Today, we saw CornerStore, a “day in the life” comedy about a party store in Detroit. Based on the trailer, I was expecting something similar to Clerks, perhaps with more violence and less comedy. Having seen it, I do think some comparisons to Clerks are appropriate, but at their hearts, they’re different films. Clerks is focused on…
Category: Prawn Salad, Ltd.
Dinner at Denny’s
The other night, after shopping at the IKEA in Canton, we (being me, my wife, and our toddler son) stopped for dinner at the local Denny’s. There seemed to be at least one child at every table, no doubt largely because of the policy that children get free meals when accompanied by an adult. Our…
Apple’s man behind the curtain
Even though I’m something of a hippie liberal, I’ve generally avoided Apple products. There was always something Wizard of Oz about their chic, and this year appears to be the year for people to finally look en masse at the man behind the curtain. Consider: In October of last year, iPhone had 4% of the market share…
Why I think the depot needs to go
Few topics related to urban blight will get Detroiters more worked up, both pro and con, than that of the train depot. Once upon a time, it was one of the most beautiful structures in the Midwest, in the country, perhaps in the world. Now, it is a vacant, hulking, rotting, half-looted massive beast of…
On the survival of bookstores
Borders recently went out of business. In the wake of their demise, I saw one op/ed that argued that, for bricks and mortar bookstores (such as Barnes and Noble) to survive, they need to find a way to demonstrate the value they add in making real suggestions. I am in Detroit, close to Ann Arbor,…
On “Nym Wars”
Introduction Google Plus recently sparked off another discussion on the use of pseudonyms on the Internet, this round being dubbed “Nym Wars”. Google’s position is that pseudonyms are unwelcome on their new social network system; Facebook, Google’s obvious most direct competitor, has the same official policy, but is not generally very aggressive about enforcing it….
Teaching standards and Hollywood
Yesterday, we watched Valentine’s Day (2010). Besides being disappointed that David Boreanaz was nowhere to be found, I found it to be passably entertaining but too crowded with characters for my tastes. One of the characters is an elementary school teacher, played by Jennifer Garner. One of the scenes involved the “history” of Valentine’s Day….
The ethics of symbiosis
I was thinking about greed again today. That seems to be a common topic of conversation these days, as the TEA Party and other self-styled libertarians embrace the Randian mantra of the glory of unrepentant greed. I am not a fan of unrepentant greed. On the other extreme of the scale, though, is utterly selfless…
Computer bullies
This post is commentary on “Nerds, We Have to Talk,” in which the author muses about why computer programmers are often so mean to each other. There are a few reasons which come to mind. First, I have a computer programmer friend who has commented that programming seems particularly suited for neuroatypicality. To be a…
“If men could get pregnant…”
It seems like two reliable ways to start a fight on the Internet, even if you honestly don’t mean to, is to suggest that the Second Amendment could use some tweaking in the presence of strong supporters of gun ownership, and to question any significant element of pro-choice rhetoric in the presence of feminists. Sure,…