There’s a quote that I remember from Walter Kerr’s Tragedy and Comedy, and I even used it in preparing a speech for a public speaking course I took at Penn State. This may account for the mysterious distinction Groucho Marx once made between an amateur and a professional. An amateur thinks it's funny, Groucho said, if … Continue reading Groucho and the Real Old Lady
Humor
Tragedy and Comedy
Walter Kerr, in addition to being the husband of humorist Jean Kerr, was a theater critic for the New York Herald Tribune and later on for the New York Times. During his time as a critic, he gave absolute raves to fluffy musicals such as Hello, Dolly!, and he consistently panned everything that Stephen Sondheim … Continue reading Tragedy and Comedy
John Oliver on Soap Operas
A while back John Oliver offered to appear on a soap opera if they could meet his conditions. On his most recent episode he revealed what became of that offer:
The Allergist Echos
Thursday morning I had an echocardiogram. These have become fairly routine, every couple of years. My cardiologist seems to want me to have them for some reason. The procedure takes about a half hour and I try to estimate how much time has gone by, and I’m always wrong. This time I had gotten to … Continue reading The Allergist Echos
The Adventure of the Table Foot
Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes, made his debut in Beeton's Christmas Annual for 1887 and thereafter appeared in a series of short stories in The Strand Magazine. The character has been dramatized scores of times and imitated and pastiched and parodied both affectionately and otherwise. Apparently, it didn’t take long, as this story from … Continue reading The Adventure of the Table Foot
A Quick Word on Branding
In case you missed it, John Oliver had some thoughts on branding… On a completely different subject, I filed my income taxes, the federal a little over a week ago and the state yesterday. Each of them went fairly smoothly as for once I don’t have anything complicating the process, just my pension, Social Security, … Continue reading A Quick Word on Branding
Banana Muffins with Macadamia
I baked a batch of Banana Muffins with Macadamia the other day. The actual recipe called for coconut and macadamia but I loathe coconut. Whoever invented coconut ought to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. But it was easy enough to eliminate that foul ingredient from the recipe and proceed. I think these are especially healthful … Continue reading Banana Muffins with Macadamia
Three Things
Now that I know that measuring by weight rather than volume can produce better results, I want to convert my recipes to weights where appropriate. I found a very useful site from King Arthur that gives the equivalents for many ingredients: Ingredient Weight Chart It’s been awhile since I mentioned The Beatles, hasn’t it? So … Continue reading Three Things
Tattoos
If I keep referencing Graham and Maria Wanging videos, perhaps I need to make them a separate category. In any case, once upon a time, it seemed that about the only people who got tattoos were prisoners and sailors (assuming we include Marines in there as the Marines are part of the Navy). I didn’t … Continue reading Tattoos
Plowing On
Things haven’t changed much. Our street still hasn’t been plowed. I don’t blame the mayor for that, even though I don’t hold her in very high esteem. Cities plan their budgets for the kind of weather that they normally expect. We haven’t had a snowstorm like this in ten years, so naturally I don’t expect … Continue reading Plowing On