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A brief history of pink
We have a gentleman (ahem!, and I use the term loosely) that works here at my residence who is very enamored with the color pink. I often taunt him about it. And he retaliates by assaulting me with the color any chance he gets. One December, I awoke to find that overnight he had filled…
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Fruits and Nuts
The other day, someone asked me how I come up with the topics I write about. I answered honestly: I don’t know. Obviously, current events are a source. But ultimately, a topic must be interesting to me. I do this (blogging) for fun, the way some people play golf or collect stamps. If it was…
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Enough!
Ah, November. It is the beginning of so much in the Coachella Valley. It marks the official start of what we call “the season” here in Palm Springs – a period of six months, more or less, of heaven on earth: highs in the mid-70s, rarely a cloud in the sky, maybe a raindrop or…
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John and his Ajax
Is it a euphemism or slang? I think it is both. We are naturally averse to talking about bodily functions in polite company. So we employ euphemisms that say what we need to say without coming right out and saying it. Nowhere is this more true than with #1 and #2, or “wee wee” and…
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The Reichstag is on fire!
February 27, 1933. Monday. It is exactly four weeks since the leader of Germany’s majority political party in the Reichstag (parliament), a man by the name of Adolf Hitler, was sworn in as Chancellor (prime minister) of Germany. It is important to remember Hitler was elected. In the beginning. And it’s not like his campaign…
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The Penguin Lessons
Last March, I wrote a movie review here. I mentioned how I tend to steer clear of recommending movies (or tv shows, or albums, or books) because I realize that tastes vary and what I think is good you might regard as rubbish, and vice versa. I could tell you my favorite tv show right…
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Hundred
Strike up the band. Cue the fireworks. This is the 100th post of my blog. Sunday, when I posted about ICE, I noticed it was the 99th post to my blog. The wheels in my head started turning. My first thought was the next post had better be something really special to mark this milestone. …
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It’s déjà vu, all over again
This is a sobering moment. And where you come down on what happened yesterday, and over the last week in Iran, depends on how willing you are to suspend your disbelief and accept the narrative fed to you by the administration in Washington DC. One only has to look to recent history. A regime in…
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109 Miles
When my health dictated I resign from Technicolor and retire, I had many options. I had spent all of my life up to that point around Hollywood and Burbank because I worked there, and before that I grew up near there. But now I could go anywhere, literally, and at 41, depending on how I…
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Portmanteau
As a boy, I thought Star Trek was real. And by that I mean the original series. Not “The Next Generation” with young Wesley Crusher, upon whom I had a crush. Crusher-crush. Nah, too easy! Before you call me a dirty old man, or something worse, remember, when we first meet Wesley, in the pilot…
Your mileage may vary.