A wolf and a lamb, driven by thirst, came to the same stream. The wolf stopped upstream, the lamb much further downstream. So that scoundrel, in his insatiable hunger, saught a pretext for a quarrel.
“Why,” said he, “are you muddying the water I’m drinking?”
Fearfully, the lamb replied: “I’m sorry, but how could I do that? [...]
Where do strange local pronunciations come from and how do they establish such an amazing foothold?
Case in point: When I first moved to Austin, Texas I discovered one of the main streets was named “Manchaca”. Now, growing up one of my friends was named David Menchaca (almost identical spelling) and he pronounced his name [...]
At no time am I more aware of the importance (and lack) of manners in society than when on vacation. Living in a tourist town like San Francisco you get to see the mindset of the vacationer: ‘This is my vacation. I’ve been waiting for this. I’m paying a lot of money for this. [...]
Just a couple of weeks ago Claude Lévi-Strauss—the father of modern cultural anthropology, not the blue jeans guy—died in Paris. There will be no memorial concert or film (well, maybe in France), which is too bad because I consider his contributions to the world more significant than the moonwalk or “Thriller.” I have had an [...]
In 1991 my favorite band in the world, hands-down, was Pixies. Ask my wife. “Bossanova,” “Surfer Rosa” and “Doolittle” were the only cassettes in my car. I listened to them over and over and over again. They are still my favorite band to this day (although, The Smiths will always be [...]
Who would have known that a brief rant on mass-production would get such an enthusiastic response, and not just on Concrete Academic? Yesterdays article turned out not at all what the editors here expected, and we’re currently in negotiation with Jeff Starr to drop his renaissance-man inclinations and oeuvre and write full time on furniture.
Why [...]
“A chicken in every pot! A car in every garage!” …and, you can add, junk made out of fiberboard in every living-room.
There’s no doubt that the Industrial Revolution was a two-edged sword. The benefits have been obvious: through efficient means of mechanization and engineering, products could be made at a much faster rate. Since the [...]
To enjoy all music equally, to listen to a Jazz piece after a U2 song on your “shuffle”-set digital music player, is nonsense. It’s like deciding to pledge your undying love to a woman because, after all, you are a people person. “Hey, you’re ‘people,’ so why not?” Listening to music can’t be like flipping [...]
The human measure of divine characteristics has always been interesting. Earthly expressions of damnation and wrath know no bounds. You’ll not struggle to find believers who will judge a person worthy of hell without equivocation if a particular sin goes without repentance or is committed too many times. No matter what the extenuation in circumstance, [...]
