How am I supposed to know English if it was invented before I was born?

I watched the incredibly tedious movie "Inception" this evening, and was surprised to see it rank near the top of IMDB's top movies, with a huge number of votes. Trying to find what all the fuss was about, I came across this comment in the message board, written by a fan of the movie in response to someone criticizing the younger generation for liking the movie so much, and not being aware of previous works produced before their time:

Um, how can young people be 'aware of much of anything' before their time, as you say, if it all happened BEFORE we were born? I'm pretty sure even you weren't aware of things before YOUR time, only the things around your time, that are kind of old now to we 'young people.'

I admit, I never even heard of Edith Piaf until this film, but then again, she's French. Her music is French. I don't speak French, nor am I of a French racial background. So just cut us some slack, alright?

Santa Claus, circa 2010: read the contract before approaching

An article in yesterday's Toronto Star draws attention to one of the complexities of the modern-day Santa Claus:

Even Santa Claus himself didn’t have time to talk with the Star. There was a 30-minute wait to see the jolly man in red. Although, to be fair, his helper did explain that — even if he had a moment to spare — speaking to the media isn’t in his contract.

I wouldn't be surprised to learn that he required liability insurance to perform his job, too!