r.i.p.

boy band

and the rest of the time?

barcelona

Aside from muggings and a lack of places to grab a beer, a good place to go. Read here to learn more about Barcelona or to check out more of the city in my photos.

oxymoron

lefties got it rough

I got my hair cut the other day, which started this whole thing. My hairdresser and another customer got into a conversation about the hard knocks associated with being left handed. I always knew things must be a bit harder for the 'ole lefties... nothing is made with you in mind. Having trouble cutting with every day scissors pales in comparison to though to the madness of way back yonder.

"Until the latter part of the twentieth century, Roman Catholic nuns in United States elementary schools would punish children for using their left hand to write, typically by slapping their left hand with a ruler if they attempted to pick up a pen with it.

As late as the early 20th century, school teachers in the Netherlands would force right-handed writing on left-handed writing children. An example of such treatment involves baseball players and Babe Ruth, who both hit and threw left-handed and wrote right-handed after enduring left-handed suppression during their formative years.

Left-handedness was often interpreted as a sign of Satanic influence, and thus prohibited. Many examples can be found in the Christian-Greek scriptures in which the wicked or evil sit at the left hand of God, while the righteous sit at the right hand of God, during the Last Judgment. The Inuit also believed that every left-handed person was a sorcerer.[citation needed]

The Romans also frowned upon left-handedness. A left-handed boy who was training to be in a Roman legion would have his hand bound to his side, and would be forced to use the gladius with his right hand. This was done out of necessity, as a left-handed Roman would have interfered with the cohesion of the Roman legions.

The use of left hand was also frowned upon in Asia. Allegedly, though there were few examples of its happening, a Japanese man could divorce his wife if he discovered that she was left-handed.

Until very recently, in Chinese societies, left-handed people were strongly encouraged to switch to being right-handed. However, this may be in part because, while Latin characters are equally easy to write with either hand, it is more difficult to write legible Chinese characters with the left hand. The prescribed direction of writing each line of a Chinese character is designed for the movements of the right hand, and some shapes tend to feel awkward to follow with the left hand's fingers. It results in a less soft writing than it would be with the right hand.

In many parts of the world, such as Indonesia, it is considered impolite to eat and accept gifts with the left hand. The reason for this is that a person who uses his left hand to eat would often cause trouble with the person to the left of him. Another stated reason for this is that the left hand is used in some countries, like Indonesia, during a bathroom visit.

A profound Arab stigma against left-handedness dates to a pre-industrial period when paper was extremely rare and (in desert regions) water was too precious to be used for hand-washing. Because it was necessary to use one hand for wiping oneself after defecation, and because it was impossible to cleanse this hand thoroughly, the hand used for this task (traditionally, the left hand) was deemed unfit to be used for any other activity, especially as most Arabs of that time lacked eating utensils, and so they ate with their fingers (of the right hand) from communal dishes, while keeping the left hand entirely concealed at mealtime. To this day, it is widely regarded as taboo in Arab culture to handle food with the left hand. Offering one's left hand for a handshake greeting, or even waving it in greeting without touching, would be considered a serious personal insult in Arab society. Left-handers are also persecuted to some degree in the Arab World due to this taboo." --www.wikipedia.com

i prefer swell over great

this makes no sense. it's great.

tender mind + HBO = fond memories of crap

In writing this I realize I am joining the ranks of almost 99% of the female population my age. There is nothing remarkable or unique in proclaiming my love for certain things 80's. This little nostalgic exercise is not intended however to sing hallelujah to God for making "the Corey's" or get giddy all over again about dreamy 'ole James Spader (yes... long ago he wasn't too shabby).

I stumbled across an old movie title when looking for something today. In doing so I opened an old mental box of dusty early 80's gems. No-one around me recognized most of the titles that I excitedly rattled off... "ooh, ooh, and remember this?". So my purpose in writing is two-fold. One, to get the celluloid daydreaming over with without losing any friends as I go full speed down memory lane. Two, just to openly touch upon the fact that I have seen so many bad movies, and more notably that most were viewed when I was 9 or 10 years old.

The movies listed here are really not very good and they aren't even my favorites. For some reason though they make me smile and also wonder what the heck my parents were thinking. Maybe THIS is why I like TV so much... because I got to watch some twisted crap when I was just a wee thing. Hey, I think it all worked ok, but really.. . "Hot Dog: The Movie", which easily could have been called "Sex and Some Skiing"... that had to do SOME sort of damage. Ah, who knows. On a little black and white TV in 1985 that was about as good as it gets.

quicker than the record, slower than the cd

I do not, nor will I ever, claim to be any sort of music reviewer. I know what I like and I know what I don't like though. I like these guys, and so should you. They are called 50 Kaitenz (50 RPMs) and I think they are amazing. An obvious throw-back in both sound and styling, they are a lot of fun no matter how you slice it. If the Ramones had been Japanese they might have sounded a little like these fellas. I use the comparison cautiously but it paints the best picture. Sonically satisfying and a Whamo-O Super Ball personified treat for the eyes... not only do I want to listen to these guys, I want to become their best friend.

Official site here http://50kaiten.com/pc/top.html