A Photo Show Like No Other at the Cafe
Our first ever art opening was a success at the cafe last night. Rick and Suzanna came and so did Cindy, Jack and some of the photographers who had gone on the trip to Sicily. A few of our regulars also came by, the photographs on the computer screens looked […]
You Can’t Ask Bobby Any More
This morning’s Boston Herald’s Inside Track had the sad story about an unpaid writing gig. “The treatment I received from the Boston Globe and its Web site boston.com was outrageous,” Godes said. “(They) expected me to write a daily relationships blog/online advice column for one full year without any expectation […]
Bush in Budapest Doesn’t Tell the Real Story
Last June I was in Budapest, in the same spot near the regal Parliament building as our president was yesterday. Bush made a speech to celebrate Hungary’s resistance in 1956 to Soviet Russia…an effort that failed, partly because the US did nothing to help. In the Washington Post, Charles Gati […]
Shouldn’t Billionaires Have Deeper Things to Worry About?
Tom Dahlberg, an AP sports columnist, got it right when he ripped Mark Cuban. Mostly because this billionaire owner of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks has become the focus of television coverage over his bad behavior and millions in league fines. And ABC TV can’t stop showing the whiny foot stomping […]
Telling Him Yes on 11 Across and 14 Down
The SF Gate published a profile of Will Shortz–puzzle-master from the NY Times. “Shortz, an avuncular, mustachioed man of 53, has become famous for his clues. Under the sharp point of his witty pencil, the clue for DERRIERES goes from the predictable “tushes” to the devilish “many moons?” For GRANDMA, […]
In a Well-Armed World, Fewer Reasons to Fear Us
Robert D. Kaplan wrote in the Washington Post in April about what we really should be afraid of. “Despite the dangers they represent, such crushing, Dear Leader tyrannies are not our major concern. The future problems of the United States lie more with regimes that thrive on information exchanges with […]
Fun Facts About America’s Favorite Fuel
I learned a little bit about gas today at lunch. On the History channel was “Gasoline,” the story of the world’s favorite fuel. Among the grainy shots of old oil derricks was newer footage of the process of refining crude oil into gas. They showed jolly looking antique trucks that […]
"We Used to Hang Up on our Readers"
San Jose Mercury News executive editor Susan Goldberg made a graduation speech at Medill School at Northwestern University, that says a lot about the newspaper business…now and in the future. “News is now – or anytime I want it. And not because I’m an editor – a news gatekeeper, with […]
A TV Show—With Strings
On Friday we had a call from a man who said he made television programs for National Geographic TV, Pax Network and other cable outlets. He was Robert, then ‘Bob.’ He said that his food-themed TV show would be interested in coming to interview us, and do a television show […]
Thank God, honey, They Cancelled…Yippee!
Today’s NY Times style section included a story by Alex Williams about the joys of cancelled appointments. “Who among the harried professional class does not breathe a secret sigh of relief when drinks with an old friend, lunch with a potential client or a Saturday dinner party with college classmates […]
Loose Ends and Bears Back in Holyoke
A busy Saturday, with good things popping up all over. First, I got my scooter back, after months in the shop. The horn isn’t working and I have to kick it to start it, but it’s running and I’m happy for that. I stopped by the Learning Circle, where my […]
No Novocaine for This Tough Son
This morning in the car, I listened to Scott Simon interview a man who sounded tough. Turned out it was Teddy Atlas, a former boxer and trainer who had stories to tell. When Atlas was a kid, his father was a well-known doctor. He got a bad cut, and was […]
Stuck in the Muck of Angola’s Capital City
Angola was on page one of today’s NY Times. Sadly, this was a portrait of a Malthusian crisis, with mountains of garbage, rivulets of raw sewage, kids sliding into the muck and more than 40,000 often fatal cases of cholera. It would have taken 22,000 dump trucks just to haul […]
The Coffee Business is Up Up Up!
Today’s a lovely day and my heart is full and upbeat. Perhaps that’s because it feels like the cafe is finally reaching a point of success. People come in who’ve never been here before, they always say how nice it is in here, and at the same time our regulars […]
Plumber Gets More than He Bargained for
Reading the Republican in the cafe. A story out of Southwick told of a plumber who made an interesting discovery in the bathroom vanity he purchased at “a major retail chain.” Inside, packaged in what appeared to be parts for the vanity, was a stash of $150,000 worth of cocaine […]
Quelle Horreur! Readers Decide What’s News
The American Journalism Review ran a story about the effect popularity rankings of stories on the web has on the people who decide what goes on the front pages of newspapers. “At the Washington Post’s daily 2 p.m. story meeting, editors report on the popularity of stories published on the […]
Bashed Door With Brick….Then What?
Boingboing.net today has a story about the owner of a new Seattle art gallery’s encounter with an absolute ass. “As we were closing up, some drunk mouth-breathing knuckle-dragger starts banging on the door demanding to be let in. After Damion tells him that the gallery was closed, the Moron says […]