The Summer Solstice will take place in a few days, and to get in the mood for summer, I’ve rounded up this list of “summer” songs.

Summertime: From the opera Porgy and Bess by George Gershwin, first staged in 1935 Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days of Summer: A 1963 hit from Nat King Cole Summer in the City: [...]

Father’s Day is around the corner, and to celebrate, I’ve compiled this list of movies that are somehow or other father-related.

Big Daddy: Adam Sandler stars as a self-absorbed man who pretends to adopt a kid to impress his girlfriend, but who ends up getting attached to his charge. Daddy Day Care: A comedy featuring Eddie [...]

In honor of Mother’s Day (albeit a day late), I’ve compiled this list of “Mother”-related movies.

All About My Mother: This 1999 film from Spanish writer/director Pedro Almovodar features a transvestite father and Penélope Cruz as a nun. Big Momma’s House: The first of the Big Momma’s House movies introduces Martin Lawrence as an FBI agent in [...]

After watching Spider-Man 3 last weekend, Morgen and I were discussing how Peter Parker is an introvert. And it occurred to me that this is true of most superheroes’ secret identities. In fact, that seems to be almost mandatory—more than glasses or an unfashionable haircut, an introverted demeanor can effectively deflect unwanted attention and help [...]

I recently wrote about the French street theater group Royal de Luxe on Interesting Thing of the Day. Known for their large-scale productions featuring giant marionette figures, there are many videos of their performances available for viewing on YouTube. Here are just a few of them:

The Little Girl Giant: This video is very popular, having [...]

I’ve recently started a blog about introverts; in addition to sharing my own experience, I write about various topics pertaining to introverts in general. In a recent post, I brought up the fact that there are many famous actors and actresses who are introverts, a phenomenon I can’t fully explain. I can’t prove that there is [...]

In Western countries, April 1st has long been celebrated as April Fools’ Day, an opportunity to play tricks on others and to suspend seriousness for a short period of time. As it turns out, there are other holiday traditions that nearly coincide with the beginning of April; some have suggested that the start of spring [...]

I first fell in love with automatons when I visited the famous Musée Mécanique in San Francisco. At that time it was housed in a dark, low-ceilinged hall right near the beach, but has since moved to the more tourist-oriented Fisherman’s Wharf. It’s a great place to visit; for a few quarters you can see [...]

Next week, on March 19th, residents of Bali, Indonesia, will celebrate Nyepi, the beginning of their new year. Nyepi, sometimes called the day of silence, is a time when everyone remains indoors and refrains from their regular activities in order to reflect on the past year as well as the year ahead. Many other cultures [...]

As previously mentioned, Firefly is without any doubt the best thing ever to have been broadcast on TV. This outer-space western followed the exploits of Captain Mal Reynolds and the crew of the Firefly-class spaceship Serenity, and has attracted a rabid base of fans (or “Browncoats,” as we like to be called) far out of [...]