Category Archives: Commentary

This tickled me

Posted on May 20, 2013 | Leave a comment

My spectator-only relationship with tattoos continues as I watch more and more episodes of Best Ink on Oxygen.

Hey — some people watch morning talk shows; I watch Entertainment OnDemand.

Maybe that’s why I have started noticing tattoos on people in the street… and on television… and in random Google searches.

Get a load of this girl.

toe tat

 

 

 

 

 

 

I may have commitment issues with tats, but I think hers will stand the test of time.

She chose right.

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Posted in Art, Commentary, Design, Fashion, Humor, Life, Television

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I’m sorry — did you say something?

Posted on May 18, 2013 | Leave a comment

Call me crazy…

but I didn’t enjoy Macbeth.

alan cumming macbethIt’s not because Alan Cumming didn’t commit 100 percent.  He did everything but open a vein (and there was so much fake blood at one point, he may have).

I just couldn’t understand him.

It’s embarrassing to admit, but when the text is Shakespeare to begin with — which means I already have to concentrate really hard instead of simply let the words wash over me like God intended — it is a challenge to follow the aforementioned text when it is being delivered in a thick, emotionally-charged Scottish brogue.

If I knew the play backwards and forwards like many people in the audience did, it would be less of an issue.  But I don’t.  So it was.

Add a very, very warm, packed theatre, and you’ve got all the ingredients for a semi-miserable evening.

It wasn’t you, Alan. It was me.

(Well, and your accent.)

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Posted in Broadway, Celebrities, Commentary, Entertainment, Humor, Life

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Matinee

Posted on May 15, 2013 | Leave a comment

One of the many advantages of a) working from home and b) having HBO is being able to watch Oscar-nominated documentaries during lunch.

Today’s featured selection:  The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossoms.

tsumani and cherry blossom posterI’ll admit that I had not heard of this film before I saw it listed on HBO OnDemand.  If perchance you haven’t either, I strongly encourage you to invest the short 40 minutes required.

Director Lucy Walker chronicles the tsunami that devastated Japan on March 11, 2011.  Survivors share their stories of loss, and work together to rebuild their communities — already making progress a mere month after the storm hit.

And what are the ‘cherry blossoms’ in the title, you ask? I’ll let you watch the film and find out. 

It is a vital part of their history and culture, and one reason a tsunami could never break the Japanese people.

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Posted in Academy Awards, Commentary, Entertainment, History, Life, Love, Movies, Oscars, Travel, Weather

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Big hearts, Big Apple

Posted on May 14, 2013 | Leave a comment

New Yorkers are a the nicest people.  I see proof of it all the time.

Take today, for instance.

floating-money-bd4a4449-originalI had taken a cab to the vet to pick up my dog.  The driver gave me my change, which included several singles, near the open door.

The wind instantly picked up the bills and scattered them in the street.  Did the rude, me-me-me New Yorkers of TV and movies jump upon them and run for it?

Not a chance.

Instead, three people stepped on the loose bills and stood waiting for me to retrieve them.  We all shared a laugh as I collected my change and thanked them for their help.

Nice folks.  Yep, we’ve got lots of ‘em here in NYC.

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Posted in Commentary, Friends, Humor, Life, Relationships, Travel

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Parenthood

Posted on May 9, 2013 | 2 Comments

Got a book recommendation for you.

It was an impulse buy in an airport bookstore.  But Amazon.com recommended it to me a few weeks later…

So obviously it was a good choice.

defending jacobIn Defending Jacob, Assistant District Attorney Andy Barber is a pillar of the community.  He’s happily married to Laurie with a teenage son named Jacob.

Life is good.

Then one of his son’s classmates is murdered, and Jacob is the prime suspect.

Regardless of the mounting evidence, Andy’s belief in his son’s innocence cannot be shaken.  I found his blind faith at the same time completely believable and infuriating.

Andy and his wife come to realize they don’t know their son.  Laurie and Jacob don’t know everything about Andy, either.  It is an unpredictable and heartbreaking story…

Expertly told.

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Posted in Books, Commentary, Entertainment, Internet, Life

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Why, hello there

Posted on May 8, 2013 | 1 Comment

Today was a tired day.

I got home after midnight following a business trip to Dallas, and was too wired to sleep.  So I ended up only getting four hours.  That made Carla cranky.

Then I saw this guy.

king dukeKing Duke lives at The Gentle Barn, a nonprofit organization in San Clarita California that rescues, rehabilitates and gives sanctuary to severely abused animals.

I follow their work on Facebook and encourage you to give them a look as well.  It is inspiring.

And just one look from the King helped put my day back in the plus column.

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Posted in Humor, Internet, Philosophy, Life, Commentary, Animals

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You might see yourself here

Posted on May 5, 2013 | Leave a comment

The best thing I saw at the movie theatre yesterday was an ad during the pre-show.

No offense to the movie.

I really enjoyed Oblivion, starring Tom Cruise and Morgan Freeman. It had great action, an interesting conceit and an ending that I did not see coming.

But this commercial for Windows Phone made me laugh aloud.

Truth is funny.

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Posted in Advertising, Comedy, Commentary, Entertainment, Humor, Life, Movies, Technology

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Just dog it

Posted on May 3, 2013 | Leave a comment

Rory and I were passed by a jogging dog and his human this morning in Central Park and, as always, I tried to read the dog’s mind.

jogging dogDid he give Rory a look of superiority?  You know — the one a long-time yoga student gives a newbie when he enters class?

(Not that yoga’s competitive…yeah, right.)

Did he scorn my dog’s meandering pace?  His aimless sniffing and peeing?

Or was that really a look of longing?  Did Rory’s relaxing walk spark a memory from his puppy days, when mornings didn’t include a mandatory three-mile run?

Perhaps he was just in the zone.  Focused.  Wired in.  Didn’t see me or Rory at all……

Good boy..

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Posted in Commentary, Dogs, Exercise, Family, Humor, Life, Walking

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Bean wake-up call

Posted on April 30, 2013 | 1 Comment

Rory and I are watching Chopped, enjoying some couch time together post-Singapore, and one of the basket items is…

Baked beans

baked beansOf course, there is much discussion about how the beans are going to work with the striped bass, yadda yadda yadda. But it immediately took me back to Monday morning in Singapore when I ordered your typical bacon-and-eggs breakfast before my training session, and the hotel served them with a side of baked beans.

That woke me up.

But I have to say — they were awesome.  Sweet and smoky in flavor, the baked beans were perfect with the bacon.  In theory I guess it’s not that surprising, but it was a first for me.

May not be the last.

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Posted in Commentary, Foods, Humor, Life, Television, Travel

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