Condomania

Buckethead is, but it’s Wikipedia’s Avant-Garde list, not the list that set our art community on fire. Not all of them of course, and anyway, I’m not sure what “art community” means. Do you know? Who among you can answer?  Mary Louise Schumacher, MJS art & architecture critic, recently identified the Avant-Garde in our town. In a lengthy, Dec. 12  piece (Art City blog) in MJS, anchored by a decade-old photograph of our town’s leading artists, and a survey she sent out to prepare for the feature, Ms. Schumacher came up with Avant-Garde 2011. I did not receive a survey form.…

This week my son rode the Amtrak Hiawatha to Chicago for a business meeting. This is the run that features a great comedic service guy who enlivens the route south. He sits next to Santa…albeit a stuffed Santa whose nose looks like it had one too many nogs. Never one to miss a holiday opportunity, son #1 took this photo. Heroes fall. Heroes rise, but Santa lives to ride the rails. Is Braun innocent; guilty of ingesting PEDs? Is anyone sad that The Donald has pulled out of the debate debacle? Is Ron Paul coming on strong and should we…

Rialto Rita Watching a Turner Classic Movie (a Hitchcock flick about Cold War intrigue), reminds me that there is little to trust on the tube, especially the tsunami of talking heads with agendas. You name it, whatever your political slant, someone is out there yapping and cheering, either in agreement or disagreement. Talking “columnists” on various channels no longer report, instead they editorialize, dousing the viewers with warmed-over crud. Imagine having to dish drek while worrying about keeping ratings intact. I almost wept yesterday when Chris Matthews (MSNBC) teared-up while defending Obama, then shortly after, pumped his (Matthews) new book…

It happened again last night, but I’ll take the blame as I went to bed way too early, and shortly thereafter slumped over my new Joyce Carol Oates’ novel (The Corn Maiden). I was up again at 1 a.m., wandering around. When this happens I frequently write one of my nasty Fairy Tales and send it forth. In the dead of night, last night, I wrote about a nasty Santa who lives on top of a mountain and hates all things Christmas. Or almost all. Thirdcoastdigest.com usually runs my Fairy Tales, so look for it there, hopefully prior to Christmas.…

Republican Chris Christie decided not to “run” for the presidency, but imagining him running for anything (except dinner) is difficult. My dad once told me that if I didn’t slim down and stop eating biscuits and grits with gravy, I’d have to order my clothes from Omar the Tent Maker. I paid attention, but oh those pounds creep up over the years, so recently I shed an unwelcome 36 lbs, and I did it without dancing with a star. As I write, a Schwinn Aerodyne bike stares at me from a corner in my office. Fifteen minutes twice daily and…

The last piece of pumpkin pie has been et; ditto the last slice of bird and the final scoop of sweet taters laced with marshmallows. Twelve bottles of wine were guzzled by fourteen adults. Six little boys dressed in Packer jerseys emblazoned with #12, huddled in a clump studying the oldest kid’s (age 12) new-fangled hi-tech thing. A middle-aged lady in the group said she wonders what #12 looks like naked. It wasn’t me. I’m too old to wonder. All in all, floor 17 celebrated the day when the Pilgrims began giving Native Americans the short end of the stick.…

And yes, every family has a turkey during Thanksgiving, not a bird roasted, but rather a relative who throws a wrench into the festivities. Perhaps Aunt Nellie from Newport, or Uncle Ezra from East Pawtucket, or a cousin from the dozens who arrive to eat, drink and be scary. This week, a tevee spot ran a piece about Thanksgiving being the best time to decide if the old folks (like me) have made plans for their golden years, and beyond that plans on what to leave the relatives in the “will.” Who gets the dog that snaps and snarls, the…

The building I live in, 18 floors populated with 90 plus units and a very diverse mix of owners and renters (ever increasing), is about to be hit with an increase in monthly condo fees. Not a huge increase, but combined with rising taxes and rising costs of almost everything, it adds up.  A few years ago, the board hired a manager to keep an eye on costs. It’s his job to cut costs where the board decides cost-cutting is needed. Generally, there are open meetings for residents (owner’s only), to rant, rave and praise. When I moved in six…

Winter gloom grabs me around the neck, and I find myself yearning for some genuine chicken soup made with a fresh plump stewing hen. Hi-Ho, hi-ho, it’s off to Pick ‘N Save I go, straight to the fresh meat department where rows of body parts wait, all in a row, set side by side in a long glass case. An employee rushes forth. “Can I help you?” “Well, I’m looking for a stewing hen,” says I. “A stewing hen?” says the guy. I’ve never heard of a stewing hen.” He rushes off to alert the meat department guy, and returns…

Martinee day at the Florentine and I’ve just returned from the Florentine Opera’s Turandot. The notes say it’s okay to pronounce it either way, so file that away for future use. My sister attended the opening of the Lyric Opera’s splendid new digs in the splendid Kaufmann performing arts center in Kansas City. She, too, listened to Lise Lindstrom sing the icy role of Princess Turandot, she who eventually, after three acts and two intermissions, let’s Calaf (Renzo Zulian) melt her frozen self. It was Lindstrom’s debut with the Florentine, and also the Florentine debut of Rena Harms, who sang…