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Death never takes a holiday
For me, it started with the passing of John Houghtaling, the inventor of the Magic Fingers vibrating bed, about three weeks ago. His death affected me. I spent my adolescence languishing on his wonderful invention. In the old days, when you stayed at a motel, there wasn’t much on TV! (Globe Staff, 7/2/09)
Suffering from the invasion of celebrity
Can it be true? Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz may be coming here in September to film a movie called . . . “Wichita.’’ Come on down, I say! Adam (Sandler), Chris (Rock), and Jennifer (Garner) are already here! Soon Wolfgang Puck will be opening up one of his cheesy celebrity mill franchises in Boston, then our lives will be ... (Globe Staff, 6/25/09)
Paper vs. computer screen
Do we read differently on the computer screen from how we read on the printed page? It’s an interesting question. (Globe Staff, 6/18/09)
Celebrities' 15 minutes of shame
Of course it's all very sad about indicted House speaker Sal DiMasi. Presumed innocent, he will either negotiate a humiliating plea bargain or flail away at his accusers in a protracted show trial. But he does have something to look forward to: complete, absolute, overnight rehabilitation. (Globe Staff, 6/11/09)
The 58 percent solution
Since March , Rupert Murdoch's Wall Street Journal has been devoting a full page to sports coverage. They don't cover sports the way your local newspaper does, in print or on the Web, with game stories and results. Instead, their writers produce analytical stories that you often don't see elsewhere. For instance, they recently explained why a valid world record ... (Globe Staff, 6/8/09)
Cheney: the new tricky Dick
I love Dick Cheney, mainly because he represents everything liberals despise. He is secondhand smoke, "24", God-fearing (as opposed to God-tolerating) Christianity, and global-warming denial all rolled into one. I don't think Cheney brakes for small animals, and I don't think he cares much about saving the whales. (Globe Staff, 6/5/09)
Spammer in Chief
Dear Mr. President: Please stop spamming me. I received my first piece of unsolicited e-mail from President Obama on Feb. 2. He wanted me to spread the word about his recovery plan for America - you know, the one where my higher taxes keep failing businesses like Chrysler afloat. "I know I can rely on your spirit and resolve as ... (Globe Staff, 6/1/09)
'K Blows Top' recounts Khrushchev's bizarre US tour in 1959
I plan to dedicate the second half of my life to a new cause: books that are fun to read. I am going to review and promote books that promise maximum enjoyment. "K Blows Top," by former Boston Herald-American and Washington Post writer Peter Carlson fits the bill. (Globe Staff, 5/30/09)
Theme park USA
You know an economy is hollowed out when it starts throwing money at tourism. Here in Massachusetts, we used to make things: shoes, cameras, military components, even desk-size devices called minicomputers. Now our big economic play is luring Eurotrash to Newbury Street or duping outlanders into walking the various Women's Heritage Trails on Beacon Hill and elsewhere. (Globe Staff, 5/28/09)
Missing John Updike
I miss John Updike. He died in January at 76, an age he seemed to make awfully young. (Globe Columnist, 5/25/09)
Rand redux
Another reason, if you need one, to disdain Facebook: A man I haven't seen in 30 years sent me an "Ayn Rand app," or application. It's called the "Atlas Shrugged Pledge." My former friend's picture appeared next to the cover of the famous Rand novel, with the text: "Steve thinks everyone should read 'Atlas Shrugged.' . . . This is ... (Globe Staff, 5/21/09)
Patronize me - please
Will you be my patron? Perhaps you have read about the economic turbulence jostling journalism. For the past 16 years, my patrons have been the shareholders of the New York Times Co. , of whom I am one. But from the looks of it, they/I don't plan to extend their patronage forever. Next month, my patronage package will probably decrease ... (Globe Staff, 5/18/09)
A Catholic outpost at Brandeis
It's a buoyant feeling to worship in a church that is full, packed, bursting at the seams. Not a very common experience these days, as you know. (Globe Staff, 5/14/09)
A column for only happy people
A few months ago, Boston-based investment manager Alan Strassman had an epiphany. "Every day the news was just so terrible, in the paper, on CNN. It's not that they were making it up, but there never seemed to be anything good to report. I was getting depressed, like lots of people, and I got tired of being depressed. (Globe Staff, 5/11/09)
The last Bostonian?
"Who needed Paris if you had Boston, [Souter] would remark to friends." - The New York Times, May 3 (Globe Staff, 5/7/09)
Backward thinking
Alex Beam is a Globe columnist. His e-dress is beam@globe.com. The end? It's only the beginning. (Globe Staff, 5/4/09)
Blogging for dollars
Late last month Mark Penn, Hillary Clinton's notoriously inept campaign pollster, published an article in the Wall Street Journal asserting that "there are almost as many people making their living as bloggers as there are lawyers. Already more Americans are making their primary income from posting their opinions than Americans working as computer programmers or firefighters." (Globe Staff, 4/30/09)
The challenge of writing something funny
A few years ago a short novel plopped onto my desk: "Not Enough Indians," by Harry Shearer. I couldn't believe my luck. Shearer - the voice of Ned Flanders and others on "The Simpsons," coauthor of the classic movie "This Is Spinal Tap," creator of the hilarious radio comedy "Le Show" - is a comic genius. This was going to ... (Globe Staff, 4/27/09)
In digital age, it's getting harder to read
What if they gave a revolution and I couldn't see it? That's the way I feel about every cool new technology device or application out there, including but not limited to the BlackBerry, the iPhone, texting, Twitter, and so on. (Globe Staff, 4/23/09)
The tale of two Earth Days
Ah, Earth Day. I'm old enough to remember when it was just a few granolaheads moping around the college quad, cursing the big corporations and the Eco-Crim of all Eco-Crims, President Richard M. Nixon. Of course it was Nixon who founded the Environmental Protection Agency, but that's the kind of detail that Vladimir Lenin - who shares a birthday with ... (Globe Staff, 4/20/09)
The distracting ever-present Dickens
Ah, more distractions for the leisured class, a chance to take their minds off their tattered retirement funds. First, there is the "Masterpiece Theatre" molasses-paced "Little Dorrit," an adaptation of the 1,024-page Charles Dickens novel, ambling to a conclusion by the end of this month. (Globe Staff, 4/16/09)
Kvetch as 'Catch' can
You weren't watching the "Deadliest Catch" marathon broadcast on the Discovery Channel over New Year's? Oh, I see. You have a life. (Globe Staff, 4/9/09)