It says a lot about the cynicism I feel in my old age that when I first heard about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock at the Oscars Sunday night, I thought it was something the two men had staged as a publicity stunt. And while I’m still not 100 percent sure I’m wrong, I think …
What’s the most exotic vacation you ever took during your childhood? I would say I’ve got nothing, that my biggest vacations were to visit grandparents in Ohio or New York, but in 1967 — the last summer of my childhood — we went from our home in Virginia up to Montreal for Expo ’67. That’s …
FORGET FLORIDA, ENJOY SPRING BREAK IN THE SAHARA Read More »
If there’s one thing sad about getting older — note I didn’t say “old” — it’s the things you love that disappear from your life. I’m not talking about the things that relate to aging. I used to be able to make 18-foot jump shots consistently, but that was when I was 20 or 21. …
I don’t remember the first time or the last that I saw a concert at the legendary Cellar Door venue in Washington, D.C. I remember some of the concerts, from Linda Ronstadt — twice — to being an arm’s length from Rita Coolidge as she sang. I remember some great comedians who were opening acts, …
When I was in elementary school in the late 1950s, at the height of the Cold War, we were taught that our conflict with the Russians was all about freedom. Our problem with them wasn’t what they did, but how they did it. More than one well-intentioned teacher told us that it wasn’t Communism we …
There are a lot of things I don’t like about Facebook, but I’ve been using the platform going on 14 years now and there are some things I really enjoy. This isn’t always true, but often I get a kick out of lists of clues and seeing how many of them I can solve. This …
424-8 In these days of hyper-obstruction by Republicans, it’s nearly impossible to imagine anything that could be brought before the House of Representatives could get 424 votes. But the Suspending Normal Trade Relations with Russia and Belarus Act, allowing President Joe Biden to increase tariffs on products coming from the two countries and directing the …
EIGHT GOP LUNATICS WON’T EVEN VOTE AGAINST RUSSIA Read More »
I was surfing through an article about restaurant chains that are no longer with us when I found one that surprised me. I wasn’t at all shocked to see Burger Chef, which was probably the worst of the big chains, or Sambo’s, which was sort of the racisr version of Denny’s. But when Red Barn …
Movies used to be so much more fun. Sorry for the “old man rants” lede, but the way films were made — and released — in the pre-blockbuster era was a lot more subtle and it gave us a feeling of curiosity and of anticipation as we waited to see them. From age 13 to …
Want a shock? Or maybe just a surprise? Well, you might not be surprised at all to discover that Americans — actually North Americans, but we can’t blame this on the Mexicans — are the fattest people in the world. Not including children, counting only adults 20 and older, the average American man weighs 198 …
