It hasn’t just been hot–temperates flirting in the triple digits–recently. No, it’s been positively sultry, too, in North Carolina. Heat on its own is fine. Humidity on its own isn’t fine, but it’s tolerable. Combine the two? Downright miserable. It’s bad enough that you need air conditioning in the car. I’m a roll-the-windows down kindContinue reading “On Summer”
On American Beer Month
The Raleigh newspaper has a weekly column on Fridays entitled “Beer Here,” a look at the beer scene written by Julie Johnson Bradford, editor of All About Beer magazine. Today Ms. Bradford writes about American Beer Month: Knowing that July is officially dubbed “American Beer Month” probably won’t cause you to drink any more beerContinue reading “On American Beer Month”
On the PlayStation3's Cost
Sony let the cat out of the bag today, revealing projected production and retail costs of their next video game console, the PlayStation3: nearly five hundred dollars to make, sold at four hundred dollars for a loss. This I like: This puts Microsoft in a very good position. It has a console of comparable abilityContinue reading “On the PlayStation3's Cost”
On Cream Soda
I love Cream soda. I’d rather drink this than Coke or Pepsi. Don’t ask me why, I’ve no idea. It’s probably the taste. I like the taste. Finding good Cream soda in North Carolina is damned difficult. Most grocery stores don’t stock it. Can’t find the generic stuff at Wal-Mart like I could in Pennsylvania.Continue reading “On Cream Soda”
On Schedule Making
Today I wrote up the store schedule for the next two weeks. Good idea, no, considering I leave next Friday morning for vacation? There’s no magic to making the schedule. In a way it’s like building with LEGO bricks–this person goes here, that person goes there. But there are limits–payroll is this much, this personContinue reading “On Schedule Making”
On Naming Kittens
The kittens haven’t told me their names yet. If they don’t hurry up and tell me, I think I may go with names out of the Volsung Saga.
On John Fiedler
John Fiedler, the voice of Piglet in Disney’s Winnie-the-Pooh films, died over the weekend at the age of 80. With Newhart, on “The Bob Newhart Show,” he was Mr. Peterson, the meek patient who was often a target for Jack Riley’s sarcastic Mr. Carlin. Fiedler also appeared in the films “12 Angry Men,” “The OddContinue reading “On John Fiedler”
On Moonlight Graham
Field of Dreams, the movie based on W.P. Kinsella’s novel Shoeless Joe came out when I was in high school. I loved the book, and I loved the movie. It’s not my favorite baseball book. It’s not my favorite baseball movie–that would be The Natural. I would place Field of Dreams in the top five,Continue reading “On Moonlight Graham”
On the Carolina Mudcats game
Last night, for my birthday, I went to my first baseball game in a year. The Carolina Mudcats, the local AA franchise, were hosting the Mississippi Braves. The Braves won, 4-0. The morning’s newspaper summed the game up thusly: Jeff Francoeur had three hits and three RBIs as Mississippi ended Carolina’s unbeaten start to theContinue reading “On the Carolina Mudcats game”
On Stephen Fry and Doctor Who
Stephen Fry is in talks to write an episode of Doctor Who. Intriguing news, this is. I’ve enjoyed Fry’s novels. He’s clearly a science fiction fan to judge by Making History, and he’s certainly a fan of Doctor Who in particular. He gave a fantastic performance in the Doctor Who audio, Death Comes to Time,Continue reading “On Stephen Fry and Doctor Who”