"The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter." —Mark Twain
It’s all stuff
A friend asked me which Superbowl ads I liked best. The very idea of advertising rubs me the wrong way, even though I grant the necessity — have I not plugged my own blogs here and there around the internets? Still, watching and critiquing Superbowl ads has become a tradition, and who am I to […]
Just back from the annual classic & collector car show at Tubac, Arizona, a retirement boutique settlement near the border town of Nogales. I really should call it a classic, collector, & enthusiast car show, since there were several groupings of PT Cruisers, new generation (2002-2005) Thunderbirds, and Saturn Sky/Pontiac Solstice two-seaters. But there were […]
It’s the slack time between Christmas and New Year’s, and to all appearances, not much is going on. Jon Stewart’s on vacation, so nothing’s happening in Washington DC or the outside world. Current events are in short supply. Current events at Chez Paul? Also in short supply. We’re enjoying quiet nights at home. There’s only […]
This is Sinterklaas, the Dutch Santa. Formerly the Archbishop of Turkey, Sint Nicolaas, Sinterklaas is shown with two of his Zwarte Pieten (there are six to eight Zwarte Pieten — “Black Petes” — originally Moorish slaves, but today more gently described as servants or even companions). Sinterklaas arrives in The Netherlands each November by steamboat […]
How’s the new Barnes & Noble Nook working out, you ask? I guess I owe you a preliminary review, so here goes: I want to first say first that I took to e-books and e-reading immediately. The Nook is about the size and weight of a trade paperback; a pleasure to hold. I love the […]
I thought today would be robocall-free, and said so on Facebook. An hour later one of my little Facebook friends reported getting one. So much for that theory. In three years of using one, I’ve received not one sales pitch, robocall, or charity solicitation on my cell phone. Not so my landline, which has become […]
I bought a Nook for my birthday. I deliberated long & hard between the Nook and the Kindle, finally going with the Nook because I’ll be able to borrow e-books from public libraries with it. But why buy an e-reader at all? Here’s why: I’ve literally run out of shelf space for new acquisitions. A […]
I went to the annual Tucson Classics car show at St. Gregory’s Preparatory School this morning. As usual, I couldn’t resist snapping a few photos. Last year I concentrated on classic grilles and engines; this year I thought I’d concentrate on automotive lore from rock’n’roll. Like this: Lincolns were huge, heavy cars; you rarely saw […]