While driving in the car today a story came on the radio that made a reference to a "Dancing Machine". My mind immediately drifted back to the 70s, and the classic TV show, The Gong Show. For me, it was must-see-TV. I even remember for a while there was a group of us that would … Continue reading Remembering the Gong Show →

I've written before about friend and fellow Villanova faculty member, Bud Drago, who has his own band, Freeze Time. The band just released its latest single, “Hey Alexa, Haven’t We Had Enough of Jeff Bezos”. The takes a fun look at how Amazon has grown and grown and grown, and wonders when, or will it … Continue reading “Hey Alexa, Haven’t We Had Enough of Jeff Bezos” →

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has released a treasure trove of music sales data that is sure to keep any music lover busy for a while. As a little bit of background, the RIAA is the group that verifies albums and singles as gold (greater than 500,000 unit sales), platinum (greater than 1,00,000 … Continue reading If You Like Music, and You Like Data, You’ll Love This Web Site →

I am a big believer that there are multiple benefits associated with exercise, for the body, mind, and soul. To me, it's the closest thing we have to a magic pill to keep us healthy. That's why I was concerned when I read the results of the latest exercise study, this one conducted by the … Continue reading Does This Mean I Can Sleep In Some Days? →

Last year I wrote a blog post, "Must Comedians Use the “F” Word to Get a Laugh?" that explored the prevalence of the f-word not only in comedy, but in everyday life. The post noted that while many comedians make ample use of the f-word, there are many successful comedians who do not. Well today … Continue reading Good, Clean Fun. Yes, It Is Possible. →

That was my result after taking the Implicit Association Test (IAT) for Gender and Career. The IAT measures the strength of associations between concepts (e.g., Female/Male and Career/Family). The main idea is that making a response is easier when closely related items share the same response key. One has an implicit association between Male and … Continue reading “Your data suggest a strong automatic association for Male with Career and Female with Family.” →

As usually happens when we get home, our dog Nellie came running to the front door to greet us when we got back from pizza at my Aunt's on Friday night. But this time, as you can see from the picture above, something was different. At first, I couldn't tell what I was seeing, thinking … Continue reading The Guilt Is Written All Over Her Face (and Her Paws) →

Seth Godin had a post the other day about a word I had never heard of, "sonder". My guess is that most people have not heard of the word either. Here is the definition: Sonder is the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their … Continue reading The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows →

One of the great things about our neighborhood is the annual end-of-summer block party. It's a chance to catch up with old friends, as well as an opportunity to meet some new neighbors. Today's was one of the best I can remember, thanks to the efforts of our next door neighbors who went above and … Continue reading The Tradition Continues →

I know this will sound strange coming from a 60-year old man, but I was so looking forward to the Katy Perry concert last night. Like many pop culture thingies, I was quite late to the Katy Perry bandwagon. I wasn't really familiar with Katy's music until seeing her half-time show during 2015 Super Bowl. … Continue reading My First, and Hopefully Last, Experience with a Diva →