In Memoriam: Grandpa Ron Clarke
Shortly after Andi and I met and began running each other through the gauntlet of initial family meet and greets (the one sure sign or test that you’ve found a decent candidate for life partner), she marveled at just how fortunate I was to have the majority of my grandparents playing major vibrant roles in my life.
That was almost two decades ago.
As I write this, I am closing the final pages on my thirties (with 40 less than two years away) and am just now saying goodbye to my beloved Grandpa Ron. Born in May 1920, he lived a bountiful life – full of early experience and adventure tempered with that suburban domestic bliss that everyone hopes to attain as the years wind on. On June 30, 2010 – over ninety years after my Grandpa Ron graced the planet with his presence, he passed away surr... Continue reading »
Underwire: One Year Undercover with the Monkeybar Mafia
As far back as I can remember, I always wanted to be in the Mom’s Club.
The problem is, when you’re packing a package, that’s a pretty tall order. It doesn’t matter how many Glee eps you watch, Zumba classes you take or scrapbook pages you fake, if you’re clutching cargo you ain’t vaulting their velvet rope. Outside looking in, sport.
But rob a man of his job and what he loses in dignity he makes up for with opportunity. One door closes and another window opens – a portal into that exclusive club where chicks bitch all day about their no-good husbands while secretly thanking their lucky stars that their hubby doesn’t suck nearly as bad as their BFF’s does.
Of course, much of this is pure hyperbole coming from a guy who never met a fact he couldn&#... Continue reading »
E3 2010 – The Games I’ve Just Got to Play in 2010
Last week, the video game industry held their annual convention in Los Angeles, CA. Every year game publishers, developers and mainstream press come together to get a sneak peek at the new titles heading our way for the upcoming holiday season and beyond at the Electronic Entertainment Expo. And each year, the conference just grows larger and larger in terms of scope and exposure, if not necessarily attendance (as it’s been closed to the general public for a few years). With games occupying equal entertainment real estate as some of Hollywood’s largest blockbusters – the rest of the real world stops for a spell in June to take notice of what’s coming down the pike meaning these days you can ditch the Gamepro and scope all the cool sites on The Today Show.
In prior years, I made it an annual ... Continue reading »
R & R
In early May, my Mom retired after working 22 years for the South Shore Hospital in South Weymouth, MA. This prompted my sisters and I to throw a little celebratory gala in honor of a woman who has worked tirelessly on all fronts during every bustling phase of her life. My sisters handled the lion’s share of the planning but asked me to say a few words in honor of our dear Mom. I’ve reprinted those thoughts here to live on in cyber eternity. This is just the tiniest testament to her amazing accomplishments in working hard to build a great family.
When I sat down to write this little toast to my Mom, I realized pretty quickly that I made a slight error in drafting that original invitation. While my sisters and I invited all of you here to honor my mother as she turned the pag... Continue reading »
The Conduit – Nintendo Wii (game review)
Editor’s Note: As some of you know, I’m on staff as a game reviewer for the electronic entertainment site, Avault.com. I intend to publish all of my reviews on these pages to insure I have a full record of everything I’ve written. If you haven’t read this before, enjoy!!!
Now this is what we’ve been waiting for. When Nintendo first unveiled the Wii, after fanboys paged through their wish list of new iterations in the Mario, Zelda and Metroid series, they began to dream up new and exciting applications to their favorite genres. The so-called hard-core crowd immediately conjured up light saber battles as a no-brainer application for the Wii-mote while others saw the ability to closely replicate the pixel-perfect mouse driven controls that PC first perso... Continue reading »
Madden NFL 10 – XBOX 360 (game review)
Editor’s Note: As some of you know, I’m on staff as a game reviewer for the electronic entertainment site, Avault.com. I intend to publish all of my reviews on these pages to insure I have a full record of everything I’ve written. If you haven’t read this before, enjoy!!!
Earlier this year, veteran broadcaster and former NFL coach John Madden announced that he was stepping aside from his color commentary duties to get busy enjoying the remains of his days. Love him or leave him, Madden was an iconic presence on Monday Night Football and his absence will surely be noticed. While the Big Guy jumps aboard that famed Horse Trailer for one last ride into the sunset, there’s no doubt that his legacy lives on in the digital age, as the Madden brand has become synonymo... Continue reading »
Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood – XBOX 360 (game review)
Editor’s Note: As some of you know, I’m on staff as a game reviewer for the electronic entertainment site, Avault.com. I intend to publish all of my reviews on these pages to insure I have a full record of everything I’ve written. If you haven’t read this before, enjoy!!!
Westerns – those tall tales of the Wild West – are solely an American invention yet some of the best myth building has come from outside eyes. It was Sergio Leone, the Italian director, who placed Clint Eastwood on the map and embellished the legend of The Man with No Name in his series of blood-drenched Spaghetti Westerns that flickered on screens in the Sixties. While Americans took these oaters for granted and after awhile rolled their eyes at the creaky co... Continue reading »
Aria at Five
Five years old sort of makes it all official. They’re not babies any more.
If that was a bitter pill to swallow when Colin turned the page two years ago; it makes today even more bittersweet – as I look to my Little Princess, Daddy’s Little Girl, growing in leaps and bounds with every day. With the end of her preschool career mere weeks away, and the knowledge that after that increasingly shorter spell of Summer that looms ahead will likely be consumed before we know it, Aria is headed to kindergarten and hence a full day session of schooling, five days a week – there is the inescapable fact that another chapter in her own personal storybook is shuttered for good.
Daddy’s Little Girl is growing up and despite the fact that I can vanquish the mightiest of bedtime beasties wh... Continue reading »
My Favorite Things – ‘Top 5 Summer Movie Memories’
[Editor's Note - This piece was originally published on May 30, 2007. I am reposting it as my annual kick-off to the Summer Movie Season which technically started about 3 months ago.]
With summer movie season officially kicked off… wait, who am I kidding. With Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third and Pirates of the Carribean: At World’s End all released prior to Memorial Day, we may already be onto the Autumn Oscar season by the time I finish scribing this list.
Oh well, once upon a time the summer movie season started at Memorial Day and played until we doffed the white apparel and headed over to Chess King for our new fall fashions. So it is with a tinking of the ivories (yup, I busted out the vintage piano tie for this latest waltz down memory lane) that I dust off some of my fondest summer movie memories.
For my frequent readers, you know the drill. I ... Continue reading »
My Favorite Things – ‘Poetry in Motion – Top 5 Perfect Scenes’
Editor’s Note – In honor of Dennis Hopper’s passing, I’m reposting this piece – originally published on July 14, 2006. Enjoy – and let me know some of your faves in the Comments below.
The late Gene Siskel once applied this logic to determine what makes a good movie. Five good scenes and no bad ones.
I’ll up the ante and say – throw in one great scene and you have a classic.
Today I’ve decided to focus on those scenes that are so picture perfect in execution. I’m talking about those scenes that just make you lose all sense of time and place and completely sell the illusion – that you’re no longer watching actors spitball lines or marveling at excellent production values – that what you’re viewing has happened and is so vital ... Continue reading »
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