There Are Two Railroads Out There: Ours and the One You Imagine
“There are two railroads out there,” said Amtrak President Alex Kummant in a Wall St. Journal article today. “There’s the one we run every day, and there’s the one everybody imagines is out there.” Kummant was asked about a topic that I wrote about in the Valley Advocate: really fast […]
Eight-Eight-Oh-Eight. Wow What a Date
I’ve been thinking about this date for a long time. Today is eight, eight, oh eight. WOW. It’s the opening night of the Olympics and at 8:08pm tonight, we’ll be watching. It might be a little more difficult because last night while Cindy was on the phone with me, we […]
Red Winged Blackbird in Dennis
We walked for a while a month ago when we visited Cape Cod for a leisurely weekend. I love those long weekends with little to do.
Cheese-Eating Surrender Monkey Publishes Advocate Commentary
I had a commentary published in this week’s Valley Advocate. Last night as I read various news sites, I thought about how the Rush Limbaugh crowd and others would label me a liberal, cheese-eating surrender monkey for my thoughts about why I think Europe has its priorities better in line […]
Sharing a Dog Makes Sense–So Does Renting One
Dog sharing was a topic on the front page of yesterday’s WSJ. This topic hit me because my mother and my neice have been sharing a dachshund named Pablo for several months now. Val said it works out very well. They split time in the week about half and half, […]
"The Bubble" of Doomed Love in Tel Aviv
We watched a film with a few surprises in it tonight. Again, I get the ‘oh Max’ groan, after choosing an unknown Netflix film that just happened to contain homosexual sex. Well, I do admit I wanted one scene with these two men in bed to end faster than it […]
Gauzy Memories of August Feel Like Yesterday
Ahhhh Sunday. Can anyone say there is a better time of the year than early August in New England? I think not. It’s an easy day, a few chores in the lawn, a few blogs, a few articles to read, and some errands to run but no rush for anything. […]
A Toast to Paul Shoul
We went to a party tonight at John and Andrea’s in Florence where many familiar faces were seen. I made everyone give a toast to our friend Paul Shoul who is recovering in a Boston hospital. Best wishes Paul, we hope to see you back in Western Mass very soon!
Early August at Tanglewood, the Tuba Gets its Turn
Last night my friend Joe emailed me asking what I was doing Friday night. My one-word answer said it all: Tanglewood. That’s all I needed to say, since anyone who has been there on a golden summer evening knows exactly what it’s all about. Cindy and I joined our friends […]
This Chart Explains Why the Paper is So Thin
Today’s WSJ told a sad story, see chart at the left. “There are several reasons why newspapers so far have failed to crack this market. Because online ads are far less expensive than print ads and thus offer lower commissions, it’s difficult to get salespeople to focus on selling the […]
Sharp Shows the Way with Smart Solar Electricity
Today I had to contact Sharp Electronics, the makers of our cafe’s cash register. After I was finished getting soaked for a simple new plastic cash drawer, to the tune of about $100, I perused their website, and discovered that Sharp is a big player in solar electricity. That got […]
Drilling for Hot Water, Not Oil, In the Valley
Today the heat has mostly passed, and we have a little break from the pounding rain. I’m in my favorite window seat at the cafe, and just finished a quick read–Tuesday’s Daily Hampshire Gazette. On page one was a story about a guy I’ve met before (but can’t recall where!) […]
Old Avocadoes Turn Up and The Days Pass By
Today I man the office solo. Steve is out on assignment covering his favorite beat–New Hampshire. He’s writing about Summer Stock Theater there. I remember well when Steve and I lived up there, just across the river in Norwich VT, and we worked together in Lebanon. It was the Connecticut […]
Hidari Islam Lights the Way for Tolerance
Yesterday I did a radio interview with Kevin and Sue McCarthy about my trip to Borneo and Kuala Lumpur. Kevin reminded me of a term that I had forgotten that says a lot about Malaysians. It’s called Hidari Islam, and means their brand of the religion is cloaked with tolerance […]
His Dad Sent a Hooker to Try and Set Him Straight
Tom Devine is a blogger’s blogger. He posts more frequently than anyone I know, and it’s all usually interesting. Today I read on his blog about one of his few experiences having heterosexual sex. “One thing led to another, and soon we were kissing, hugging, our hands and mouths going […]
A Fine Day for a Float Down a River
Yesterday was a perfect summer day….for floating down the Deerfield River. I can always count on my friends Jack and Laura to motivate me to get moving. Either it’s a bike ride, a hike to a new undiscovered forest, or floating down a river–they are my primary motivators to move, […]
‘A Luscious Island Throbbing With Sensuality’
I read a WSJ review of a new book about the early days of Fidel Castro and Fulgencio Batista called “Havana Nocturne.” this morning on our sunny deck. The book depicts a wild era of ‘rum, roulette and revolution,’ spiced up by orgies involving future presidents and famous American mobsters. […]
An Account of the Annointed One’s Pilgrimage…
Gerard Baker had fun in the UK’s Times online with this biblical account of Obama’s world tour this week. “And it came to pass, in the eighth year of the reign of the evil Bush the Younger (The Ignorant), when the whole land from the Arabian desert to the shores […]