Thomas the Train was a darling little blue train with a happy face and a story narrated by George Carlin. Engine 33 isn’t cut from the same loaf. It’s not even the same kind of bread. Thomas was the kind of “Yes I can, yes I can train. Engine 33 is more likely to say F@ck it, I’m done!” and walk off the job train. (Well roll off the job.) Thomas belongs to the Screen Actors Guild and was paid […]
It’s an art, a special martial art requiring mental focus as well as physical coordination. Unlike some martial arts that offer students techniques to hurt other people, to bruise them, break their bones and rattle their brain, fly kicking is strictly an internal art practiced to enhance one’s focus can coordination. Fly kickers begin their train with floating feathers and progress to some of the larger, less agile flies, like those big horse flies that love to bite you in […]
With a name like Fingers, certain professions come to mind. Cracking safes is a sure bet. The crook who could spin that dial and miraculously open the heavy iron door did it with his delicately sensitive fingers and was no doubt called Fingers, Or maybe Bob. This Fingers traveled a different career path before settling on opening a radiator warehouse. Some people think he worked in a morgue collecting digits after the bosses had left for the night. Others say […]
Maybe you missed it. The special only lasted one day. Of course it was a rather special “special.” Probably not one of your everyday items like toilet paper of vibrating condoms. The prices seem a little all over the map, too, from free to $500. I also wonder if this might be a clever lost leader. The labor rates are clearly, though confusingly posted but what about the hidden costs? Who supplies the locations? I bet that’s extra. And what […]
I was in my studio and could hear horrible sounds emanating from the street. It was alarming. It sounded like a man in pain screaming at the top of his lungs. I couldn’t see who it was from my window but the shrills were piercing. I knew I needed to call 911 quickly and rushed downstairs to better understand what was happening. A lone man stood on the corner whaling, he was obviously in great pain yet no one would […]
Verde was always a nature girl. She loved the woods especially in the summertime when the the leaves are full and green. Her south facing room was so full of plants she could have sold CO2 offsets. At night she dreamed of living in the treetops, swaying in the wind and and listening to the rustle of leaves. As she grew older she started green clubs at school and later became a member of the Green party. She studied botany […]
It looks like your typical warm and fuzzy retirement story. A hardworking man labors his whole life, savoring the time he can retire and open a candy store. And that’s actually the story here. Joe Pizzarelli graduated from college in 1959 and went on to earn two advanced degrees, one in neuroscience and the other in biochemistry, worked his whole life and open this little shop in 2015. Joe was drafted in 1970 and instead of being shipped to the […]
They look totally real. Driving past, you’d never suspect they were grown in a lab. But if you stop to offer them a carrot or to take a picture, things become weird. They don’t move. They aren’t statues. They’re hairy and smelly but they aren’t your sperm-meets-egg cows. They are the latest innovation in lab-grown beef. Knowing the public is wary about fake food, the food science industry has developed a way to create a cow-shaped impossible burger. 🍔 They […]
For years he was the center of the water ride, a fountain of mirth. Delightful squeals filled the air and his heart was bursting with joy. But slowly the waters receded and the squeals faded. The water ride was abandoned. At this point one might lament the sad turn of events and the sorrowful fate of Inky. But, lament not, for Inky long ago transcended the roller coaster of earthly woes to achieve a perpetual state of bliss. In other […]
They do things differently down in the Pinelands. They even do some things not done elsewhere, like treecycling. Growing up among trees its not unexpected that kids would develop tricks not easily imitated. In many urban places, the skateboard rules and has challenged, bruised, scraped more than one rider. Down in the Pines they take it to another lever. While passing through one summer day, we met some intrepid cyclers who indicated they could ride straight up a tree. We […]