Some have argued that the tales of Br'er rabbit originated as sly tales of resistance (pulled this citation from wikipedia: Levine, Lawrence (1977). Black Culture and Black Consciousness: Afro-American Folk Thought from Slavery to Freedom. Oxford University Press).

Very true and it makes me both grateful and sad that my father trained me what to do in these situations. He offered the same reasoning too. When you're in a situation like that you will likely panic and not be as capable of thinking rationally. Plan out your escape routes in these situations ahead of time so that…

I was lucky. There was one summer when I was in college when this phenomenon got especially bad. I mean it was happening daily upwards of ten times a day and people physically grabbing me (I was 100 lbs and that is scary).

Thanks! That's exciting. Dufresne, above everything else, makes truly delicious food. Plus he is one of a handful of high profile chefs that I always spot cooking whenever I go into their restaurants.

I've had this for a while but haven't made anything yet, but I obviously should!

The home made polenta (made from fresh corn) is marvelous. The first time I did it I swore that I would never do it again because the labor cost of taking that much corn off the cob and my endless stirring was absurdly high (note: use significantly less water than he calls for at the final stage, set aside some of the…

If I recall correctly part of the fallout too was that his dad is actually been publicly a Holocaust denier. Makes most less inclined to give hi the benefit of a doubt on his anti-semitic rants.

Kenji Mizoguchi maybe but that might be a matter of perspective.

You know I had bought a cd years ago for $1 at the Strand outlet and the vocalist sounded superficially similar to Chris Cornell. Since I've moved so much I could't find the cd and have been wracking my brains for the last two years only remembering that big was in the band name and that they were Berklee dropouts.

Not going to lie, I can't even get that upset with that anymore. I once saw a woman curling her lashes while driving and that was way more terrifying.

Sorry but Julius Caesar was actually intelligent and articulate with a wonderfully dry sense of humor.

There is a better source than the Daily Mail. I may need to check for the link and edit later.

A twist on this is that I had a friend who was down on himself once and I tried to comfort him by comparing the two of us. His response was "just because you're a terrible person doesn't mean I'm not a bad person." The fact that we both cracked up at the response is why we're friends.

While his handwork was not bad, Michael B. Jordan's hips of lead made suspension of disbelief very difficult and made worse by the fact that they cast a lot of actual boxers as his opponents.

I'll need to check out the essay.

Wait, I sound like a weirdo, but, George St. Pierre, a truly phenomenal, and not so self aggrandizing mixed martial artist, is pretty much all about thinking his way to success.

I think this poster usually comments in this fashion on some of the movie threads. I usually question my reading comprehension till I check who posted it. I'm not sure if they are some kind of socio-political conspiracy nut (with a poor grasp of English grammar and syntax) or a performance artist or running a bizarre…

He's been getting amazing reviews for his Stanley Kowalski turn in A Streetcar Named Desire. I think most of the theater reviews I saw said he basically managed to shake the specter of Marlon Brando.

Once, when drunk at a bar, I overheard some guy say something that was awful enough (though I can't remember the details) to make me actually smack him upside the head and ask, are you stupid, an asshole, or both? Not my finest moment but while he was irritated he didn't ask for an apology from me and did apologize to…

Hey is that the independent one scored by J. G. Thirlwell? I've wanted to check it out for years now. Hmm…looks like it is available in the UK.