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Category: Culture
How do you feel when a foreigner knows much more about your country than you do?
Nikos Tsiforos was a Greek humorist, who wrote a series of humour pieces covering all of Greek Mythology. I’ve cited his collection here a couple of times. At the end of the 640 pp book, he wrote this. Few of us Greeks know Greek Mythology well. (Before I started studying it to write it up, […]
Do all men enjoy shemale porn?
I’m leaving out of my answer the role of mtf transgender performers in the transaction—on which see Do real transsexuals and “shemale porn” have nothing in common?, and the transactionality, on which see Is it wrong of me to enjoy “shemale” porn? I know it’s degrading and fetishizing, but what can I do about the […]
SEEN: Designated Survivor, Season 1
I resisted watching this. I did not want to watch a show about how the terrorists are out to get us, and the president is some Action Man, and “Kaboom Kablooey Ergo No Habeas Corpus”. In other words, I have made a point of never seeing 24, and I did not want to watch 24 […]
SEEN: The Founder
The Founder (film) – Wikipedia—The Founder (Rotten Tomatoes)—The Founder (2016) (IMDB) Just seen. Biopic about Ray Kroc and Richard and Maurice McDonald. Good, well crafted film, I thought. Amazing and subtle performance by Michael Keaton. Susceptible to the cliches and annoyances in plotting of a biopic, including the mandatory flashback setpieces (though the setpiece here […]
I hate going to church, my dad forces me to, and I don’t want to tell him I don’t feel like going, what should I do in church to fight the boredom?
Really does depend on the church, and on your predilections. You have had some great suggestions here, including: Pay attention (so you actually know what you’re rejecting—and I’ll add, so you can still get a valuable cultural grounding); meditate; read stuff. I’m grateful I was forced to go, but I got bored a lot too. […]
What has been the general outline of your intellectual evolution over the years?
Habib le toubib, what a tough question this is. There’s a reason I’ve put it off so long. I had some run up of development from 10 to 15, including teaching myself Latin, reading high school Greek literature anthologies, and working out calculus. Tried to be religious, gave up around 15, though still retained cultural […]
Why is that people in UK do not share food? I am from India and have been 3 weeks in London. I have observed that people do not share their food with colleagues or friends in the office or in the restaurants/canteens.
Dansby Parker is almost there with his answer. As with many cultural differences, this one comes down to Politeness theory. In many cultures, like India and Greece, good social behaviour involves breaking down the boundaries between people you like, such as friends. Sharing a table involves that, and sharing food at the table makes that […]
If you could take one historical person from history as a lover/date, who would it be and why?
A2A Pegah Esmaili Pegah, canım, you don’t expect an ordinary answer from me, do you? Like Cleopatra (meh, inbred Greek), or Catherine the Great (she’d fricking squash me) or Joan of Arc (back away from the crazy)? Good. Because you’re not going to get one. In the modern cornucopia of female objectification, do straight men […]
Why is cheating out of control in relationships?
First, as my friend Sam Murray puts it (God, I’m sounding like Michael Masiello now), it was ever thus, and only attitudes to cheating have changed, by both place and time. Never mind the Ancient Greeks and Paris shtupping Helen (which was much more about Bronze Age views of host–guest relations than either Menelaus or […]
In what ways are you racist?
Sicut alicubi dixit medicus bonus Habibus Magnus: Confiteor. [As the good doctor Habib the Great has put it elsewhere: “I Confess”] [Hey, it’s not my fault Habib chose to quote the Catholic Mass in Latin.] You know, Habib le toubib, I’ve been expecting a question like this for maybe a month or two. Since I […]