Thanksgiving is an interesting holiday when it comes to its portrayal in popular culture.  Sandwiched between the more cinematic Halloween and Christmas there are almost no movies in which Thanksgiving is central, although scenes might take place during the holiday, … Continue reading The Contras: Stuffing It In

And we’re back after a necessary hiatus for more unnecessary thoughts. I loved the Rocky movies growing up – I’m a white, male after all – and so I recently read a review of the new Creed movie to see … Continue reading The Contras: It’s not for you

There are endless stories about a sense of calmness that overcomes people when they know they are going to die.  King Louis XVI was supposed to have said right before his execution, “May my blood cement the good fortune of … Continue reading The Contras: Trump is Right

In about 1770 B.C.E. Zimri-Lim, the King of Mari (a small Kingdom in what is now Iraq) married his oldest daughter off to a neighboring King.  When she failed to produce an heir in a timely fashion, he sent a … Continue reading The Contras: The Kids Are Alright

When Adam Yauch (MCA) of the Beastie Boys died in 2012 it was revealed in his will that none of his songs could ever be used for an advertisement.  (Apparently this is legally dubious.)  This was hailed by his fans … Continue reading The Contras: You Can’t Sell Out

Can we really rate works of art the way we rate a meal?  We all came from the mother ship where rating a movie or a TV episode sometimes minutes after it airs (Sometimes the reviews are from screeners and … Continue reading The Contras: We’ll See How Good You Really Are

I was involved in a little petty theft as a kid, nothing serious and I never got caught.  But in retrospect I feel bad about it.  Then there’s my more recent theft for which I feel completely justified.  Let me … Continue reading The Contras: Stealing is Good

I wrote about Football for my last entry and almost nobody responded – serves me right for bringing sports to a nerd fight.  So let’s get a topic we can all over-analyze, superheroes.  The Superhero tournament just wrapped up – … Continue reading The Contras: You Don’t Want to Be a Superhero!

I love Football.  I can’t remember a time when I didn’t.  I played as a youth, up through High School – played a little club ball in college.  I get excited when training camp starts, I watch the stupid Hall … Continue reading The Contras: Forbidden Love

I am no physicist, so I don’t make this claim from a scientific or mathematical framework.  When I say parallel universes don’t make sense, I mean it the way they are explained and used in popular culture and readily accepted … Continue reading The Contras: Parallel Universes Make No Sense.

In this occasional post, I will strive to present an opinion that while certainly not unique to me, is nonetheless counter to the general feelings on the subject- The goal of course being the ongoing discussion more than my poor … Continue reading The Contras: I Owe You Nothing!