Guns, gates and paranoia

March 24, 2012

Once Jesse Jackson gets involved in an issue, you can be pretty sure that the time for rational discussion of the issue is long past. To Jackson, the shooting of Trayvon Martin means just one thing: “Blacks are under attack.” I really doubt that. I keep waiting for another shoe to drop in this case, [...]

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Vacationing with the folks

March 20, 2012

I've been on vacation. Well, technically I’m always on vacation, but Mom and my brother Mike came to visit for a week and we’ve been seeing the sights. It’s always interesting when company comes and you get to see your own life through their eyes. They seem to like Florida in March. There was new [...]

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‘The Bachelor’: That’s a line I won’t cross

March 12, 2012

You know, since I dropped eight bucks on a set of rabbit ears and started getting free HD television, I’ve done a lot of viewing I’m not proud of: CSI: Special Victims Unit. Judge Judy. Reruns of The Rifleman. American Idol. Until tonight, I thought there was really no limit to how far I was [...]

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Simply gawking is no longer enough

March 11, 2012

Here’s a little poll: How many of you, upon witnessing something slightly out of the ordinary, routinely whip out your phone and begin shooting video of it? I see that all the time. Usually it happens like this: Some poor sap will be having a bad day, and will get in the face of someone [...]

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Kansas: It ain’t just a caucus

March 10, 2012

As a five-year resident of Kansas, I have a certain affection for the place. So it is with a heavy heart that I note Rick Santorum’s unambiguous win there today in the Republican caucuses. Great. It’s not like people needed further evidence that the Sunflower State is a bastion of the rabid right. For most [...]

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In ‘Midnight in Paris,’ the city is the star

March 9, 2012
Owen Wilson in Midnight in Paris

We finally got around to seeing Midnight in Paris. It’s a pleasant little movie, funny in places and never really tedious. Like most stuff by Woody Allen, you could guess this is one of his without ever seeing his name in the credits. Sometimes it almost seems that Owen Wilson is impersonating the director, instead [...]

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Farm fresh food for the lazy

March 8, 2012

Each Thursday, the doorbell rings and there’s a guy out there with a bag full of fresh produce. Today it was potatoes, strawberries, oranges, onions, squash, celery and — what’s this? — Italian eggplant. Not sure what to do with that, but I’m sure we’ll think of something. We signed up with this local outfit [...]

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A minor case of iPad fatigue

March 7, 2012

I sat out the iPad. Took a pass on the iPad 2. Can’t really see getting The New iPad either. I guess what I’m really waiting for the Last Best iPad, the one so perfectly grand that I won’t have to stand in line with the rest of the saps to replace it a year [...]

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Evil and ignorance, and the AK-47.

March 6, 2012

Today in Jacksonville, a Spanish teacher who had just been fired returned to the school and shot dead the woman who ran it. Then he shot himself. I learned of this from my wife, who knew the woman pretty well. She’s late coming home from work tonight because she’s attending a vigil for the victim. [...]

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‘Dallas’ without the oil. Or the shoulderpads.

March 5, 2012

Turning to something completely different, has anybody else seen that stupid ABC show Revenge? The premise is one that resonates in these uncertain economic times: A nice-looking woman goes around ruining the billionaires who ruined her childhood. In some ways, Revenge is the bizarro version of another TV show I remember watching slack-jawed as a [...]

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