A couple weeks ago, I learned that longtime host of The Big Broadcast and even longer-time radio figure, Ed Walker, would be retiring. He was doing so to spend more time with his family and battle the cancer with which he had been diagnosed. His last broadcast would be Sunday, October 25th. Like many other longtime fans, I was determined to tune in at 7pm this past Sunday. This may seem strange in the age of streaming…
While I’m wary about any attempt to: Place people into neat, cleanly definable generations Ascribe specific, seemingly inviolable characteristics to said generations Such articles are often good jumping off points for discussions about the past and the future… or maybe that’s just the psychohistorian in me. In any case, I found this piece by Fareed Zakaria about Millennials interesting, not in the least because it raises the point that they might actually be a product of…
Cara Giaimo has a wonderful feature article all about the ongoing history of cops and doughnuts sprinkled with multiple anecdotes you didn’t realize you really wanted to know. Reading the article made me think of my own anecdote. When I was going to school in Maine, a local radio station (WBLM aka “The Blimp”) had a rambunctious morning show that would often feature the game “Cop or No Cop?” The format was delightfully straightforward. A listener would…
After doing a little bit of research in writing my post about American Express, I came across this article about the surprisingly heated battle for Costco to sell gas in Washington, DC. It’s from 2013, so presumably the status quo has adjusted to the discount interloper, but I’ll probably follow-up and see what’s been going on.
Devin Leonard and Elizabeth Dexheimer have an interesting feature-length article about the decline of American Express aka “AMEX.” I am surprised at some of the umbrage attributed to American Express personnel in the article. They apparently think their business existing for over 150 years is reason enough to continue to exist. Certainly, service and quality matter. However, in a world where every point of cost is scrutinized backwards and forwards to justify its existence, why wouldn’t…
A writer writes, so I feel with all my work on Stonehenge Casting and Stonehenge XIV this year, I have been neglecting my overall writing. There have been scripts I’ve been meaning to get to and the period after Stonehenge XIV seemed like a good time to dive into them. I also wanted to be writing every day, something that I haven’t managed for most of this year. Enter NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month…
Okay, so it’s not exactly Homestar Runner –unless you’re thinking of some of the alternate realities Strong Bad emails visited, but there’s an interview and clips of their new surreal Disney XD cartoons in this Vox article. Update: And for those of you who miss Homestar and Strong Bad, there are some wonderful new ‘toons as well, including this particularly meta one.
Dear Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: I don’t want to put a damper on things. My wife and I are about to plunge into your third season and I couldn’t be happier. Your second season was phenomenal. It was full of moments where we asked, “I wonder when they’re going to deal with [X]?” And then you did. In that episode. And the story barreled forward. Do you realize how rarely we’ve gotten to see that kind…
How could I not be interested in the work of Oliver Sacks? It’s not just the one about the anthropologist on Mars (though I have that). Sacks explored the human condition in a multitude of cases where the humans in question were grappling with many rare and unusual conditions. What is life? What is humanity? What is perception and consciousness? These were some of the questions he touched on in an engaging writing style that…
Why am I an actor? Because being paid to play ain’t a bad way to go. I actually started acting somewhat by accident. In high school, I had been recruited by the school’s drama department to help out with productions backstage — based on my obvious qualification of hanging out downstairs between classes where the theater was located. During a production of The Man who Came to Dinner, the actor playing Mr. Baker was a no-show. Since…