If you participated in or attended today’s Boston Marathon and saw anything that may be helpful to the police, please call:
1-800-494-TIPS
They are particularly looking for video of the explosion.
If you’d like to donate blood, please contact the Boston Blood Donation Center at (800) 733-2767. And if you live in the Boston area, police recommend that you return to your homes.
Our thoughts are with you.
Posted in History, Holiday, Life, News, Politics, Sports
Tagged blood, Boston Blood Donation Center, Boston Marathon, Boston Police, donate blood, explosion, explosion video, Health, history, Holiday, life, news, police, running
Like everyone, I was surprised by the news of the Pope’s resignation.
But how did I miss the documentary Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God?
It was released in November of last year. But yesterday’s headlines from Rome brought director Alex Gibney’s film back to the forefront. It’s available on HBO OnDemand, so I’ve already watched it.
What a revelation.
Gibney examines pedophilia in the Catholic Church, beginning with the first known clerical sexual abuse at a deaf school in Milwaukee in the late 1950′s, and traces it all the way to the Vatican.
Of particular interest, the documentary documents the role Benedict played in the sex-abuse scandals — both as a bishop in Germany and as Cardinal Ratzinger, where he headed the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which handles such cases.
Under his leadership, the church shielded priests accused of child molestation and hid their behavior from the authorities, obstructing criminal prosecution.
It’s not an easy film to watch, but the bravery of these deaf students — now grown men — is inspiring.
Their voices have finally been heard.
Posted in Commentary, Education, History, Life, Movies, News, Religion
Tagged Alex Gibney, bischop, Cardinal Ratzinger, Catholic Church, child molestation, commentary, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, deaf school, documentary, education, film, HBO, HBO OnDemand, history, life, Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, Milwaukee, movie, news, pedophilia, Pope, Pope Benedict, Pope's resignation, religion, Rome, sexual abuse, Vatican
And the word of 2012 is…
Hashtag
This doesn’t surprise me. It feels like hashtag has been around a lot longer — that’s how much a part of our vernacular it has so quickly become.
What does surprise me is who makes the grand proclamation of “Word of the Year” — the American Dialect Society.
I’ve never heard of them.
Founded in 1889, the organization is dedicated to the study of the English language and supports the Dictionary of American Regional English. They also publish American Speech magazine.
#whoknew?
Posted in Blogs, Commentary, Education, Humor, Internet, Life, News, Writing
Tagged #whoknew, American Dialect Society, American Speech magazine, blogs, Dictionary of American Regional English, education, English language, hashtag, Humor, Internet, life, news, Twitter, vernacular, word of 2012, word of the year, writing
I’m pretty excited about the Royal Baby.
I like Kate. I like William, too. And I just know that baby is gonna be a charmer.
Even if he/she is giving his/her mom a serious case of morning sickness right now — bad enough to send her to the hospital, no less.
But what fun it will be once that baby makes an appearance! I can already imagine the photos of him/her, rolling around on the lawn with their cocker spaniel Lupo.
The only possible negative?
Any celebrities birthing babies around the same time. Sorry, folks — the Royal Baby is gonna steal the spotlight on both sides of the drink.
Posted in Celebrities, Children, Commentary, Humor, Life, News
Tagged babies, celebrities, children, cocker spaniel, commentary, Humor, Kate Middleton pregnant, life, Lupo, morning sickness, news, prince, princess, Royal Baby, steal the spotlight, William and Kate
I returned to New York City today.
I couldn’t wait to get home, but was frightened of what I would see.
The aerial view of the city, half blacked out and silent, haunted me. The news cameras had focused on flood, fires, that precarious shifting crane. My airport cab driver told similar tales.
But then he dropped me off at my door. Businesses are open. People wander the street, friends gather, dogs bark. My neighborhood looks much like I left it three days ago.
And just 50 blocks south lies destruction.
Tonight I am a very, very lucky girl.
Posted in Commentary, Friends, Life, Love, News, Weather
Tagged aerial view of New York City, airport, blackout, cab driver, destruction, Dogs, fires, flood, Hurricane Sandy, life, love, neighborhood, New York City, news, news cameras, shifting crane, trick or treat, weather
Dear Frankenstorm,
These are the only ‘sandies’ that are welcome in these parts.
Please be on your way.
And stop dripping all the water. You’re making a mess.
Signed,
The Northeast
Posted in Cooking, Environment, Foods, Humor, Life, News, Weather
Tagged cookies, cooking, don't slam the door, dripping water, Foods, Frankenstorm, Humor, Hurricane Sandy, life, news, Northeast, sandies, sandy cookies, weather
Meteorologists — they rarely get it right, and they’re never held accountable. From time to time, we’ve probably all felt that way.
Well, there’s one weather team that is putting their forecasts through a daily ‘accuracy check.’
Alabama’s 13, the NBC station in Birmingham, has the motto ‘where accuracy matters.’ And it’s a challenge their meteorologists are taking seriously.
At the end of each forecast, they display the day’s actual high and low temperatures head-to-head with the predicted temperatures. Correct predictions get a big green fact check; misses rate a negative red.
It’s not like they can do much about it at that point, but I appreciate their willingness to showcase the egg on their face.
Bless their hearts.
Posted in Entertainment, Humor, Life, News, Television, TV, Weather
Tagged accuracy check, Alabama's 13, Birmingham, bless their heart, egg on their face, entertainment, forecast, Humor, life, meterologists, NBC, NBC affiliate, news, predictions, Television, temperatures, TV, weather, weather team, where accuracy matters
A few of my friends — okay, really just one, but I hate to name names — have had a lot of fun on Twitter slamming Aaron Sorkin’s new HBO series The Newsroom.
To be fair, said friend slams a lot of other shows as well, but since I happen to agree with most of those observations, I don’t take issue.
But when he repeatedly tweetslaps –and retweetslaps — The Newsroom?
I cannot stand idly by.
Now, even I will admit the pilot was an explosion of exposition and classic Sorkin sermons. But if we wrote off every series’ first episode for being exposition-heavy, the Harry Potter movies would have ended at Sorcerer’s Stone.
You have to establish characters before you can build relationships. That’s a given.
For those of you lucky enough to have stuck around for Sunday night’s episode of The Newsroom, your patience was rewarded. Fewer sermons. More focus on the relationships in the newsroom (which, if you’ve worked in one, do blow up like that from time to time). Even some cultural references to add to the fun. And did a few of you shed a tear at the ending?
I’ll take that bet.
And I’ll be DVRing The Newsroom this season. And next.
Posted in Commentary, Entertainment, Humor, Life, News, Television, TV
Tagged Aaron Sorkin, cultural references, DVR, exposition, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, Harry Potter movies, HBO, Humor, i'll take that bet, Internet, life, news, relationship-focused, retweetslap, sermons, shed a tear, Television, The Newsroom series, this just in, TV, tv pilot, tv series, tweetslap, Twitter
No doubt — John Irving wrote it better.
In A Prayer for Owen Meany, a woman gets hit by a baseball, dies, and her son and the boy who hit the killer ball remain best friends throughout their lives.
When it happens in real life, folks are a bit more litigious.
A New Jersey woman who was struck in the face by a baseball is suing the 11-year old catcher who hit her for medical costs and negligence. Her husband is filing a separate suit for the loss of “services, society and consortium” of his wife.
The total damages? Close to $500,000.
The catcher’s family, who says they can’t afford the jury trial the woman has demanded, thinks Little League Baseball should help defray court costs since the accident took place during a sanctioned warm-up.
I think they should call Irving. Maybe he can do a rewrite and give this story some heart.
Posted in Books, Children, Commentary, Family, Games, Humor, Life, Relationships, Sports, Summer, Writing
Tagged A Prayer for Owen Meany, baseball, baseball catcher, baseball in the head, best friends, books, children, commentary, court trial, family, Humor, John Irving, lawsuit, life, litigious, Little League, medical costs, negligence, New Jersey, news, Sports, summer, writing
The same, yet different
It’s not often I can say this to a member of the royal family:
“Kate, this has so happened to me!”
The soldier saluted.
Funny — almost the exact same thing happened to me during a business trip to Chicago!
I was walking with my colleagues to a nearby restaurant for dinner when a grate ate my heel. Two friends held me upright, saving me from an almost certain face plant. So, let me belatedly salute their heroics –
Sans headpiece.
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Posted in Celebrities, Commentary, Fashion, Holiday, Humor, Life, News, Politics, St Patrick's Day
Tagged Aldershot Barracks, business trip, celebrities, Chicago, commentary, Duchess of Cambridge, Fashion, grate, high heels, Holiday, Humor, Kate Middleton, life, news, Prince William, royal family, salute, St. Patrick's Day, stiletto