Sam Barry's Blog, page 11
May 18, 2010
The Daily Sam: Joey's Ice Cream, Espresso and Sausage
The other night Kathi, Eric Brandt, and I were walking along O'Farrell Street in San Francisco's Theater District, when I saw a sign—much like Moses and the burning bush—except this was an actual sign on a building:JOEY'SICE CREAMESPRESSOSAUSAGEWASH & DRYAmerica has been going downhill ever since the decline of Five & Dime stores. Back in the day a person could walk into one of ...
May 14, 2010
The Daily Sam: Security Will Return Shortly
There is a security guard stationed in the lobby of the building in which HarperOne has its office. From time to time the guard must tend to business elsewhere in the building, and when this happens a sign is placed on the counter that says "Security Will Return Shortly."Reassuring words, I guess. We Americans have been waiting for security to return for some time. I imagine it's the same ...
May 10, 2010
The Daily Sam: The Fine Art of Making a Fool of Myself
The other day former male supermodel Yogi Cameron Alborzian visited HarperOne. He was there to meet with Eric Brandt, the editor of his forthcoming book, The Guru In You, and to be shot by videologist Abby Berendt (in the film sense of the verb). Before Cameron's visit, the last time I was in the room with so handsome man was many years ago in a church basement with John John Kennedy. In ...
May 6, 2010
The Daily Sam: A Nation of Junkies
We are addicted to coal and oil. Once upon a time the earth's oil and gas resources may have simply been energy sources that we consumed with care and moderation. Maybe, though the disappearance of the world's forests doesn't suggest this. But whatever the case may have been in the past, we have long since become a nation of junkies. Addicts. There are crack heads, and then there's us: ...
May 3, 2010
The Daily Sam: Nightmare on Elm Street
Last night I jumped out of bed shouting in the middle of the night. The proximate cause was that I was sleeping on my arm and it, in turn, had "fallen asleep." When this happens I often think in my addled, just-coming-to-consciousness state that my arm is dead, that it will never work again, that it will have to be amputated, etc. Often the fear is accompanied by some other dream ...
April 30, 2010
The Daily Sam: Lebron On His Elbow
The television screen was filled with the image of Lebron James, the great basketball player, in a press conference. The caption read, "Lebron on His Elbow." It happened that Lebron was leaning on his elbow, but that aside, the mood of the proceedings were somber. Lebron was injured, and this fact could have a major impact on the NBA playoffs. The tenor of the questions and answers suggested ...
April 26, 2010
The Daily Sam: But Enough About You
Today our subject is a magnificent, important, beautifully-written, breathtakingly significant book that, by an astounding coincidence, I co-authored. But that's not the reason I am blogging about it. I would never use The Daily Sam, or Facebook, or Twitter, etc. to promote myself. As always, my focus is on You. When I am shaving in the morning I look in the mirror and I say, "What can I do ...
April 23, 2010
The Daily Sam: On the Road Again
We are on our way north for the next Remainders show at the Nokia Center in New York City. It's been a fun tour, and I just want to share a couple of highlights. On our first night Amy Tan broke out her portable Karaoke machine and since Roger McGuinn was with us, we dialed up "Turn, Turn, Turn." We figured that since Roger made the original recording, he would nail this. He scored a 94. ...
April 21, 2010
The Daily Sam: The Rock Bottom Remainders, Live and Uncut
Greetings from the road! This week I'm rocking the East Coast as a member of the all-author rock band, the Rock Bottom Remainders. Tonight we are playing in Washington DC at the 9:30 Club, starting at 8:30 (really). Thursday, April 22 we play the Electric Factory in Philadelphia; Friday April 23 we play the Nokia Theatre in New York City; and Saturday April 24 we are in Boston appearing at the ...
April 15, 2010
The Daily Sam: The Rock Bottom Remainders' 4-City East Coast Wordstock Tour
This coming week the Rock Bottom Remainder—the nation's foremost all-author garage band—may well be performing in a city near you, especially if Washington DC (4/21), Philadelphia (4/22), New York (4/23), or Boston (4/24) are "a city near you."If you ask the average woman on the street about the Rock Bottom Remainders she is liable to say, "Who?" Or perhaps, "What?" On the other ...
