Somewhere in a parallel universe: It’s April 19, 2024, and another Michael Paul Rappaport is celebrating his 49th wedding anniversary. We’re still one year away from the big one, and if we live another year, we will become the third consecutive generation in my family to make it to 50 years together. It’s not like …
One of my favorite writers had a new book published today, and a line in it hit me like the proverbial ton of bricks. I have loved Doris Kearns Goodwin’s work since I read “No Ordinary Time,” her 1994 book about Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt during World War II. I read her books about Lyndon …
I’ve got a new contender for absolutely worst situation comedy ever. It’s a perfect example about how the BBC does television better than anyone else, and it’s also about how when they know they’re wrong, they step back right away. In 1990, the Beeb made eight episodes of a show designed to spoof American television …
Originally written July 4, 2020 On the day Trump leaves office, we’ll still have a younger generation with worse life prospects than their parents had faced.”— DAVID BROOKS, New York Times” David Brooks might be the closest thing we have to a philosopher among modern newspaper columnists. The talk about one generation not having it …
Not all the movies I enjoy watching are good movies. In fact, there are some bad ones I have watched over and over again, sometimes because they’re fun and sometimes because they bring back memories of when I saw them or who I saw them with. I’ll always associate seeing “M*A*S*H” — not a bad …
I have never been a big believer in Hell. Oh, I believe in God, if for no other reason than not wanting to believe that man is the crown of creation. I think it’s important to believe there is a greater purpose to life than just individual happiness. Religion is a tougher call. To me, …
IF THERE’S A HELL, A SPECIAL PUNISHMENT FOR THE JUICE Read More »
So the state of Arizona passed a law in 1864 making almost all abortions illegal. There’s just one catch. There was no state of Arizona in 1864. Arizona didn’t become a state until 1912. In fact, Arizona just became a federal territory in 1863, halfway through the Civil War back east. It was a moralistic …
In August 2017, the first year Donald Trump was in office, there was a total eclipse visible in much of the United States. As best as I can recall, folks were pretty excited about it, and the Trump-is-Jesus crowd didn’t say anything about deep spiritual meanings like the end of the world or the rapture. …
TODAY’S ECLIPSE TURNED OUT TO BE NOTHING TO FEAR Read More »
I have written a couple of times recently about millennials talking about things boomers still do that have lost their coolness, if they ever had any. A couple of examples: Boomers still love to go to the mall, while the younger, hipper among us shop online. Boomers still love to go to restaurants, while those …
Have we really devolved so far intellectually in the last seven years? In August 2017, Americans in a large part of the country enjoyed a total eclipse of the sun. My wife and I drove to Greenville, S.C., where we viewed the eclipse in Furman University’s football stadium. It was a truly memorable occasion that …
