The Third Man by Graham Greene Dracula by Bram Stoker Incandescence by Greg Egan The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde Don’t Kiss Them Good-Bye by Allison DuBois One for the Money by Janet Evanovich Twilight and Philosophy: Vampires, Vegetarians, and… Read More ›
People who imagine that children are resistant to learning have a nonexistent understanding of how human culture developed in the first place. Culture is no more and no less than the totality of learned behavior and information that is passed… Read More ›
The world’s most famous farter was Joseph Pojul who, in 1892, had a famous act at the Moulin Rouge in Paris under the name ‘Le Petomane’. His act opened by telling a story using a remarkable range of farts for… Read More ›
This is the speech I did for my ninth Competent Communications manual speech at Toastmasters. The aim of this speech is meant to be to persuade the audience. It is a 5-7 minute speech but I went overtime at just… Read More ›
—Allan & Barbara Pease in Why Men Lie and Women Cry
Generation A by Douglas Coupland Year Zero by Jeff Long Related articles Douglas Coupland seeking ‘Lego Gatherer’ for new project (theprovince.com)
In 1913, women were expected to wear smotheringly hot full length dresses in order to be considered decent. Most women did not work outside of the home, being expected to be happy in their role as wife and mother. In… Read More ›
The People’s Manifesto by Mark Thomas The Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier Beyond Armageddon: Survivors of the Megawar Edited by Walter M. Miller, Jr. & Martin H. Greenberg Don’ts for Wives by Blanche Ebbutt Don’ts for Husbands… Read More ›
Why do people keep voting for the same politician then whining about the job they do?
“All husbands think they’re gods. If only their wives weren’t atheists…” ~ Kathy Lette in ‘How to Kill Your Husband (and other handy household hints)’
“…with rulers, writers, clerics, generals, and professors swearing that real peace, moderation, and reform would destroy religion and betray the Arab and Muslim people, who could persuade the people otherwise? And if everyone who disagreed was branded a traitor and… Read More ›
“Virtually every notorious case of juvenile murder in recent years has been blamed, at least partly, on media violence.” ~Harold Schechter in ‘Fiend: The Shocking True Story of America’s Youngest Serial Killer’
“The level of actual violence as measured by homicide…has never been lower…It may seem that we live in violent times, but even the famously gentle Bushmen of the Kallahari have a homicide rate that eclipses those of the most notorious… Read More ›
“People disappear when they die. Their voice, their laughter, the warmth of their breath. Their flesh. Eventually their bones. All living memory of them ceases. This is both dreadful and natural. Yet for some there is a exception to this… Read More ›
“Baby Boomers like to take credit for everything good that has happened to this society in the past three decades, but invariably blame anonymous miscreants or wayfaring strangers for everything bad.” —Joe Queenan in ‘Balsamic Dreams’
“Baby Boomers are the most obnoxious people in the history of the human race.”
“Tragically, self-immolation is the only completely egocentric activity that Baby Boomers scrupulously avoid.” Related articles Daily Baby Boomer News Update: February 22, 2013 (babyboomers.com) Book Review Podcast: Joe Queenan on a Lifetime of Reading (artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com) Baby boomers fulfilling their carbuying… Read More ›
“…Baby Boomers make up the largest generation in American history, and are unarguably the most self-absorbed, the most avaricious, the most deeply entrenched, and the most annoying.”
Opening Sentence:A squat grey building of only thirty-four stories. Synopsis:Into the neatly programmed ‘Brave New World’ of test-tube babies and drug-controlled happiness, misfit Bernard Marx brings the innocent Savage… Genre:Science Fiction Rating:@@@@ Pages:213 ISBN:o-582-06016-8 Year:1991 Format:Hardcover Comments:Aldous Huxley first published… Read More ›
Opening Sentence:Recently I was invited to convene a breakfast for fathers whose sons attended a Gosford grammar school. Synopsis:Adolescent boys – they seem to disappear into another world where they barely communicate, and where fast cars, alcohol and drugs are… Read More ›
Tips for male supervisors on ‘getting more efficiency out of women employees’ from the July 1943 issue of Mass Transportation magazine. If you can get them, pick young married women. They have these advantages, according to the reports of western… Read More ›
Opening Sentence:Sir, It is not necessary, with courtly insincerity, to apologise to you for thus intruding on your precious time, nor to profess that I think it an honour to discuss an important subject with a man whose literary abilities… Read More ›
Opening Sentence:‘Suitcases?’ Synopsis:BORN, NOT BLED… Vampires, as they are now – parasites, an ancient disease brought from old Europe to America; keeping themselves private, hiding themselves cleverly, in the modern world. The Pacific north-west – a society dealing with the… Read More ›
Well, quite a while ago (I think it might even have been last year) I was worried about my sister, so Earth sent a letter to my estranged family to find out about if she was OK. He sent an… Read More ›
Opening Sentence:At the moment when life as he knew it changed for ever, Alex Morales was behind the counter at Joey’s Pizza, slicing a spinach pesto pie into eight roughly equal pieces. Synopsis:A tsunami taller than a scyscraper Downtown New… Read More ›
Killing the Shadows by Val McDermid Death Message by Mark Billingham Hideaway by Dean Koontz Twisted by R.L. Stine Book of Horrors (Nightmare Hall #16) by Diane Hoh Obsession by Julia Lawrinson Mortal Fear by Robin Cook Mutation by Robin… Read More ›
Synopsis:Helen lovingly prepares her spare room for her friend Nicola. She is coming to visit for three weeks, to receive treatment she believes will cure her cancer. From the moment Nicola staggers off the plane, gaunt and hoarse but still… Read More ›
Rafferty's Rules is Closing Down 