What is Best in Life

The question of “who wins in a fight, astronauts or cavemen?” has plagued the great minds of the twentieth century since the very first manned spaceflight. And indeed, who hasn’t wondered what would happen should the astronauts encounter some kind of space time rip on reentry only to find themselves stranded on prehistoric earth. All too often however, the debate is plagued with misunderstandings and poorly documented research. The aim of this humble post is to provide a basic groundwork for further discussion with an emphasis on debunking some of the most common misconceptions that many astronaut vs. caveman arguments are rife with.
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After finally watching Robert Altman’s Thieves like Us the other day, I had a bit of a revelation: I’m just not that into “crime spree” movies. It was a very confusing moment for me; a rogue at heart who can appreciate a bit of larceny and who counts the “heist” film as one his favorite genres of moviemaking. Yet for those movies about a pair or group of people who head out on a long crime spree (usually involving bank robbery, but not always) that inevitably ends with everyone getting shot, I have to now put them right above “movies about the holocaust” on my list of “genres of film I’m just not that into”.
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Like some kind of desert island male wish-fulfillment fantasy, there seem to have been a lot of golden age Hollywood films about a guy who “reluctantly” heads out on the road with some incredibly hot woman as they slum it below the poverty line. They hop trains, thumb rides, sleep in hay bales and by the end of the film they are hopelessly in love. While that seems pretty universally romantic, I use the phrase “male wish-fulfillment” since it is usually the poor helpless girl who comes to rely upon the big strong man get her to the end of their love inducing quest. They are surrounded by other men, but the woman has eyes only for the hero of the story.

But are these films really so male-fantasy-centric? To find out more let’s look at three of the best examples of this small genre: 1928′s Beggars of Life, 1934′s It Happened One Night and 1941′s Sullivan’s Travels.
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In the interest of staff bonding, my place of employment has started creating MYSTERY EMPLOYEE displays in the staff lounge. Each week a different person’s blurred out picture appears with a series of MYSTERY quotes about their interests appearing next to them. The rest of the employees are supposed to guess who it is.

Well, it is my turn now, and I am having a hard time deciding between two somewhat different lists of Isley fun facts that I just wrote (both entirely truthful by the way). So I’ve decided to take it to myspace and let you guys help me decide. Should I turn in list A or list B? It seems like one of them might be a little less work-safe than the other…I’m so conflicted!
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After such an inflammatory blog title, I should add that there are plenty of times it is not ok to cheat as well. Yet, in the absence of any truth with a capital “T” in the big black void of existence, it can be confusing knowing just when exactly it is ok to cheat. So rather than succumbing to a fit of existential despair at the meaninglessness of it all, I invite you to think of this post as a handy checklist of just when exactly it IS ok to cheat!
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When most people think of board games, images of never-ending Monopoly games or completely arbitrary torture sessions of Candyland with younger family members quickly come to mind. However, this is not all there is to board games, and in the right settings with the right games they can actually be pretty cool. I am, of course, using “cool” in the loosest sense of the word.
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