Yesterday, Blockbuster Video finally filed for bankruptcy. The move likely represents the last nail in the coffin for brick-and-mortar video stores, which have been replaced over the past decade by Netflix, Hulu, Redbox, On-Demand TV, and my personal favorite: copyright-infringing P2P downloads. Blockbuster’s slow dissolve into failure comes three years after Movie Gallery, owner of…
Archives for September 2010
Male Bonding
Tom Matlack asked guys what makes them feel connected to other men. The good news? Not a single man said “chest bumps.”
Man of the Day: Stephen Colbert
Congress has a long and storied history of inviting celebrities to testify. Remember Sesame Street’s Elmo on music education? Now Stephen Colbert is stepping up to the plate. He will testify tomorrow morning (in character, no less) in front of a house subcommittee about the issues facing immigrant farm workers. He will be joined by United Farm…
Good Sh*t
We all have our own private demons when it comes to parents. I once called their bluff about Santa, and my dad picked up the phone to “call the North Pole” and cancel my presents for the year. (He still won’t tell me who was actually on the other line.) But Justin Halpern, author of…
Study of the Day: Your Friends Aren’t Who You Think They Are
Everyone I know agrees with me. I mean, my Facebook friends “like” everything I post on my wall, and there’s laughing out loud happening pretty much all the time. They clearly adore my taste in fat cat small box videos and my wittily displayed political views. Plus we look so adorably in agreement in all…
Stigma of Mental Illness Grows Even as People Accept Genetic Link
A new study published in the American Journal of Psychiatry reveals that while more people recognize schizophrenia, alcoholism, and depression as legitimate diseases, they still reject people afflicted with them. Researchers at Indiana University found that between 1996 and 2006, the public shifted its view of schizophrenia, alcoholism, and depression. In 1996, 54% of participants…
The Five Worst Commercials of 2010
Over at Consumerist, they’re holding a vote to determine the worst commercial of 2010. They’ve narrowed the list down to five head-scratching finalists. The worst has to be this Quiznos commercial. It’s three annoying cats smacking together cymbals and repeatedly screeching out the lyrics, “five, four, three.” Oh, and it’s all sung to the tune of…
The News—Health Care Starts, the GOP Pledges, and the Rich Are Still Rich
For Many, Health Care Relief Begins Today Today is the six-month anniversary of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. What does this mean? “Starting now,” says the New York Times, “insurance companies will no longer be permitted to exclude children because of pre-existing health conditions, which the White House said could enable 72,000 uninsured…
Exclusive Interview with David Kohan
Tom Matlack talks manhood, fatherhood, sexuality (and profanity!) with David Kohan.
The Curveball, Part V: Answering Questions
The fifth in a six-part series chronicling the birth of Michelle and Dennis Teravainen’s second child, August, who was born with Down’s syndrome.
Man of the Day: Leonard Skinner
If Leonard Skinner’s name sounds an awful lot like the name of the Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, we’d say you’re onto something. The 77-year old former gym teacher (who sadly, died today) was made famous as the archetypal naysaying old timer who sent the soon-to-be rockstars to the principal’s office and consequently inspired their…
PBS War Coverage: Too Graphic?
The following video (after the jump) is from PBS News Hour‘s broadcast from last Friday. James Foley, a reporter with GlobalPost, was in Afghanistan, embedded with an American infantry unit, when they were ambushed by Taliban insurgents. As gunfire rained down on the American forces from surrounding cliffs, a 19-year-old Private, Justin Greer, manned a…
The Sound of One Box Shipping
Those who follow this blog may know about my slightly unnerving affinity for boxes and packages. But evidently I’m not alone. An art student at the Royal College of Art in London stuck a dictaphone into a package and sent it across Europe to Helsinki, recording the whole way. Then he animated the recording and it’s…
Dodgeball in Your Underwear, Anyone?
For the exhibitionists and sports-in-your-skivvies enthusiasts out there, Jockey is sponsoring an event for you. In honor of Prostate Cancer Awareness Month (but mostly in honor of their “Unordinary Underwear for Unordinary Men” line) the underwear company is inviting brave dodgeballers to play the most massive game of dodgeball ever—in their unmentionables. The game is…
Livin’ the Dream: Suzanne Rosenwasser
Good Men Project Magazine contributor Suzanne Rosenwasser, a long-time public school teacher, works with at-risk high-school boys, helping them develop the tools they need to succeed. But before she was helping kids achieve their dreams, she had one of her own—to be a writer. Suzanne’s story is featured on DreamitSeekit: Folksinger Harry Chapin had recently…
Study of the Day—The Cost of Corpulence
Being obese may cost a person’s health, but it takes a toll on the wallet as well—especially for women, according to a recent study. Researchers at George Washington University report that the cumulative dollar-and-cents cost of obesity for men is about half as much as it is for women. The study, cleverly titled, “A Heavy…