Category: Culture/Philosophy

  • To continue the thought from my last post there are a set of six Hollywood tropes that I’m quite tired of seeing. And no, they are not the usual complaints seen so much on YouTube and in other blogs. I think just about everyone has heard the complaints of Mary Sues and the breaking of…

  • Lazy Hollywood Writing

    I was watching a television show where some teenage daughters were telling their mother about a romcom where the leading man was a widower father. The mother’s reply was, “of course he is, Hollywood hates mothers.” I thought about that for a minute and then realized she got it all wrong. Hollywood doesn’t hate mothers;…

  • I just recently reread Huckleberry Finn for a book club and it made me wonder. Why does the left hate Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn? They claim it’s due to the liberal use of the “N-word,” but they have no problem with Tarantino movies. Besides, any sensible person can tell the difference between a racist work…

  • As a follow-up to my previous thoughts on the Peter Principle there is one area I think I should touch. In the Air Force we often referred to there being four types of officers. Type One officers were those with a great deal of ability and a great deal of ambition. These were the ones…

  • The Peter Principle, for those who don’t know, is the theory postulated by Lawerance Peter that organizations will promote an employee to his (or her) level of incompetence and leave him there. The claim being that he won’t be promoted any further and the company won’t fire him. This theory is accepted as a given…

  • I had the importance of being able to laugh at life impressed on me by a chance meeting. It was around 1987 while I was in the Air Force. I was attending a maintenance overview class on the 747 being given by Boeing Company. The instructor had an unusual accent that I couldn’t recognize, and…

  • There are some R rated movies that while filled with nudity, violence, and vulgarity still present what could only be called Christian themes. I realize that some people, particularly Christians, would find that hard to believe. It is, however, true. Even though I doubt the film makers intended to do that or were even aware…

  • Let Us Leave

    At the end of chapter 14 in John’s Gospel there is an almost throw away line. Jesus and the disciples have just finished the Passover meal in the upper room. Jesus has been telling them that he is about to go where they couldn’t follow, and then at the very end he says, “Come now;…

  • Schadenfreude

    It was almost twenty years ago when I first heard the term schadenfreude on the television show Boston Legal. Since then, I’ve heard it a lot especially after an election with one side feeling that all is lost. Just as reminder, schadenfreude is taking joy or pleasure in another’s misfortune, such as losing an election…

  • Economic Analysis

    I’ve been viewing the YouTube channel TIKHistory. Which I highly recommend for anyone who has an interest in World War II. The man who runs the channel is a British historian who specialized in that era. He has several videos where he explains the Nazi and Fascist theories in order to explain their actions and…

  • Slavery

    I was watching a Bill Mahar clip on YouTube and was giving his one of his usual rants about how slavery isn’t condemned in the Bible. And how Jesus and the New Testament gives guidance to owners and slaves alike, rather than calling for its end. As it did for prostitution, divorce, and homosexuality. I’m…

  • Why Hollywood Stinks

    Why is modern entertainment, especially Hollywood, so bad? One of the reasons is that in Hollywood, writing has always taken a backseat. Writers have always been second, if not third, class citizens behind directors, producers, and actors. Whenever a movie has been nominated for best picture, but the director wasn’t, you’ll hear the question “Do…