Tribute to a Friend I Never Met – Tom Magliozzi

One of the hosts of perhaps the funniest show on any medium, Tom Magliozzi, of Car Talk on National Public Radio (NPR) died earlier this week from complications associate with Alzheimer’s Disease. I was fortunate to come across National Public Radio very many years ago, somewhere around the early ’80s. Tom and his brother Ray had done a car repair call in show on the Boston NPR station for about 10 years, and then I first them as they started doing a brief regular segment on NPR’s Weekend Edition each week. The show went on NPR nationally in 1987 and was on Saturday mornings.

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The Coke Super Bowl Ad

I’ve been meaning to comment about the Coca Cola Super Bowl Ad for a while. I’ve never seen such a disgusting exhibition of hate and bigotry as erupted on social media from some Uhmerikans after this beautiful ad aired. Americans (especially conservative Americans) have proven they don’t know a damn thing about American history or what it is to be an American.

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Decadence New Orleans 2013

This past weekend we were in New Orleans for Decadence. It was fun, but it is the kind of thing I wouldn’t be excited about doing again. It was hot and humid (as you’d expect for late August in New Orleans). The bars are mostly in the French Quarter, and relatively small, so they were all packed. This meant that you mostly just hung out on the street, and waited in very long lines to get a drink.

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Photos from our 2013 San Francisco Trip

We went to San Francisco in June during Pride Weekend, and it was an adventure. Best time for me was getting to, for the second time, hear the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus. This performance was “Harvey Milk 2013” featuring the world premier of I am Harvey Milk. It was spectacular.

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World War Z-A Movie Review

Life for former United Nations investigator Gerry Lane and his family seems content. Suddenly, the world is plagued by a mysterious infection turning whole human populations into rampaging mindless zombies. After barely escaping the chaos, Lane is persuaded to go on a mission to investigate this disease. What follows is a perilous trek around the world where Lane must brave horrific dangers and long odds to find answers before human civilization falls. This is likely the best movie of the summer.

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The Hangover Part III-A Movie Review

In the aftermath of the death of Alan’s father, the wolfpack decide to take Alan to get treated for his mental issues. But things start to go wrong on the way to the hospital as the wolfpack is assaulted and Doug is kidnapped. Now they must find Mr. Chow again in order to surrender him to the gangster who kidnapped Doug in order to save him. A worthy sequel, with lots of good laughs.

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The Last Great Day

A brief portion of an NPR interview a couple of weeks ago set me off on a week of reflection and memories. Greta Gerwig said, “You don’t know when the last time of something happening is. You don’t know what the last great day you’ll spend with your best friend is. You’ll just know when you’ve never had that day again.” What are some of your last great days with friends?

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