Our Popular Culture

You are browsing the archives of 2009 June.

It seems to be some rule of candy that if you stick with one brand for long enough, they will do something stupid that will make you not like them. Maybe I am a little bit too harsh and judgmental, but it certainly seems to apply most of the time. M&Ms, of course, are the classic example. Do you remember what they looked like when you were growing up? There wasn’t any blue color. There were two shades of brown, a light brown and a dark brown. Although a description of the colors in a bag of M&Ms does not sound so appealing, the actual look of the whole bag together was quite attractive. They were quite distinctive from say, Skittles, or other similarly sized candies. When they added that atrocious blue and removed one of the browns, it was a blow to this chocolate lovers heart. I have never forgiven them for that.

When I was just out of high school, getting a nose piercing was something that many found shocking. Today, it is not that big of a deal for the most part, and more and more people are doing it. In fact, it may soon be just as common as having two or three earrings in each ear. If you want to have your nose pierced, you have a few choices in the type of nose piercing jewelry you want to get. There are some that you are going to get when you first get it done, but after that, you may want to get something else. In most places where my friends and I have gone, the nose piercing jewelry that you first get is going to be a corkscrew ring. That means there is a small head on the ring, like a gem or even a silver or gold ball. The end of the rod is going to curl around. That helps it stay in your nose. You may have thought that nose piercing jewelry looks like the earrings that go into your ears, but that is not the case. That sharp end to an earring for your ear is going to poke through the other side of your nose if you are not careful.

When I took my children to see the movie Pirates of the Caribbean, they all came out wanting to get pirate flags. I can’t blame them. The action and adventure in that movie was contagious. It made everyone want to be a pirate. I have always viewed the Jolly Roger as a wonderful symbol. It symbolizes recklessness in the face of danger, a devil-may-care attitude, and an adventurous spirit willing to risk everything for profit and glory. The interesting thing is that, if you look at historical pirate flags, they vary a great deal. The design of pirate party flags, the ones you see everywhere, is actually pretty typical, but each captain would put his own spin on it. Some of them had pictures of the captain drinking with Death, others had hour glasses to show the mortality of all people. Some of them had cutlasses, others crossbones, and others one of each. All of them were designed with the same goal in mind: to show enemies that the pirate meant business.

I love that the “for dummies” series of books are published. I have never purchased any of them, but there may come a time when I do. I have read some, and I am grateful they are there in case I need them. Though the term might seem a little demeaning, it is not really meant to be. These books and this information is for those who cannot understand technical wording and financial matters. I know that when someone starts talking about how the stock market works or when I start reading medical terminology my eyes start to glaze over.

A lot of people I know in the self-defense community don’t give brass knuckles a lot of attention. It isn’t any wonder. The brass knuckle is a pretty old invention, and it is not particularly trendy right now. It is simple, crude, and powerful. It doesn’t invite the creativity and improvisation of a stun baton or something more sophisticated. Nonetheless, in my opinion, brass knuckles still have a place in self-defense. There’s something to be said for a weapon that is so good at doing what it is designed for.

There are people that say all bottled water is the same. They see no difference in either taste or health benefit. Water is water, they think, and they just get the most convenient and cheapest bottles of water that they find when they walk into a store. Others, like myself, can taste a difference in different bottled water brands, and I have ones that I prefer. I don’t think there is any quality difference among many of the brands, but I do think some taste better than others.

Order Girl Scout cookies and give support to your local community! Who hasn’t gone shopping during the annual Girl Scout cookie selling season, finding local Girl Scouts sitting outside with smiles and a load of delicious cookies? It’s easy, especially when money’s tight, to smile back and say, “I’m sorry, sweetie, I just can’t afford your cookies right now?” However, you really should think twice. Chances are, you’re going to buy some dessert treats for the family anyway. Why not cross those treats off your list and invest a few bucks of your grocery money to order Girl Scout cookies? Here are several good reasons to order Girl Scout cookies.

Like many of the kids of my generation, the batman comic books were actually one of the last pieces of the batman franchise I was exposed to. I grew up on the old Adam West Batman and Robin shows, and after that it was the Batman cartoons. Then, of course, there were all the innumerable Batman movies, a few short-lived video games, and all of the Justice League cartoons. Between all of that, I actually did not read any batman comics until I was in college. When I did, it was like a whole new world had been opened to me.

More and more things you buy today come with a basket. Many times, these baskets are so beautiful that we loathe to through them out. You may have a place to keep them so that you can use them again in the future, but that is not always the case. There are many great things that you can use them for, and they can make great additions to any room in your home. Even better, they can look really good in almost any decor, and they are immensely useful as well. Think about some of these things before you start throwing out baskets that you really want to keep.

Music boxes make a perfect gift for women of all ages. Music boxes have enthralled women for hundreds of years. Why has this musical invention retained its magical effect for so long? Perhaps it’s simply a way to escape the everyday, supplanting the worries of the day with a familiar and sweet song, with music that soothes your soul. Music boxes are usually operated with a key, wound up and played. The box itself is a thing of beauty, made of wood, glass, or metal, typically adorned with figurines, twirling to the notes of the song. A music box creates a sort of imaginary secret garden wherein you can lose yourself, if only for a few moments. Watching as you listen, it usually lifts your spirits and brightens your emotional outlook.