More than the gore and abundant use of the N word, what struck me about this movie was the depiction of plantation life. To me, it was as if Tarantino rented a time machine and transported us back to 1858. Shown was the day to day operation of plantations and acceptance of slavery. It was chilling to witness the mostly unprotested day to day lif …
We have two "land-line" phones in our house. Originally, they were both through Verizon, a traditional telephone provider that traces itself to the break-up of the old AT&T. Years ago, we changed one of the lines to our cable provider and bundled it with Internet and cable TV. But we kept the traditional Verizon line. It was a good thing. D …
There was some controversy surrounding the Academy Awards the other night involving raunchy humor. Many were upset/offended by things said, be it on the stage or on the internet. The show asked Seth McFarlane to host, which should have brought with it some realization of his type of humor. This seems to be just a continuation of the whole Ricky …
The moment you have been waiting for . . . your name is announced as the winner of the most coveted accolade of your profession . . . over forty million people are watching and cheering you on . . . and then you fall UP the stairs. Yes, this was Jennifer Lawrence’s entrance to the stage at the Oscars upon finding out that she had just won Best Actr …
It happened again this week. A client questioned something I said by responding, “But I read on the internet. . .” Most often, when I’m confronted with that statement my “stock answer” of, “You can’t trust what’s on the internet because you don’t know the source of the information, ” appeases the client. And it did this week. But this client …
This is Purim, and it is a time for remembering and forgetting. It is sometimes confusing. For example we are told in the Torah that when God grants us safety from all our enemies "in the land that the Lord your God is giving you as a hereditary portion, you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven." Then it says in the next sentenc …
Mitch, my owner, has let me post this blog. I am in need of a new home. The town of Sea Cliff left me a note saying I was way too big for the garbage men that emptied me for the past year and half. They said they would fine Mitch if he didn't replace me with a 32 gallon can. What's up with that?!? I'm big and tough and will last for years...thos …
One of the advantages of being old is being old fashioned. I was tempted to stop here and just let the reader fill in the blanks, but I could not stop without remarking on the tremendous benefit of paper in this digital age. Paper? Yes. For example, my paper pocket calendar saves me oodles of time each day while young techies struggle with their d …
The Cinema Arts Centre, an independent film venue in Huntington, is one of our favorite places. When we were there over the weekend, I noticed a fascinating commonality among the three movies that were being shown. They all had to do with old age. "Quartet" is a glimpse into the lives of four former stars of the opera who live in a retirement home …
Recently, a controversy (albeit a small one) erupted around Beyonce. The singer was slotted to perform the National Anthem at the President's inauguration and someone, I'm assuming her, made the decision to pre-record it and lip-synch it. The ensuing fuss was probably more than was needed, but I found it not to be as indicative of her talent or …
It was time I suppose. My more than five year old laptop was very good to me. But five years in technology years made my laptop more like a relic whose time had come. So this weekend's project was to buy a new one. Shopping wasn't so bad, it was fun actually. But the set up and adjustment has been particularly trying -- and time consuming -- I t …
I was an overweight child. Therefore, I found the story of Dara-Lynn Weiss and her seven year old daughter compelling. Ms. Weiss put her seven year old overweight daughter on a strict diet for health related reasons; the child had high blood pressure. Interestingly, the internet has exploded with blogs and articles condemning Ms. Weiss and her …
It looks like Carnival Cruise lines is in some hot water. Not only from the lawsuits by angry passengers, but I would wager that their business has got to be bad for some period of time. I think a lot of people are going to pick vacation choice number 2 instead of a cruise. The national park service should run a counter-commercial with a coup …
Tomorrow celebrates Michael Jordan's 50th birthday and the pundits and analysts were wondering on radio and TV if he is the best player of all time. Names that are being tossed about; Wilt Chamberlin, Kareem Abdul Jabar and LeBron James. But for my money I'd have to say Bill Russell is/was the best. Although he was a Celtic (I'm a Knicks fan so …
One of the duties-pleasures of being Grand Parents is having the kids over for a weekend (while the parents vacation). Recently we were on duty and on the first night my "6 and a 1/4" year old grandson carried a book over to me and asked "Grandpa would you read to me". How could I say no. It ends up he was lugging the third Harry Potter book which …
