TV, current events, pop culture and snide remarks

‘Tis the season of doing without

February 21, 2012

I'm not a very religious man, but I usually try to give up something for Lent. Over the years I’ve somehow convinced myself that occasional self-denial is a good thing. This year I guess it’ll be wine. That’s a heavy burden. I like wine. But it doesn’t count unless you give up something you like. [...]

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So long, ‘Downton.’ See you next year

February 20, 2012

The close of Season 2 leaves me with only a few questions: What startling evidence will spare Bates a life sentence? How will Mary’s scandal play out in the press? And most importantly, why don’t people there ever put on a sweater? Tess is still shivering at the way those ladies stand around in their [...]

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Get our cash out of the classroom

February 19, 2012

You can’t say Rick Santorum doesn’t have some stones. Coming out against public education is a bold strategy at a time when the U.S. is steadily sinking in the global education rankings. Once at the top, we’re now in the lower middle. Clearly it’s time we quit spending state and federal money trying to teach [...]

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Why didn’t anybody think of this before?

February 18, 2012

U.S. employment and the U.S. economy both appear to be rising. But so are gas prices. Guess which one gives GOP presidential candidates more joy? Yep, in an election year — and really, don’t these all seem like election years? — what is good for the country is bad for the party not currently occupying [...]

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Photoshop woman, stay away from me

February 17, 2012

My position on the use of Photoshop to enhance glamor photos is well known: It’s wrong. It should never be used, unless I’m the subject and I’ve been asked by Men’s Health magazine to explain my six secrets for rock-hard abs (Secret 1: You will never have rock-hard abs). Poor Adele. I thought she looked [...]

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Thoroughly moderate Mitt

February 16, 2012

Just when you’re convinced Mitt Romney is nothing but a suit stuffed with cash, you find reasons to like the guy. Here’s a New York Times piece about how conservative pundits are having trouble getting Romney to listen to them. People like Ann Coulter, Joe Scarborough and Rush Limbaugh are complaining that Romney seems distant [...]

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Don’t sit under the camphor tree …

February 15, 2012

Today was tree-identification day at the Warehouse. The reason is this huge tree out front, which lately has been dropping unsightly black berries by the bushel. These berries stain the walk and the stairs, and crunch underfoot like cockroaches. This morning several hundred robins received word of these berries and have been flocking around ever [...]

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Worshiping at the First Church of Steve

February 11, 2012

Today I went to an Apple Store for the first time. My wife had dropped her iPhone and needed the glass replaced. While she was being helped I bellied up to the Genius Bar and ordered a whiskey. Ha ha. Not really. An Apple Store is no place for levity. Nine in the morning and [...]

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I can quit Facebook anytime I like …

February 7, 2012

I spend too much time on Facebook. I admit it. I don’t contribute much, but I’m always on there seeing what everybody else is up to. The other day a Facebook acquaintance posted to ask if anyone else had found themselves bored and deciding to check Facebook before realizing they were already on the site. [...]

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There’s something to be said for optimism

February 4, 2012

My wife’s beloved Aunt Mary died in Daytona last week and today we drove down to help sort out her things. Her last residence was a senior-living compound designed more for efficiency than aesthetics. Her apartment was at the end of a long corridor of identical doors. Some doors still had Christmas wreaths up; one [...]

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