A debate about obesity broke out recently at one of my cyber-hangouts, and it turns out that the reason so many people in the U.S. are so fat isn't as simple as you might think, which is to say that a lot of the old arguments about processed food, high-fructose corn syrup, carbohydrates, exercise, genetics Continue Reading

Woo-hoo!!   That sound has, for the past couple of weeks, been eminating from my computer speakers, although, sad to say, less often in recent days. That's because I'm stuck. Where I'm stuck is in the root system of a large tree, and by "me" I mean a band of tiny beings who've been running Continue Reading

Another Record Store Day has come and gone, and it's interesting to see how this pseudo-holiday has evolved. Like Mother's Day or Secretaries' Day, but far more overtly than either of those, it's an event organized by an industry to both celebrate itself and sell stuff. Lots of stuff.  And that's the way it seems Continue Reading

I must have missed the press release. You know how, when a singer has a new album out, they're suddenly on the covers of all the magazines that week because someone sent out a press release? That's what happened this week, only with an idea, not a cultural artifact. And the idea is one I'm Continue Reading

Michael Corcoran is a provocateur. He always has been, ever since he's been writing. When he landed in Austin in the 1980s, he made a big splash. Even people who'd never read him knew that he had tattoos, which hadn't yet caught on, let alone become almost mandatory. And among his tattoos was, well, one Continue Reading

As those of you who follow my other blog know, for the past five weeks I've been careening around North America. Needless to say, this meant some ingenuity when packing, especially if I were going to acquire anything over there, as I inevitably do. I was going to hit two distinct climate zones, for one Continue Reading

I ate breakfast this morning in a modest cafe near my hotel, chosen because the hotel gives you a free breakfast there. At the next table, four German women chatted away, and I was reminded of all the other Germans I've bumped into during the five weeks I've spent on the road in the U.S Continue Reading

 
If any Berliners were wondering if the city was getting its tax euros' worth at SXSW, this is a photo of the Berlin stand at the trade show, where high technology, film, and music from Berlin all had their representation. There were a few people at the stand, mostly talking to each other, and a Continue Reading

 
I was wandering among the hectares of trade show at SXSW, astonished at its size and the amount of money all these companies had put into the effort of promoting themselves, when someone dressed in a costume of some sort (including their head, so I wasn't aware of their gender) handed me another piece of Continue Reading

Innocent young woman menaced by Glomper; her life saved by the device in her hand. The person accompanying the beast told us that Glomper "means something in Russian." Now, no *way* that goes on my computer!