With the economic “depression” in full swing and talks of some ridiculous bailout plan I felt like cheering everyone up at least for a short while. So I stumbled across this website [and by stumbled I mean it was on Electra’s (Q101.1 radio station for the out of towners) ways to waste time at work]. It tickled me and hopefully will tickle everyone else.
www.fmylife.com
Cultural etiquette can be a tricky thing.  Gestural greetings are no exception and can differ greatly from culture to culture.  People in Thailand greet with the Wai, placing palms together, fingers pointing up, with the head slightly bowed.  The Chinese use a slight nod and bow of the head while Egyptians greet with a handshake followed by a touch on the elbow.  Botching any one of these can be embarrassing and even inadvertently insulting.  Which is why I always try to offer patience and assistance to those with a desire to adapt to the social norms of my culture.  Sometimes barriers of communication can be as simple as technique.  This leads me to the topic for todays post – my favorite platonic physical communication: the high five.
 
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While personal style is a key element of an impressive mitt-hit, all too often is the attempt made to do the strut before the crawl. Â Such a mistake can often sacrifice valuable thenar (palm muscle) contact, which is no good for anyone. Â Â
So at this point you may be wondering, “How DO I deliver a righteous fiver every time?”  Â
The answer is simple really. Scope the ‘bow.  That’s right.  For consistent sonic booms that will make you wish you had a reason to keep on walking, keep your eye on the approaching elbow.  Never again will you suffer from disappointing babypats when you’re 178 gigaton up-highs are leaving cool-dust debris on the palms of their beneficiaries.  And when you’ve got enough cool that it exfoliates, you’re cryogenic.  So practice a few times on you’re little brother and when I see you, you know what I want.  Let’s do ‘dis like Brutus.  Â
On a related note, look out for Gimme Five: History of a Handshake, “an independently produced video documentary examining the history and origin of the handshake a.k.a. daps, pounds, grips and soul shakes.”
Alas the day has come, the birth of the 40th President of the United States of America. Yes, on this day 98 years ago Ronald Reagan, the Republican mastermind behind the end of the Cold War, the War on Drugs, and Reaganomics was born. Feel free to check out the wikipedia page.
Anytime someone brings up a “great dive bar” to check out, there is almost always a sort of competition in which everyone knows some bar that is more of a dive than the next. Well, at least among the people I know. Anyways, I saw this post about photographer Matthew Scott, who put up a portfolio of some colorful pictures of locals he has been to. Anyone from Chicago or Milwaukee can probably agree that these are not dives. The only things that colorful in Murray’s are what come out of the Irishmens’ mouths.
I feel like Tracy Morgan in that sketch posted here not too long ago. Cause theres requirements to being a dive bar:
Does the bar have a pool table with a lean that only the regulars know how to work? Â Then it’s not a dive bar.
Does the bar sell scratch-offs? Â Then it’s not a dive bar.
Does the bar still have a cd jukebox? Is it broken?  Then it’s not a dive bar.
Does the bar have such a high nudie photo hunt record that breaking it is a matter of pride?  Then it’s not a dive bar.
Does it have shag carpeting on the wall? Then it’s not a dive bar.
Does the bar automatically turn to Inside Edition at 3:00 to get ready for Jeopardy?  Then it’s not a dive bar.
Does the bar get visited by “the meat man?”  Then it’s not a dive bar.
I’ve been on quite the hiatus from movies lately due to my obsession with Six Feet Under (quite possibly one of the best HBO series ever). But this weekend gave me the chance to catch up with my one true love, here are the fruits of that labor:
The Son of Rambow: This movies gives us a view into the life of Will and Lee. Two boys who couldn’t be more different. Except for their love of Rambo: First Blood. This story follows the boys through a summer of fun, misfortune, life lessons and all the good stuff that a PG-13 movie should cover. One of the best under R movies I’ve seen in a while.Â
 BARAKA: A visual journey across the globe. Set to “world music” (insert FOTC joke here). No talking or scripts in this one…just amazing cinematography.  There are some absolutely breathtaking shots in this 1.5hr slide show.  When I first sat down to watch it I was anticipating taking a nap (a no talking movie, easy to fall asleep to….or so I thought), I was totally sucked in. Only disappointing part of the film…no captions whatsoever…if you don’t know where these locations are, you’re not going to find out from this.   Â