We fully acknowledge that this wasn’t a red-letter week at Microkhan, at least in terms of posting frequency. Paying gigs got in the way, as did Microkhan Jr.—the parenting equation has changed dramatically now that he’s figured out how to open the front door. Worry not, though, we’ll be back to full strength next week—though […]
South Koreans are scrambling to incinerate their dead like never before, a trend that has forced the government to revise the law and allow funeral homes to cremate bodies, rather than ship them to one of only four crematoriums in the entire nation. That certainly seems like a much-needed legal step, given the recent increase […]
Tags:burial·cremation·economics·South Korea·Tennessee·Washington
Apologies for being late with this year’s obligatory Australia Day post. Though we’ve never had the pleasure of visiting the island continent ourselves, we’ve long enjoyed the company of Aussie compatriots—especially those we’ve encountered while roaming the far corners of the globe, since the Aussies always seem to know where the bar is. More importantly, […]
Tags:animal cruelty·animals·Australia·boxing·kangaroos·marsupials·Primo Carnera·sports·Woody Allen
The mid-1970s were a gloomy time in Polish history, even by that long-accursed nation’s standards. Government-mandated price increases on essential goods led to a series of violent protests, which were quelled in typically brutal fashion. To paraphrase a certain Shogun Assassin quote made famous on GZA’s Liquid Swords, it was a bad time for Warsaw. […]
Tags:Arp Life·Communism·dictatorship·funk·jazz·music·Poland·Polskie Nagrania Muza
While today’s Congressional politics may seem somewhat distasteful to fans of decorum, Capitol Hill’s past is full of far more vicious conflict between ideological opposites. As noted in this New York Times report from 1856, the people’s representatives were once none-too-shy about resorting to the gun or sword when positions seemed irreconcilable—though, to the American […]
Tags:Bladensburg Dueling Grounds·Congress·dueling·Maryland·politics·U.S. history
One of our favorite barroom debates concerns which animal will become the planet’s dominant species once a comet, asteroid, or accidental release of sinister nanobots makes human civilization go the way of the Zastava Koral. The smart money’s usually on the cockroach, due to its alleged ability to survive a nuclear Armageddon. And no one […]
The recent passing of J.D. Salinger got us thinking about the small role The Catcher in the Rye played in our decision to wield the (figurative) pen for a living. While we’re pretty sure the book wouldn’t hold up should we crack it again today, it wowed us during junior high. It was, in fact, […]
Tags:Billy Ocean·books·J.D. Salinger·movies·music·Now the Hell Will Start·Star War·The Catcher in the Rye
About a decade ago, we had the privilege of spending some time out on Greenland’s ice sheet, in the company of the Air National Guard unit responsible for keeping polar scientists stocked with food and medicine. Much of that trip is a blur, due to the fact that we lost innumerable brain cells due to […]
Tags:Antarctica·David Foster Wallace·Infinite Jest·Men's Journal·NASA·psychology·schizophrenia·space
It should go without saying that we do our best to keep apprised of the goings-on in North-East India, a place near-and-dear to our hearts. (Yeah, we have multiple hearts—what of it?) We were thus chilled to learn recently that the esteemed province of Nagaland has been invaded by Mary Kay Cosmetics. And the grand-dame […]
Tags:business·India·Mary Kay Cosmetics·multi-level marketing·Nagaland
