January 2011
7 posts
8 tags
Two Years of "Pay Attention"
I started this blog two years ago tonight. It’s a measure of the kind of man I am that I not only started a blog on New Year’s Eve, but I continue to be available for anniversary posts. At the time, I was still reeling from a year of massive change in my life. I was new to fatherhood, relatively new to marriage, and I’d just moved halfway across the country from the place where...
Jan 1st
December 2010
5 posts
6 tags
Film Review: True Grit
The first thing you need to know about True Grit is that it really is a Coen Brothers film. It is every bit as arch and precious as Fargo, and like that film, True Grit is meant to be brutal and funny at the same time. In fact, most of the humor comes from the brutality. The message being that life in this Western-era of America was nasty, brutish, and short and isn’t that hilarious. ...
Dec 22nd
5 tags
Blood Type Silliness
I’m churlish enough today to point out that Andrew Sullivan is prone to silliness, and this post from his blog is a perfect example: David Zax interviews Israeli venture capitalist Jacob Burak, author of bestsellers “Do Chimpanzees Dream of Retirement” and “Noise.” Here Burak explains the demographic make-up of successful entrepreneurs: “Blood type B is found...
Dec 20th
5 tags
"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Repealed
I’m happy about this news. Congratulations to all of you who serve our country with honor despite being treated as a second class citizen or as a ticking time bomb. For those of you for whom this comes too late, I’m sorry. The “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy is the first gay rights issue I can remember being aware of. I was in high school when President...
Dec 19th
3 tags
Film Review: "Cropsey"
Cropsey isn’t a great documentary, but it is a really good one. As a work, it exists somewhere in the continuum between a cable news “true crime” special and a self conscious film school project.  The title refers to a variation of the familiar “homicidal maniac” urban legends specific to Staten Island. Like all legends, there are as many versions as there are...
Dec 15th
3 tags
Another One Rides the Bus
Because I love Weird Al, and I loved Tom Snyder.
Dec 7th