I’ve spent the day here in Montreal taking in the local sites and enjoying the fresh winter weather outdoors. No doubt, this is a city and a province that celebrates the winter–embraces it with zeal and encourages its citizens to do the same. This week, for example, is the city’s […]
It’s time to hit the road again. This time, a long, windy and snowy road that heads up north out of South Deerfield and goes 272 miles to the north and then northwest to the city of Montreal. I’m heading straight for the Queen Elizabeth hotel, and I’ll trust my […]
This time of year is always exciting…because tomorrow I’ll join Paul Shoul and we’ll spend the next three days at the NY Times Travel Show in the big city! We will be staying at a new place that I’m looking forward to sharing. It’s called Furnished Quarters, and they offer […]
Mike Rooney, the lone heckler at the Bernie Sanders speech at UMass on Saturday. Bernie Sanders, refreshingly familiar in his dark suit, windswept hair, and Brooklyn monotone, came to Amherst today. We knew it was going to be a tight squeeze in the UMass Fine Arts Center, but we wanted […]
I’ve found that there is power in putting thoughts, ideas and especially, goals down in writing. So every year I try to come up with some goals, obtainable ones I hope, to further my life and my business. So not in order of priority, here is what I hope to […]
When everyone believes something, does it make it true? In the 2012 film “The Hunt,” we watch a schoolteacher’s life become completely unravelled after allegations of child abuse bubble up from a dubious source. And like a slow motion train wreck, what results brings out the worst in nearly all […]
I read a story that was so interesting that I read parts of the story to Mary. And Mary has a short tolerance for things that I find in the paper and begin reading to her. This was a story in today’s WSJ titled, “The Secret to Great Hair, and […]
Rotterdam is a feast for the eyes, if you love interesting buildings and daring architecture. I took a bike ride making a giant loop around the city yesterday with Narjara Grondman, a trained architect who showed me some of her favorite buildings and gave some background into the history of […]
I’m up in my corner office for a few days, on the sixth floor of the Inntel Hotel in Rotterdam. Once again an unsung and less heralded city has impressed me. Maybe it’s this grand hotel room, with the view of the Erasmus Bridge soaring above the harbor, and the […]
To any chef working in Europe, the word Michelin means a lot. The tire company’s stars have defined the greatest restaurants across Europe since the end of World War II. Yesterday at the DeLaMar Theater, we found out which chefs will get new stars and which ones will keep their […]
I’m off on an adventure on Saturday when I drive down to JFK to board a KLM jet to Amsterdam. The last time I saw this exciting city was in January 2000, I remember how alive the city was even on a Tuesday night. Every bar was packed, the streets […]
It’s funny to praise a movie for its slow pace, but I’d have to say that’s what gives the new movie Brooklyn its tremendous appeal. It’s the deliberate and held back way that the immigrant Eilis takes to begin speaking when she answers the phone. It’s the pace of the […]