Dirty Money
Let’s say you need someone to help you do something really important. Would you settle for someone who just Googled it? Would you look for someone with the right professional license? Or would you hold out for the guy who literally wrote the book on whatever it is you need to do? Expertise doesn’t guarantee success: great […]
Here’s Where the Bodies Are Buried
Between 1983 and 1985, mobster Whitey Bulger whacked three people and buried them under the dirt-floor basement of a house in Boston’s working-class “Southie” neighborhood. Bulger, an FBI informant who inspired Jack Nicholson’s character in The Departed, vanished after his handler tipped him off that he was looking down the business end of an indictment. Sixteen […]
All the Tender Sweetness of a Seasick Crocodile
Would you believe that Spotify offers over a million Christmas songs? There’s something for every taste. The best of them, like Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti’s magnificent “O Holy Night,” are sublime evocations that lift the human spirit. Some, like Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You,” are banal background noise for department store Santas. And some, […]
The Twelve Days of Taxmas
Every year, PNC Bank publishes their “Christmas Price Index” to track the cost of the Twelve Days of Christmas. For 2019, it’s a hefty $38,994. (And you thought your holiday spending was out of control!) The index may not be completely accurate — for example, the ten lords-a-leaping are valued using the cost of male ballet dancers, rather than board-certified British […]
If Only They Had An Oscar For This!
Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas, who died this month, played nearly every role in his career: actor, director, producer, and writer. He was born before the first “talkie” hit theaters. He grew up one of seven children in an impoverished home. Then he worked his way through St. Lawrence University and the American Academy of Dramatic […]
Stream of Tax-iousness
If you’re like most Americans, coronavirus quarantines and “social distancing” mean you’re going to spend a lot of time in front of your TV binging on Netflix, HBO, Amazon Prime, and Disney+. If you’re working from home, you’ll spend more time listening to your favorite music on Pandora or Spotify. And believe it or not, even your […]
Dig This
The Cambridge Dictionary defines “digging your own grave” to mean doing “something that causes you harm, sometimes serious harm.” Kids who don’t do their homework, politicians who cut popular spending programs, and people who overshare on social media all dig their own grave in one way or another. It’s not every day that someone charges […]
NOT an April Fools Joke
Millions of us who are staying at home in this time of coronavirus are discovering to our dismay just how much the clown car of halfwits, freaks, and grotesques of “reality TV” has taken over our living rooms. The endless parade of bachelors, teen moms, real housewives, and Kardashians have slowly sapped at our dignity. […]
The Great Toilet Paper Wipe-out of 2020
Coronavirus has turned millions of Americans who used to laugh at the doomsday preppers on National Geographic into converts. Your neighborhood supermarket is working overtime to keep shelves stocked as panicked shoppers rush to settle in for stay-at-home orders. And the first item to disappear was . . . (checks notes) . . . toilet […]
Something to Celebrate
Our calendar is full of “Hallmark holidays”: meaningless commemorations and celebrations, usually created by marketers and publicists. Just this month, there’s National Talk Like Shakespeare Day, National Hug a Plumber Day, and National Wear Pajamas to Work Day. (That last one may not feel like a celebration right now). Food fans have National Burrito Day, […]