The U.S. 2016 presidential election might still be a year away, but it has basically been happening since the day after the 2012 race. For some, running for office has become a viable career choice, not merely a means to…
Man and dog have been inseparable since long before recorded history. The domestication of the dog from its wolf common ancestor is a hallmark of human history, and as we have found each other so useful over the years, it…
Nashville, long renowned as a hotbed of musical talent, has gained another feather in its hat in recent years–a network prime-time drama by the same name. I’ve never watched the show. I never really wanted to watch the show. Christine, however,…
This is my 200th published post on 80couches.com! When I started this blog five years ago prior to my move to Korea, I had no idea where my random brain-droppings would take me, or where I would take myself. Since…
Recently, through my various wanderings about YouTube, I came across a most excellent Finnish TV program, The Norden. The show explores various aspects of Nordic societies (prisons, police, religion, gender, work, and family values) through the eyes of a foreigner. The episode…
Check out the other seven parts in this series here. In a way, we’ve come full circle. I started thinking about this series last year when a strange thought crossed my mind while getting off the train. After two years…
For the last five years, I’ve toiled away on this site, sharing my thoughts and adventures, and at times laying bare my deepest emotions for the world to see. 80 Couches has evolved from a pure travel blog to a…
On Wednesday, my Grandpa Jerry passed away. His passing was not a shock, as his diagnosis of terminal cancer had been hanging over his head like a noose for most of the year. He was 87 years old. Despite being…
The following are two posts which originally appeared on the excellent Liverpool blog, The Liverpool Offside. Christine and I arrived in Denmark in time to see her team, FC Midtjylland, earn their first Danish Superliga title. Along the way, we saw…
Globalization is often demonized, and there are certainly downsides which have been either glossed over or ignored in these posts. Perhaps I’ll come back to those in a later post, but the reason I’ve focused on the positives is because…
I was a bit taken aback by the recent New York Times article on the world’s best airports. I had long known that Seoul’s Incheon International Airport ranked among the best, but I was not prepared for Munich’s entry in…
“Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.” -Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. I have this watch from communist-era Czechoslovakia that I bought from an antique shop in the Jewish Quarter of Prague. It has no battery, relying…
