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Posted by on Aug 31, 2025 in Blog | 0 comments

Review: “Kill Tony” (on Netflix)

 

 

MY REVIEW: “KILL TONY”
(PSSST….DON’T GIVE ME ANY IDEAS)

I just endured the cruel misfortune of watching the opening to a new Netflix special. Ten minutes was as much as I could stomach.

Kill Tony: Mayhem at Madison Square Garden is the name of this dreck purported to be a *comedy series* dredged entirely in shock humor punctuated with an unendurable strain of witless insults. Watching a brimming toilet overflow on Christmas morning would have been more amusing.

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Posted by on Apr 10, 2025 in Blog | 1 comment

Listening to Dr. Michael Baden (Again)

 

 

A funny thing happened yesterday afternoon. Marieta and I were driving to an appointment. We listen to XM Radio and the “Dr. Radio Show,” which is a 24/7 medical call-in program broadcast live from NYU Langone. Instantly, I recognized the day’s special guest’s voice.

Hey….that’s Dr. Michael Baden!

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Posted by on Mar 30, 2025 in Blog | 0 comments

The Other Side of Perspective

 

 

THE OTHER SIDE

I think it’s important to look back on all of our lives and think of the wonderful people who changed us, and taught us, and gave us extraordinary perspectives, almost entirely for the better. This is purely a guess, but I suspect many of us will admit the most surprising benefits and broader horizons were often, not from those shallow spaces we grew up with or would have expected, but from people and places far away that we did not expect.

In 1994, I walked into the Turkish Embassy in Washington DC  thinking I had no shot at a job opening for a writer-editor position working for a country I really didn’t know that much about.

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Posted by on Mar 27, 2025 in Blog | 0 comments

Thoughts on Smoking

 

I just saw a report that says cigarette smoking among the American population has reached an all-time low. Only about 11 percent of Americans smoke cigarettes–defined as using a tobacco product within the past week. The high point on smoking’s popularity was the year 1965, when nearly half of all adults smoked. This interim period reveals a remarkable reversal of habit, social norms, and how different everyday activities used to be, when smoking was such a significant part of daily life.

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Posted by on Mar 20, 2025 in Blog | 0 comments

Truckin’ on Shakedown Street (Grateful Dead Festival)

 

 

THE GRATEFUL DEAD FESTIVAL (AKA “SHAKEDOWN STREET”)

I’ve never been much into the Grateful Dead. That’s a confession more than a statement, because I’ve certainly missed some great times. I deeply appreciate -even admire- the unique sub-culture and cool people they’ve attracted to their events for more than half a century. Indeed, there’s something really special about “Deadheads.” I won’t even bother to try explaining it. If you’ve ever been around a Grateful Dead event of any kind or been with that crowd–you’ll get it. If not, there’s no point, really. Trust me, the Dead is something not to merely listen to or enjoy, but to experience.

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