Category: Culture (Page 2 of 23)

Choose the form of your destructor

July 29, 2026 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH)

The feds conduct an annual survey to find out how many people use drugs and how many people are mentally disturbed. The link goes to the highlights of the survey. The results are interesting, but because it’s a survey, I wonder how accurate it is.

This data has been collected for almost 50 years, and we learn that this year, more people use marijuana, than use cigarettes or alcohol. From context, marijuana = THC marijuana and not CBD oil. Cigarettes = tobacco products, but not tobacco-free nicotine products.

l am no expert.

She seems like a sporty traveler

July 5, 2026 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

Fitness influencer banned from flight for attempting to board ‘naked’ amid record-breaking heatwave

Edda Elisa, a fetching fitness influencer from Germany, was denied entry on a Lufthansa flight after a gate agent allegedly accused her of being “naked” as a “catastrophic” heatwave plagues Europe.

Elisa is fetching, but time and place do matter.

The gate agent is maintaining standards for public behavior, and Lufthansa should back her up.

Let’s be honest.

Happy birthday to us.

July 4, 2026 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

Be the person your dog thinks you are.

That’s my advice for people, and for countries. This is America’s 250^th anniversary. Everybody else is saying something about it, so I thought I should. I’ve got nothing profound, just a bunch of little thoughts.

Sophie knows the old magic.

June 30, 2026 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

If you haven’t seen this, then you live like a normal person in the real world.

I have no interest in women’s basketball, but this incident is fascinating to watch. I didn’t do a deep dive, but nobody is providing a convincing explanation.

Softly softly catchie monkey

June 28, 2026 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

I had an exchange student from Brazil. Every couple of weeks when we had some free time, he would describe to the class some aspect of life in Brazil.

Europeans should get over it, and buy an air conditioner.

June 23, 2026 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

Britain braces for hottest June day on record

She seems nice. Probably a druid or some other kind of pagan.

The article says that it may hit 38^o C in England this week. For countries that landed a man on the moon, that’s about 100^o F.

Juneteenth Charadethes

June 19, 2026 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

Sparky wants to play Juneteenth Charadethes.

Do we have to say it like that?

“Yup”

Sparky explains that for Juneteenth Charadethes, you have to act out a notable Black character. Sparky went first.

The way he was licking his chops, I had a pretty good idea.

Have a beholden Juneteenth!

June 19, 2026 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

On Morning Edition, NPR was talking about Juneteenth. It’s a big deal. They predicted that highway traffic may be reduced because everybody is off for the federal holiday. I was going to go to Aldi today, I should check if they have reduced hours.

Since Sparky is half Black, I wanted to do something special, but NPR was vague on the Juneteenth traditions. Breakfast in bed is always welcome and appropriate, so I went with that.

My Pride Month

June 1, 2026 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

Here is my Gay Pride contribution.

When staging Verdi’s opera, Il Trovatore, in Los Angeles, it makes so much sense to get the ripped gay guys for The Anvil Chorus.

Modern weddings

May 4, 2026 / Richard Nestoff / 0 Comments

The RSVP online is a big improvement. Along with the response tab, there are additional tabs for the registry, travel arrangements and the couple’s backstory.

Is it typical for a wedding invitation to offer guidance on proper attire?