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A new documentary, Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown, chronicles the life and times of the Godfather of Soul. When he was young, Brown shined shoes and lived in a brothel in Augusta, GA before serving time in juvenile detention for robbery. But his hustle upon being paroled at the age of 19 anticipated the emergence...
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As a lifelong baseball fan, it would be great if my three boys were interested in watching the World Series. Naturally, they were more excited about the ads. The good news is that they weren’t excited about the ad I was afraid of: a shockingly direct Pfizer ad for Viagra featuring a blonde on a bed in a come hither pose cooing...
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While out walking the other day, I spotted this poster on the street...
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I have a weakness for revolving restaurants. When I plan my travel, I often refer to my favorite Wikipedia entry: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_revolving_restaurants.
As if the combination of fine dining and 360 views weren't enough, the mechanics of the revolving restaurant fascinate me. Does the kitchen revolve as well? Where is the boundary between the revolving platform and the core and is there ever a...
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Probably the least secret "secret society" at Yale is the Pundits. Founded in 1884, the Pundits are Yale's senior pranksters. When students run naked through the library, it's probably the Pundits. My brother Aaron was tapped as a Pundit and...
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I always thought it was strange to walk into drugstores and see cigarette cartons piled high as mountains behind the cashier. After all, I come from Ontario, Canada where you can't buy alcohol outside of special Liquor Control Board of Ontario stores. (Beer, it should be...
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Higher education is about more than learning a subject and gaining the skills required to become gainfully employed. Judging from recent media coverage, it's also about football and basketball. More important, it's about learning to do the right thing. In college, I...
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Growing up in Toronto in the 1980s, if I thought about university at all, it was about the relative merits of London, Ontario (Western University) versus Kingston, Ontario (Queen's University). There was no question about going to University of Toronto. That was for losers who wanted...
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It seems like U2 has been on top of the world of pop music forever. But in the early 1980s U2 was just another Irish rock band. Sure, they were more popular than The Pogues, but not yet a different genus let alone...
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On the 4th of July I turned on my living room TV in search of the France-Germany World Cup quarter final. To my surprise, Wimbledon was on ESPN while ESPN2 was showing a...
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