Pop Osmosis

After the Rapture: Passing the Saving on to You

[3.Nov.09] :. The Rapture may whisk the Saved up to Heaven ... leaving all of their corporeal assets untended. For the business-minded, earth-bound heathen, there’s money to be had in the leavings.
 

Creepy Crawly Ad Bots

[28.Sep.09] :. ‘Contextual ads’ generated by Web crawlers based on private email content might provide fresh, up-to-the-second advertising copy, but these so-called geniuses are no Don Draper.
 

He’s Just Not That Into Anyone

[1.Sep.09] :. Asexuals, also known as “aces”, have begun to assert their place as a valid and healthy sexual orientation; even SpongeBob is in on the (lack of) action.
 

De-synchronized Swimming

[4.Aug.09] :. In an era of US history marked by unprecedented strides in racial equality, suburban swimming pools seem to maintain time-warpish levels of racism.
 

Catalogs: Disposable but Indispensable

[13.Jul.09] :. Practically its own highly succinct form of literature, I’ll take a good catalog over a bad magazine any day.
 

I’m in UR Culture, Rewriting UR Bible…

[1.Jun.09] :. The outrageous and mysterious popularity of LOLCats has provided an updated take on the personification of cats, as well as a bizarre new translation of the Bible.
 

The Ghost and the Machine

[23.Apr.09] :. Things don’t just go bump in the night anymore – they emit high-frequency audio evidence, are recorded and saved in .WAV format, and bore us (rather than scare us) to death.
 

Facebook Children of a Lesser Cause

[12.Mar.09] :. Valid fundraising on Facebook could help legitimize the site (if it’s not too late) -- but who thinks heavy metal, beer, and Paris Hilton qualify as legitimate causes?
 

Love Rated XOXO

[13.Feb.09] :. Could the lighthearted, seemingly innocuous genre of the romantic comedy actually be as psychologically damaging as onscreen violence and sex?
 

Look What the Cat Lady Dragged in

[11.Dec.08] :. The so-called “crazy cat lady” seems to be one of few sexist stereotypes that remains alive, well, and somehow immune to politically-correct backlash.
 

My Name is URL

[12.Nov.08] :. Welcome to the latest strain of cultural insanity: people changing their given names to slogans, political ads, and website URLs.
 

Not “Lovin’ It”

[15.Oct.08] :. TV commercials are becoming more overt in reflecting the "culture wars", particularly the fierce backlash against intellectualism.
 

Adultery, Adulterated

[10.Sep.08] :. Is the latest rage over "emotional infidelity” a genuine concern for those in a committed relationship, or is it just the latest trumped-up, talk show filling, anxiety-provoking non-issue?
 

Smell Me

[7.Aug.08] :. Regarding the ‘fume’ in perfume, and society's acceptance of forcing one's effluvium up the nasal orifices of others.
 

Fun for the Entire Family

[15.Jul.08] :. The kid-friendliness movement has claimed its final frontier – a kid-friendly sex shop – but is such an establishment even remotely sex-friendly?
 

I Me Mine!

[2.Jun.08] :. If, as Sir Tim Berners-Lee suggests, the Web is still a drooling, id-driven baby that wallows in its own (proverbial) feces, it makes sense that we continue to be mired in its arrested development.
 

No Reply Needed

[24.Apr.08] :. Have 'REPLY ALL' emails become the latest outlet for the modern obsession with self-expression and fame?