imperial, mysterious, in amorous array

Tomorrow, as I’ve mentioned once or twice already, I’ll have the honor of marrying two of my best friends in the world – John Fraley and Melissa Carubia. A portion of this weblog’s audience knows the two of them already. Many of you will attend the ceremony. But for those of you who aren’t, here’s [...]

the past is prologue

At or around 625 B.C., the great Median empire, in what is now Iran, staggered from crippling blows. The Assyrians had slain the Median king Phraortes. The Median armies, though vast in number, had no tactical organization or formation; they were “all mixed up in a mob,” according to the historian Herodotus. And when Phraortes’ [...]

nobody seemed to know me, everybody passed me by

I found a new karaoke spot on Friday: the bar beneath the Charles Playhouse in Boston’s theatre district. Small turnout for a Friday, though Memorial Day weekend might have contributed to that. A few friends had turned out for Dave C’s twenty-ninth birthday. “I wanted one last big bash,” he said. “I’ve noticed that I [...]

revelations 21:4

“Did that guy just check you out?” “Who?” I asked. It was a cool Saturday – high 60s, sunny, not much breeze – and we were lounging on a park bench in Boston’s Public Garden. “That guy that just walked by.” The gentleman in question: early fifties, Mediterranean complexion, expensive gray suit and a fat [...]

a highly critical review of the first 1:30 of NBC’s Supertrain

(Why only the first minute-thirty of Supertrain, NBC’s notoriously poor 1979 television drama about a luxury train and the lives of its passengers? Because you’re busy people, for one thing – you don’t have time to waste on an entire two hour pilot when you can dispose of a 30-year-old show in less than two [...]

you see the face on the TV screen, coming at you every sunday

When I called the Internet out last week, asking for the one season of Buffy I had to watch, I took a little flak for the following comment: “Oh, but you really have to watch these episodes from Season X-1 in order to get Season X.” If that’s true, then Whedon fails as a writer [...]

it’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor

I haven’t been religious for more than a decade now. From the day I decided to walk away from religion I’ve never missed it. It fills no essential role in my life, either ethically or logically. I almost forget what it was like to be religious. But I have noticed one thing missing: the sense [...]

you’ll catch a sharp sword to the midsection

I got a haircut on Saturday at Franco’s, on the corner of Hampshire and Prospect in Cambridge. Franco’s remains the only place I go for haircuts, because I can walk out of there with a haircut that I like that day. Not two days later once it’s grown in. Plus, they only charge about $5 [...]

like a pinch on the neck from mr. spock

SPOILER FREE Star Trek: silly fun. As with all J.J. Abrams productions, the writers clearly came up with the setpieces first (giant space battle! high-altitude parachute dive! Kirk fights a giant alien monster!) and then strung a plot together to connect them. But if the setpieces are fun there’s nothing wrong with that. None of [...]

one thing about living in Santa Carla I never could stomach, all the damn vampires

People of the Internet! I declare the final showdown. I give you the opportunity you’ve been waiting for. This is your one and only chance, ever, to convince me that Joss Whedon lives up to the hype. I’ve long maintained that Whedon scripts dialogue beyond his actor’s capabilities, putting A-list screwball in the mouths of [...]