“Emily” (Part Deux)

In our pandemic and depressed world, a little 30 minutes of trouble-forgetting escapism and "unreality" is hardly a bad thing.

The Opera Singer

That couple, now in their mid-80s, had been at our wedding in 1999, but I had known them since then only passingly. The husband is a retired opera singer originally from Wales, and as we chatted and I realized he was happy to talk about his career I encouraged him to do so by asking him lots of questions...

Good Viewing(s)

My last post criticized some recent television programs. We all could do that. It is easy to pick things apart, of course. So I will stick my neck out here. What would I consider some good recent programs?

One Night Layover

"You're not going to want to miss this show!" we are told. Well, I wish I had missed it.

“I just didn’t want to be alive any more”

Nothing in that "interview" with the duchess was more upsetting, I felt, really, than her stating she had wished not to live any longer.

“Friendly” European Places

To some cities I find "friendly" in various ways that were not on the magazine's readers' list.

Wallis (The Sequel) Continues…

The path to removing yourself from the blinding spotlight of unwanted publicity is NOT to do an Oprah interview on CBS on a Sunday evening and anyone with half a brain knows that.

Remember Restaurants?

When I saw that article mentioned on Instagram again yesterday, I started to think about my own pandemic relationships.

“Biden For America”

There is no reasonable doubt whatsoever that U.S. voters want Joe Biden to become president, and from today he shall be for four years...

When That Book Is, You Feel, Uh, Not Great

One and two were red flags, and three was a personal turn off. From just those introductory pages I knew the book would not be for me. And I felt awful for feeling that way.

“Norma” And “Louise”

The Chaperone is a reasonably entertaining film and a decent way to pass 1 hour and 50 minutes in the pandemic. However, if you want to LEARN about the real Louise Brooks and of the history of that time please read a history book...

That Mis-Imagined Era

It is a clichéd and frenzied near-panto that reminded me often of a high school stage production that is always moments from turning into a “Saturday Night Live” skit. For an hour, I sat there stunned: I could NOT understand the praise for it.

To Escape From It All

It has been another tough week for many of us. Thus 2020. So I think what this blog requires some lightheartedness and maybe even a cup of hot cocoa.

Those “Mean” French (Again)

There seems something in the American psyche that is incapable of treating French people, as, well, ordinary people. That is probably because it is drilled into the American subconscious by now almost from birth that "the French" stand out among Europeans as particularly "mean"...

Off To “Wonderland”

This 2020 one suspects must be a lot like how it felt during the Great Depression of the 1930s amidst Hollywood's "golden age," when millions around the world flocked to cinemas for a few hours to forget their problems and see the "stars" they adored.