Why don’t people make “snow angels” in sand … on grass … in cornfields? (“I tell you, Marge, some aliens made flattened 40 stalks again last night.”) Make a “crop angel” … turn your body 90 degrees, and repeat — you have a “crop circle.” And what other designs could a sitting or lying person make Read More …
Here’s another way to improve boxing. Or at least create a kind of added interest. Four heavy punching bags swing from the ceiling along the ropes. So gotta look out! Don’t backpedal too much! Don’t think you can run and hide! Or WHOOOMP! Down you go. Shudda watched where you wuz going.
Example of contrarian inspiration: Educating people to take insults less seriously. Lesson One: Sticks and Stones Will Break My Bones, But Names Will Never Hurt Me. OK, names can hurt, and reputations matter. So does accuracy. But a world that pretends we’re all wonderful isn’t. Isn’t accurate. Isn’t honest. Isn’t wonderful. We need to learn Read More …
And I don’t mean throw a fight. Now I’m not taking sides on the whole morality issue of whether pummeling another person senseless is a soul-enchancing sport. But if you want boxing to be more exciting, let’s up the action vs. dodging quotient. Enough of backpedaling ballerina stuff (entertaining only when done by Muhammed Ali did). Read More …
Say at work, you don’t dare get caught checking out fun stuff on the Web. That boss is so strict, well, can’t even safely check out fark.com, ESPN, blogs or film reviews. Well, somebody could create a website just for you. Go to “fooltheboss.com” and you’re instantly redirected to “seriousbusiness.com” and the title displays “Statistical Marketing Analysis” and the big headline Read More …
That name’s a bit grandiose, I know. But that’s my dream, my hope, my goal. Newspapers are supposed to be dying, heading for obsolescence instigated by the Web. Doesn’t have to be that way. And to make my case, I’ve been working for months on a parallel blog. Finally, it’s time for an unveiling. Take a look. The address is Read More …
One surefire way to come up with a good invention: Make life simpler. Make things easier, more convenient. But wouldn’t life be poorer without … peanuts in the shell? Leaves to rake? Snow to shovel? Novels and TV shows and sporting events that lead you on to the very end? Sudoku puzzles and Rubik’s Cubes? Sometimes Read More …
One of J.K. Rowling’s geniuses is her gift for invention. Not real inventions, but ordinary things that become magical with a little wishful / twistful thinking. Hats that evaluate one’s brain. Portraits that move. Jelly beans that come in every flavor, even dirt. Brooms that fly, of course. It’s a child’s kind of imagining, and Read More …
The Cosby Show was once the most popular show on TV — until the parents starting acting all-knowing and wise. It was far more fun in the earlier years when it was more truthful: Sometimes kids are right, and often kids are willful and have a point. Now, along comes Are You Smarter Than a Read More …
Hmmm … how to liven up having cars go round and round in circles? I’m thinking (a) have obstacles pop up, like cardboard rocks and sheriffs and baby carriages, for mucho swerving fun (b) have “pedestrian crossing” races, where a fan can win $1 million for safely crossing the track, oh, three or four times, or (c) if Read More …
We’ve seen battles between bots with whirring blades as they roll around on wheels. But far more interesting, I think, would be to see robots that run. On two legs. It’s such a tricky bit of engineering and computer savvy to make a machine that walks. So on your mark, get set, run! Just as Read More …
Take the i-Pod Shuffle idea and offer a stream of brain teasers and trivia. The pitch: Entertaining way to sharper your brain. Might be a Jeopardy! version. Or stuff from almanacs and encyclopedias. Games Magazine. Samples from various popular games, such as Scrabble. Tests with word problems from math books. Tricky lateral thinking problems from Read More …
Take an old book and add some steamier scenes. Or wilder adventures. Add trouble of a greater order of magnitude. Same story, more action, less angst. Scarlet Letter: Hester Prynne whips out an uzi and shows those prudes a thing or two. They once had Classic Comics (maybe they still do?), visually retellings of famous stories. These Read More …
As I mentioned before, it’d be great to revive Rocky and Bullwinkle in a series of novels. Loony spy adventures … deadpan humor … chapters with punny titles … somebody sign me up, please! But he’s a more up-to-date idea, blog these new adventures, featuring a new installment every day. Perhaps written as a diary by Rocky or Bullwinkle or Read More …
By all accounts, Pluto Nash was one of the all-time stinkers. Yet Eddie Murphy is one of the all-time funniest people. Which suggests to way the producers could have made lemonade out of this lemon: Borrow a page from Mystery Science Theater 3000 and have Murphy unreservedly rip his own movie. Could be a riot. Just the cranberry Read More …