This story about a hundred people being trapped for six hours on the world’s largest ferris wheel doesn’t exactly whet my appetite for one of my least favorite things in life, amusement parks. I’ve never liked rides of that sort, … Continue reading →
If you want to have a reason for refusing to join a book group, just read this article to discover how petty and strange people can be. Confession: I am a member of a book group. An all-female one, as … Continue reading →
Here’s a re-creation—sort of—of a famous photographic kiss: Here’s the iconic original from VJ Day in Times Square: The claim is that it’s the same woman. I’ve always loved that black and white Eisenstaedt photo, especially the little twist in … Continue reading →
I will write about politics soon, never fear. But in an effort to get away from the topic—even if ever-so-slightly—let’s talk about candy. Classic candy. New England candy. Neccos. Developed in 1847 with the advent of that great leap forward, … Continue reading →
More on mothers and daughters and the passage of time. The following photo, however, is my favorite in the piece. What carriage and natural elegance the woman had! [NOTE: Oops! Trying to have a nonpolitical weekend, and here I somehow … Continue reading →
It turns out that having a Walmart in the neighborhood is associated with a slight weight loss in the surrounding population. Researchers are at a loss (pun intended) to determine the reason this might be. But their guess is that … Continue reading →
They were called “novelty songs,” although I didn’t know it at the time. They occupied a special niche that doesn’t seem to exist anymore in this far less innocent age: a nonsensical bubble-gum type of music/lyrics, meant mostly to amuse … Continue reading →
Some of you may have noticed that lately I’ve been putting a bit more fluff on this blog. Yes, it’s true. It may have started with the post in which I segued seamlessly from Obama to jello, but it’s bigger … Continue reading →
Some products stay the same for what seems like an eternity. Pond’s Cold Cream, for example. Or Ivory, both Snow and soap. And then of course there’s Jello—but any regular reader of this blog knows about that. These things are … Continue reading →
Maybe it’s come down to this: choosing a President is now mostly about style rather than substance. Obama is cool. That’s the real link with Kennedy, who was exceptionally cool but in a very sophisticated way. Bill Clinton was sort … Continue reading →
Okay, so I watch “American Idol.” So sue me. I see it as a brief weekly escape from our drab, wretched lives, a la Michelle Obama. I see it as a continuing soap opera with music, although the sort of … Continue reading →
Have you ever noticed that there are fashions in voices? In the past five years or so I’ve noticed the extreme proliferation of a high-pitched little-girl cutesy voice in women in their late teens and early twenties. Since it spread … Continue reading →