“No one cares what you had for lunch.” When social media first started gaining momentum, this was a common criticism. But years later, millions of social media users disprove this every day, posting and commenting on pictures of what they are cooking, eating, or drinking. In fact, Instagram reports upwards of 50 million Americans share post food photos each day, enough to warrant its own term: “foodstagramming.” Recently, I was one of those foodstagramming fools. For dinner one night, I made homemade pizzas for my family. They were a huge hit, and I was
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This Sunday kicks off yet another Shark Week, which currently holds the honor of longest running event in cable television history. Originally broadcast in 1987 on the Discovery Channel, it was meant to raise awareness and respect for sharks. These days, between the memes, the over-the-top commercials, and the drinking games, Shark Week has become more spectacle than respectful. Now, I love sharks just as much as the next person – in fact, the summer it was released, I went to see Jaws in the movie theater five times! – but even I have
Read more →I blinked and it was over. I can say that about the summer (my kids go back to school this Thursday!), but unfortunately, the same cannot be said about the terrors of back-to-school shopping. Forget Wild Kingdom. If you’re looking for hours of savage entertainment, just go to the Back-to-School aisle in Target the Saturday before school starts and watch the parents fight over that last yellow folder. It seems that every year, the list of necessary school supplies gets longer and more complicated. The kids need red folders, blue folders and yellow folders
Read more →After enormous success with The Flintstones, the folks at Hanna-Barbera decided to go in the opposite chronological direction, creating the futuristic space-age world of The Jetsons. The cartoon, which debuted in 1962, was intended to depict the year 2062, and The Jetsons were the very first television family to live in a world ahead of its time. From robot maids to flat-screen televisions, flying cars to video conferencing, the show’s creators envisioned a world that’s not too far off from where we are today. Need Proof? George Jetson had: a “televiewer” screen (instead of
Read more →Let’s face it. The first five days after the weekend are always the hardest. Some people get really upset when Monday mornings roll around. To be clear, I’m not upset that it’s Monday. I’m upset that I have to change out of my pajamas and put real clothes back on. I’m also upset because I didn’t get a tenth of what I set out to accomplish done this weekend. I did, however, find the time to watch a commercial for the Lipton Tea company. They say they feel my pain. This summer (through September
Read more →Anyone who lived through the 80s will remember Fred the Baker, the popular Dunkin’ Donuts mascot whose catchphrase “Time to make the donuts!” became a household saying. Fred, played by actor Michael Vale, was so beloved he starred in more than 100 commercials over the course of fifteen years. In one commercial, Fred shows his son the ropes of donut making. As they rise before dawn and shuffle to the bakery, Fred imparts the secrets of the perfect donut: “Always be generous”, he says while sprinkling lots of powdered sugar on the donuts. Donny
Read more →The Merriam-Webster dictionary announced that it has added several new words, including “selfie,” defined as “an image of oneself taken by oneself using a digital camera especially for posting on social networks.” Perhaps my favorite response to this news was when Chevy Chase tweeted: “Twerking and Selfie have officially been added to the dictionary. Future and Optimism have been removed.” We all have that friend who posts way too many selfies on Facebook as if they look different from the 47 others they’ve posted this year or as if we somehow forgot what they
Read more →Summer is known as blockbuster season in the film industry, the time of the year when all of the fast-paced action films and gut-busting comedies hit the big screen. I love summer blockbusters because they’re the kinds of movies that help you kick back, relax, and beat the heat for a few hours. Movies didn’t always work like this, though. Until the 70s, films usually debuted in big cities first, then trickled down to smaller towns and suburbs, relying on word-of-mouth to pave the way to ticket sales. On June 20th, 1975, that all
Read more →When I was a kid, mowing the lawn was my job. There are seven kids in my family, so how I ended up pushing a mower across an acre of land once a week for $5 bucks is one of those mysteries of the universe. If I complained about the job (and oh, did I complain!) my dad would tell me I could always use a pair of tweezers instead. If I waited too long, hoping Dad would let me off the hook, and it got dark, he just handed me a flashlight and
Read more →Did you know what today is? Yes, it’s July 11, or 7/11, otherwise known as 7-Eleven Day. According to the 7-Eleven corporate website, approximately 25 percent of the U.S. population lives within one mile of a 7-Eleven store. It is the largest chain of convenience stores in the world with close to 53,000 stores in 16 countries. And, in homage to last week’s Thought for the Weekend, I’d be remiss if I didn’t tell you that 7-Eleven has the largest ATM network of any retailer in United States.Born in 1927, when an employee of Southland
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