Last Week’s Show: Of Jobs and Hobbies
“You are such a great singer!” said the slightly drunken woman to me after the band left the stage. “Thank you very much,” I replied, politely. “Please sing one more song. For me.” she pleaded. “I’m sorry, but the show is over, and we’re not allowed to go back on stage.” “Please?!? I’ll give you fifty bucks if you go back on stage right now and sing a song for me.” The stage was dark, the crew was already packing up the equipment. “Uhh, no.” I replied, rather annoyed. “Besides, how did you get backstage in the first place?!?” The above situation actually happens quite often; I’m often offered money to perform longer than is stated in my contract. The question for me: is such a request a compliment to my skill as an entertainer,...
Smartphones: 21st century Tamagotschis?
If I ever needed proof that the smartphone is quickly becoming the 21st century’s version of the Tamagotchi (those widely popular and extremely annoying “digital pets” from the 90′s), I found it on Saturday while waiting to catch my train back home. On a beautiful, warm, bright Saturday morning, I was shocked and intrigued by just how many people I witnessed (myself included) hunched over, faces buried in the tiny screens occupying the palms of their hands. Based on my very unscientific observations, it’s quite easy to tell which type of current smartphone people are using: - If they’re hunched over while flicking with their left or right index finger in different directions, or sporadically rocking from side to side or forwards and...
Explaining U.S. Gun Laws To a Child
So, I’m preparing breakfast for the kids this morning (my daughter is 12 and my son is 10; my son had a friend sleep over last night), when a rather interesting conversation took place. I was explaining to the kids why I was watching a news show (Countdown with Keith Olbermann) on my iPhone at the breakfast table, when the conversation then turned to President Obama. The kids are very smart and, as many german kids do, know a little about history, so it came as a total shock to them when I said to them that there are some Americans who compare Obama to Hitler, calling him a fascist, sozialist and a Nazi. They of course wanted to know why these people compare Obama to the greatest mass murderer in the history of man, so I explained a few of the reasons; fear...
