Jonathan Miller's Blog, page 50

Lauren Mayer: Boys, Sophomoric Humor and Politics

here are a variety of theories attempting to explain the relative minority status of women in comedy, ranging from socialization (women are raised to laugh at others, not to tell the jokes) to courtship (men want to be the ones to make others laugh) to good old-fashioned sexism (club owners tend to be men and think men are funnier). At any rate, women tend to be less comfortable with, or at least less proficient at, off-color humor – which is why it’s so startling when they do get down & dirt...

John Y’s Musings from the Middle: Homophobia

C’mon people. Enough already with these outdated homophobic attitudes.

If one man compliments another man on his physical appearance (e.g. “You look really trim. Have you lost weight?” or “That suit looks fabulous on you and really makes your eyes pop”), it doesn’t mean he is gay.

It simply means that if he were gay, he would probably be really into the guy he is complementing.

Erica and Matt Chua: In Search of a White Tail

It’s hard to avoid expectations, they are just a given in life. For example When you go to dinner you expect to have a menu with multiple items to choose from, when you book a taxi you expect them to take you to your destination and when you pay a high fee for something your expectations go up. While traveling has taught me to temper my expectations, I couldn’t help but have high expectations when I paid $145 NZ dollars ($120 USD) for a whale watching tour. In fact if you don’t see a whale yo...

John Y’s Musings from the Middle: Thoughts for the Day

Thought for the day

The more often I say, “I don’t know,” the more likely I will learn something new.

And the more likely I will be right.

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I have observed that people who cherish their opinions over their friendships tend to have many more of the former than the latter.

And I have observed that the reverse seems to be true for those who cherish friendships over their opinions.

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I’ve just been informed that my smartphone has “data leakage.”

Phew!!

And I was complaining because I thought it was m...

Saul Kaplan: Education Rant

“Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire” W.B. Yeats

Excuse the rant but I am outraged by the state of the U.S. education system. We have let the pilot light go out and we are failing our youth. It is time to move beyond public policy debates and institutional rugby scrums to try new solutions. What we are doing now isn’t working and far too much of the federal stimulus investment is being spent to sustain the current system.

A report last year from the nonprofit ne...

John Y. Brown, III: Fashionista

Rebecca and I werehonored to be participating last nightin the Kosair Charities Fashion Show.

Great cause.

Great people.

Great fun.

Some highlights:

Two things about me:
1) I have never modeled before.
2) Love the movie Little Miss Sunshine.
So when the pressure was on to “work it,” well…..let’s just say I remembered the grand finale scene from Little Miss Sunshine and knew exactly what to do

And, yes, as you can see at this moment I was really feeling it and went for the “Double finger gun” model mov...

John Y’s Musings from the Middle: Dirt Devils and Magic Dusters

The upside of Dirt Devil shopping.

It shouldn’t be this hard to buy a Dirt Devil to vacuum out blueberry muffin crumbs in my car floorboard.

I have tried Office Depot, Stienmart, Best Buy, Staples, and a couple of others and empty handed.

It was very frustrating.

But just a few minutes ago I took a Dirt Devil shopping break at Heine Bros and got a Rooibee Red Tea and am listening to the BlackCrowes.

And now I really don’t mind at all that finding a Dirt Devil is so difficult. In fact, as I am list...

Julie Rath: The Six Shoes Every Guy Should Own

In a perfect world, you would have something in your closet to wear for every occasion. Part of that is having the right footwear. After all, having the WRONG shoes can completely throw off an otherwise great outfit (we’ve all seen that guy looking smooth in his well-fitting suit but massacring the look with his 90′s square-toed dress shoes).If you only focus on how you look ankle up, you miss the mark. Below is my list of the 6 essential shoes every guy should have in his closet.

1.Brown Lace...

John Y’s Musings from the Middle: 51 and rhyming

I may be 51
But I’m nowhere near done
Just kickin’ it Old School
Revving up for my next run

I got nothing to lose
And I got nothing to prove
Done paid up all of my dues
And rock these comfortable shoes

Fighting gravity and time
As I’m bustin’ my rhymes
Got no awareness of shame
And still got slow motion game

Don’t write me off yet
‘Cause I’m just turning it on
Even crankin’ up the volume
Since my hearing’s half gone

Don’t push me out
‘Cause I’m still “all in”
And still got it going on
If I’m in bed by ten

So rem...

Josh Bowen: Top 12 (and one) Fitness Motivation Quotes

It is the middle of the week and this is when the weekend distractions start to hit. Use the following quotes from my book 12 Steps to Fitness Freedom plus an extra one to build a fire inside to workout today. Remember, all things through fitness…

1. “Strive for progress, not perfection” -Unknown

2. “The finish line is just the beginning of a whole new race” -Unknown

3. “Never settle for second when first is available” -Lou Holtz

4. “I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almos...