From the audience’s first gasp — at the unveiling of another ridiculously meticulous Providence Players set — to the ”group exhale” when its twisted thrill ride ends with a start, “Sleuth” keeps even the veteran theatergoer second-guessing. This sparkling Brit-lit whodunit, which draws the curtain on the versatile troupe’s 14th season, follows the pranks and prattle … Continue reading
My turn to be probed by aliens
****WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS GRAPHIC IMAGERY***** “Up yours!” will never have the same ring to it since I bore my first colonoscopy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises routine screenings for colorectal cancer every 10 years, starting at age 50, claiming that as many as 60% of deaths from colon cancer — the second-leading … Continue reading
Voicing an objection to ‘The Voice’ and other voyeuristic stuff
The feeding-frenzy popularity of The Hunger Games — in which young people fight to the death for scraps in a post-apocalyptic society — makes me squeamish, partly because it seems only one part fiction and three parts foreboding. And why not usher in a gladiator-esque fight-to-the-death era of entertainment? We are already there. Reality TV … Continue reading
5 things I seriously wish someone would invent
1. A truly universal remote control. Not only could I freeze-frame those who annoy me, I could power them off. Or make it rain when and where I wanted. Rain wads of Franklins. Rotate the planet backwards, back before the Mega Millions drawing, only this time I’d have the winning numbers. 2. Hypoallergenic pollen. C’mon, this must be … Continue reading
Fashioning AP style: You read it here first
I feel like Steve Martin in The Jerk: “The new phone books are here!” Except for me it’s the new Associated Press Stylebook, aka “the journalist’s bible” — note the lowercase “b” – soon to be hot off the presses (targeted for May 21). Today, I got a sneak peek. The 2012 edition contains 270 updates … Continue reading
Super PAC-hyderms: Advertising’s political heavyweights
Something’s been weighing on me, like the elephant in the room. The one on my flat-screen TV. More elephants seem exploited in commercials lately, and I’m concerned not only for the welfare of the animal “actors” but whether there’s a hidden political message here. Blogging about ads is not my bailiwick – my friend Jacqui Barrineau … Continue reading
‘T’ is for ‘tacky’: 5 T-shirts whose time has not come
As Americans strip down for T-shirt weather, here’s something you shouldn’t reveal: exactly how idiotic you are to buy lame T-shirts. Introducing the 5 most ridiculous shirts I’ve seen this season, sure to end up being sported witlessly in Zambia, where all of our discarded, misfit T-shirts go. 1. The 3-headed monster I doubt anyone … Continue reading
Adult Education: A remedial course
April 1st, and I’m no fool about what that means: tax season. Oh, I know it’s last-minute — always been a late bloomer. No other time of year do I feel less like an adult than when it’s time to mimic the adult-like responsibilities of itemizing receipts I didn’t save; indexing capital I didn’t gain; going loopy over my … Continue reading
Circle of life: Hawk preys on fallen starling
A starling gets its 15 minutes of fame. Co-starring: a female cardinal as Florence Nightingale. The orchestral work I used as accompaniment for this backyard drama, shot on a cold December day, is Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “The Lark Ascending” (1914), inspired by this poem by George Meredith. Also long. And I call myself an “editor.” … Continue reading
Bye-bye, blackbird profiling
My podmate at work expresses pure disdain for the grackle, the starling and, most vociferously, the parasitic cowbird. I wouldn’t call him racist. Just unenlightened. I feel compelled to speak up for a class of birds widely scorned just because they fill a niche of avariciousness, through no fault of their own. Like the harsh misnomer for … Continue reading
