As someone who spends a lot of time in Jefferson City, and was down there yesterday fighting once again for Medicaid expansion, I can tell you that this couldn’t have happened to a nicer guy. Although this has been one of the worst sessions in our state’s history in terms of sticking it to the citizens of Missouri…

I absolutely loved the Fresh Air interview with Larry Wilmore, and I watched the first month of his new show. He’s a brilliant, brilliant man, but the show has not hit its stride and may never. The Colbert Report is over, and Jon Stewart is leaving The Daily Show. This is it for Comedy Central. This is it for cable…

When I saw this last night, I immediately thought of JLaw and Letterman.

These guys are like the Steely Dan of restaurant owners.

These situations are always confounding. I got a very upsetting call to the dean’s office to talk with a student, with hardly any warning as to what the topic would be.

She’s doing an upper division course. There is no way she is 18. This very sort of issue is why those courses are only given for more advanced students.

His side of it is almost apparent already. His course’s final project has valid context, but it’s really easy to misunderstand without some experience with philosophy or visual culture, and with just fine art as a reference - like knowing people paint from nude models. The short explanation is that this isn’t about…

I love that there was at least one other person besides me who understood this reference. “It doesn’t do anything, Eric. It’s a gazebo.”

Yes. Moffatt, I think. Or Chen for the sexual history bit. I don’t remember the name of the dude who taught Images Of Eroticism. I just know that I had to quit that one because the first question after every movie was something like “is this art?” or “why are we watching this?”

I teach, and I think that the reason we do the whole “reading of the syllabus” on the first day is especially for situations like this. I try to cover anything even potentially touchy in detail right from the get-go, and in this day of online learning systems, it’s impossible that this hasn’t been sitting in an easily…

Why, I had a parent call me just last fall to complain about something her son heard in class. And yes, I do teach college students.

If the employer can show that they have a strongly held religious belief in the 2000 year old natterings of the friends of the son of the invisible man in the sky, then they can ignore medical advice and the law and not cover Satan’s Pharmacopia in their insurance. I believe the insurance company is required to offer…

I also have a question for current and former waitstaff about how big an annoyance are people who send you away several times before finally ordering their meals. Mr. LBA and I were out with his friend and friend’s girlfriend a few nights ago, and girlfriend sent our waitress away three times and only made up her mind…

About 4 years ago, my 86-yo dad sent my husband to the grocery store for Feen-a-mint. The pharmacist laughed at him and said “That’s some old-timey thing - they don’t even make that anymore.” When he reported this back, my dear old dad repled “What do you mean they don’t have Feen-a-mint! That’s like not having…

Not food related but, my sister - also old enough to know better- saw a homeless man on the side of the road when we were down in Florida and said to the car “we should tell [name of our aunt and uncle who lived in the area] about him.” “Why?” my mother replied. “Because they can start bringing [the names of their…

Hi, welcome to BCO! We have fun here.

When an author trolls his own blog, then I know I’m in the right place:)

The Tito’s/Tanqueray thing reminds me of this time back in my mid-20s when I went to this party my then-roommate’s friends were throwing. I didn’t really know the people at this party, but there was free booze, so whatever. I’m making random small talk with this dude who, it became quickly apparent, was a total…

The Allie Galliardo story is closely similar to experience I had, but in much bigger scale and I am sure I was being scammed. When I was working on a beach bar, I had a couple order some drinks, when I made them they tried to pay with a large bill of our currency, I asked if it was for both and they kind of mumbled…

“How dare you mock the guy for not knowing what the beach is? Some people make it to age 50 without visiting the beach and somehow completely missing the ever-present representations of beaches in popular culture. Besides, many people suffer from Glorpman’s Syndrome, which is an inability to understand the…