The other day my husband took our 3-year-old son to a water park. Most people, when they go to water parks, leave their electronic devices in some kind of locker. My husband decided to take his with him as they walked through the park. At one of the “rides” where the little kids run around in the water my husband tried to get in front of our son to take a picture with his cell phone and he fell. He was fine; his phone submerged. [Read more →]
David Ignatius wrote this book before the eruption of street protests in response to the rigged elections in Iran and the Iranian government’s subsequent violent crackdown on the protestors.
The Increment (Norton), a political novel as much as it is a spy thriller, concerns an Iranian scientist, “Dr Ali,” who contacts the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) via their public web site and offers to provide information about Iran’s nuclear program. [Read more →]
In keeping with tradition, here’s a nugget of information about me: I don’t wanna have a play date. I am formally announcing my withdrawal from this hideous tradition. Now it’s one thing to get together with my friends and let our kids kill each other while we suck down Bellini’s and talk about college and all the dumb shit we did. [Read more →]
Last night, I left NY and made my way to the event of all events, where anybody who’s anybody will be… San Diego Comic-Con, aka, Nerd Prom. Sweet. The best part of my journey so far? Being able to watch So You Think You Can Dance on my JetBlue flight. Not only did this entertain me for 2 hours on my 6+ hour flight, I got to enjoy it with mini bottles of water (I mean wine) and free baggies of cashews and 100 calorie Lorna Doone shortbread cookies (I mean Doritos Munchie mix and chocolate chip cookies). With no access to pause and FFW, I had to watch in full and it made me remember a few things:
The hearings on the Supreme Court nomination of Sonia Sotomayor have been depressingly familiar in certain respects, even if the outcome is predictable. The whole spectacle is reminiscent of hearings past and prefigures those still to come as a blend of grandstanding, stonewalling, and humbug. [Read more →]
A 79-year-old woman is not the ideal guardian for three young children, particularly when she’s married to Joe Jackson. Yet Katherine Jackson gets the edge from most people over Debbie Rowe, just because Debbie has no biological connection to one of the children and no apparent interest in any of them, based on the fact in an email she poised the question to herself, “Do I want the kids?” and helpfully answered, “Hell no.” (Incidentally, may this serve as a reminder to all of us to ask, “Have I engaged in blatant self-incrimination in this email?” before hitting send.) With reports swirling that Debbie demanded the Jacksons give her an additional $4 million after deciding an initial settlement of a Beverly Hills mansion, a $5 million lump sum, and several annual payments of $900,000 weren’t enough compensation for what has already been a sensationally profitable uterus, the leaked emails reveal a new insight into Debbie: she’s a good friend. [Read more →]
The story of what happened this week to Erin Andrews, an ESPN reporter, has been splashed all over the internet. I left it out of my Bad Sports, Good Sports column because I didn’t yet have the full details, and considered it only very loosely sports-related. I feel like I am not being fair to say nothing about it, though. If you were not aware, she was filmed sans clothing in her hotel room via a peep hole of some sort. [Read more →]
May 19, 2009
I dream I hear a big ruckus in Daniel’s room. My mother and father are in there and making a big fuss over him. His room is beautifully furnished and filled with elegant, swirling curtains, some red and some black. They stage arguments in different costumes in front of different combinations of curtains. I feel neglected. I try to create a scene of my own in which I eat chicken wings and throw them at my mother.
This omnibus contains various mini-series featuring Barry Ween, a ten-year-old with an IQ of 350. The adventures are full of funny instances, classic science fiction plots, and tons of dirty language. I highly endorse this piece of art. [Read more →]
Last night’s Big Brother was shocking, NOT because of the following reasons:
1) Russell is a psycho-path and Lydia’s a big fat baby — Russell basically screamed at Lydia for no reason at all last night. That’s because he’s on steroids. But that’s no excuse for Lydia to break down into tears every time someone looks at her the wrong way. Even though you have 100 tattoos, most of which are of characters from Paul Frank and Hello Kitty, you are not tough at all. Grow a set or go home, you’re annoying everyone in America.
As Professor Slughorn (Jim Broadbent) says to the advanced potions class, “Let the brewing commence.” And with that, Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) and company are once again battling dark forces in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, based on the penultimate book in J.K. Rowling’s series. Harry and his friends are growing up and falling in love, Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) is still mentoring Harry and quidditch makes its long awaited return. Casual fans of the Potter film series (like me) will enjoy the darker story. It may not be the best in the series, but Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is fun and enjoyable. [Read more →]
Apparently, I am not the only reader who thinks Jane Austen’s novels could use a little more excitement. Last month, I reviewed Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, which I loved. Today, via USA Today, I got the news that Quirk Productions is negotiating a movie deal for the surprise best seller! And there are more monster novels on the way. [Read more →]
Web Goodhue is a jerk. He’s down to his last friend, he’s got no job, he sleeps all day and he is going nowhere. (Sound like anyone you’ve dated? Yeah. Me, too.) At least, that’s what you see on the surface. There’s a lot more to Web than you see at first glance — a lot of good in him, and a lot of hurt. When his best (only) friend Chev insists he take a job with their buddy Po Sin, Web doesn’t have much choice and he’s too tired to argue about it.
That’s how Web ends up cleaning crime scenes. [Read more →]
Twenty-six years after he last won a major, 59-year-old Tom Watson nearly won the British Open this week. In fact, he had a one stroke lead on the final hole, before he bogeyed the 18th and was forced into a playoff against Stewart Cink, who outlasted him in the playoff. Winning the tournament would have been an accomplishment of staggering proportions. Not only would Watson have been the oldest player to ever win a major, he would have bettered the record by eleven years. [Read more →]
10. Saying, “Heeeeeeere’s St. Peter!”
9. Selling vegetable slicers on the boardwalk
8. Hosting the best Star Search ever! (Janis Joplin, Jimmy Hendrix, John Lennon, Elvis, Michael Jackson)
7. Following God around saying “Yes!” “You are correct, Sir!” and “Hi-ooooo!”
6. Ducking his ex-wives
5. Selling Alpo (since all dogs go to Heaven)
4. Sending people envelopes, with his picture on them, saying, “You may have already won a trip to Heaven!”
3. Cohosting Hell’s Bloopers and Practical Jokes
2. Swimming in a lake of Budweiser
1. Looking for Johnny
Bob Sullivan’s Top Ten Everything appears every Monday.
Everyone and their cousin had reviews out before I went to the midnight premier with a few thousand other people in King of Prussia. And the odds are you’re only reading the reviews to find out if your favorite scene from the book made it into the movie: my two favorites didn’t. The bottom line is everyone has made their opinions and decided whether or not to see Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Instead of driving home a series of points about why you should see it, I just want everyone to know that Harry Potter 6 reminded me of Star Wars Episode 5: The Empire Strikes Back.
WARNING: This post is full of spoilers.
[Read more →]
They say famous people die in threes. I do not know if that is necessarily true, but it does seem that they die in clusters. Usually three, four, or five famous people all die within a month or two of each other. Then, after all the tributes and remembrances, there are no new famous deaths for another half year or so. [Read more →]
Dear Ruby,
I have married into a cancelling family. The women in my husband’s family cancel things all the time. They don’t even bother to make excuses sometimes. His sister will say, “Something came up,” or “We just couldn’t make it.”
I didn’t mind this so much before we all had children, but now my kids are constantly disappointed that they won’t be seeing their cousins after all, or that Grandma changed her mind about going to the mall. How do you deal with mind-changers without starting a family feud?
Sincerely, Just-Do-It Joelle
I never watched the reality show Jon and Kate Plus 8 until the fifth season, when Jon and Kate announced they were separating. When they were a happy family, I found the show to be eternally boring. But when Jon and Kate sat on that couch and told the world they had problems with their marriage, I couldn’t stop watching. What does that say about me as a person, that I secretly enjoy watching the misery of others? At least I am not alone. [Read more →]
As far as I’m concerned, bibliophilia is idol-worship, but I’ve been having a lot of fun with the book memes on the Internet. There’s everything from annotating and commenting on the BBC’s Top 100 books, to listing your 12 favorites in Flickr with appropriate photographs, to the five most frustrating books on Biblical exegesis. [Read more →]
