Tweet There’s been a lot of overwrought reaction to Lindsey Graham’s suggestion that Dzhokhar Tsarnaev should be tried by military tribunal rather than under our criminal system. For instance, there was this writer over at Forbes who moaned, “Why is it that those who spend an inordinate amount of time professing their dedication and fealty […]
TweetRomenesko shared this, which he got from The Harvard Crimson. It’s from an interview with Jason Alexander, best known for his role as George Costanza on “Seinfeld”: The first time I really thought, “Oh my god, Jerry Seinfeld is brilliant” was when he did a joke about newspapers, and how relieved the editors of a […]
TweetHappy 78th birthday, Elvis! As for the rest of you, here are the headlines: 2012 Was by Far the Hottest Year on Record for Most of U.S. (NYT) — Yeah, but were those other places Famously Hot? United Finds Dreamliner Wiring Issue (WSJ) — It was kind of weird how this morning, when I was reading about […]
Tweet This morning on NPR, Nora Ephron was remembered. Here are the opening lines of that report: Nora Ephron brought us two of the most indelible scenes in contemporary cinema — and they’re startlingly different. There’s the infamous “Silkwood shower,” from the 1983 movie, with Meryl Streep as a terrified worker at a nuclear power […]
Tweet Let’s set aside for a moment whether Mitt Romney was having a “Bush at the checkout” moment of cluelessness, or celebrating technology that denies jobs to the working class, or any of that stuff. The bottom line for me is that Wawas are pretty amazing. Have you ever been to one? I have, in […]
TweetSome people yell at the TV. I yell at press releases. Today I got this one, from a guy named Justin Lehmann: It’s no secret that newspapers are having their clocks cleaned by digital, and now mobile, media in the past several years. But one form of newspaper content has not only survived, it’s thriving, […]
Tweet Some of y’all were advising me on a “look” for my band, once I start a band. That, of course, is a worthwhile consideration — yet another thing to settle before actually forming the band itself, along with the band name and playlist. But y’all were a bit off with the platform shoes with […]
Tweet An old friend sent me the above video. When I got home last night, I asked my wife to watch it without telling her why. She looked at it only a second before saying “Michael!” Yep. The guy playing the “English teacher” at the beginning is Michael Mercer. Michael and I started out as […]
Tweet On a previous thread, young Kathryn scoffed at people my age, suggesting that we think the music that was popular when we were in high school (and I would add, college) was great just because it came along when we were young. I think people of any age are going to have a special […]
TweetIf you’re like me, you’ve run across this gag a number of times before, but it still brings a smile. This was sent to me today by a longtime colleague, who like me is probably nostalgic for the days when newspapers mattered in the ways implied by the joke. This particular iteration no doubt comes […]
Tweet My friend Bill Day in Memphis sent out this cartoon, which depicts the main rap on Mitt Romney — that he changes his mind. To me, that’s the man’s saving grace, to the extent that he has one. It’s what made me able to settle for him after Jon Huntsman dropped out of the […]
Tweet CUT/CHOP/COOK from UM Media Documentary Projects on Vimeo. One of the highlights of the weekend in Hilton Head was when we got to taste the wares of Scott’s Bar-B-Que in Hemingway, served by Rodney Scott himself. But the event’s organizers did a cruel thing to us: They showed us the above film in the […]
TweetBack when I was job-hunting in 2009, I signed up for all sorts of services that would give me tips on openings — CareerBuilder.com, BusinessWorkforce.com, AmericaJob.com, TheLadders, and various others. And I continue to get email alerts from all of them. They are sometimes a source of amusement — although I wouldn’t think it was […]
Tweet My Memphis cartoonist friend William Day shared this with me last week, and it seemed like a good thing to share with y’all today. Here’s the Scripture reference: 6The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the […]
Tweet Occupiers everywhere will no doubt enjoy this cartoon from Bill Day in Memphis.
Tweet Once upon a time there was a thing called newspapers, and Richard Crowson is my oldest newspaper friend. One of his first published editorial cartoons illustrated a column I wrote for the editorial page of the journalism department lab paper at Memphis State University in 1975. I already knew Richard from working with him […]
TweetLately, in my truck, I’ve been listening to “The Union,” a CD put out by Leon Russell and Elton John. Speaking of gifts, my brother gave it to me last Christmas, but I only broke it out recently. I’ve enjoyed it. It’s quite good. I’ve kept it in the player for weeks. I’ve even caught […]
TweetI wasn’t going to pay attention to Nikki Haley’s presumptuous grading of legislators, but I did. And I was going to say something about it, but what is there to say, really? I can’t blame her for giving some of the state’s very best, most dedicated and thoughtful lawmakers Ds and Fs, because she herself […]
TweetWell, he just turned up in our yard! Wet, bedraggled and much the worse for wear. I had been unable to sleep, and had moved to a recliner in our TV room at about 5:45. About an hour later, I thought I heard a feeble scrabbling at the front door. I opened it, and saw […]
TweetYes, I can think of some reasons, but since all of the ones I think of are… unpersuasive… I continue to wonder whether there are any defensible reasons for having devoted that choice real estate to such a purpose (not to mention putting the Strom Taj Mahal workout center in a location that only the […]