 Comments
Brad Leithauser on why we should memorize text, especially poems: My late colleague Joseph Brodsky, who died in 1996, used to appall his students by requiring them to memorize something like a thousand lines each semester. He felt he was preparing them for the future; they might need such verses later in life. His own [Read More…]
What Happens When An Unstoppable Force Meets An Immovable Object?
January 28, 2013 by 155 Comments
If you pit an immovable object against an unstoppable force, which Wins?The answer is not only surprising, but surprisingly satisfying. [Read more…]
Does Religion Explains Why Americans Love White Cars?
January 25, 2013 by 136 Comments
Cars come in nearly any color we can imagine. So why do we buy them in white? In general, when color theorists talk about white, they talk about religion. White is a very important color for Christians — liturgically speaking, it’s the color of joy and celebration; in the Catholic Church, it’s the color worn [Read More…]
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