Chris Rodell's Blog, page 46
November 24, 2016
Blog tradition: Ray Davies & a slouching idiot says thanks
This one’s from Thanksgiving ’11. I’ll be thankful if you read it aloud at the dinner table right before the Thanksgiving prayer.
Kidding!
Thank you for being my friends. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day and remember the men and women serving in our armed forces in your prayers.
I advise you to start today, as I do every Thanksgiving, by playing the 2006 Ray Davies
Kidding!
Thank you for being my friends. I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day and remember the men and women serving in our armed forces in your prayers.
I advise you to start today, as I do every Thanksgiving, by playing the 2006 Ray Davies
November 23, 2016
Talkin' Turkey (the Republic of) in 2016
(624 words)
This is the time of year I always find myself wondering if the Republic of Turkey has a national bird.
I’m sure I’d find my wondering betrays a vast ignorance about a proud and noble people, residents of a staunch NATO ally and a bastion of secular democracy in a Middle East that seems forever enflamed by tyrants driven by deadly religious passions.
Only an idiot would sit
This is the time of year I always find myself wondering if the Republic of Turkey has a national bird.
I’m sure I’d find my wondering betrays a vast ignorance about a proud and noble people, residents of a staunch NATO ally and a bastion of secular democracy in a Middle East that seems forever enflamed by tyrants driven by deadly religious passions.
Only an idiot would sit
November 22, 2016
RIP Jerry Palmer: Poor golfer/great friend
(659 words)
Our friend Jerry was simultaneously the worst golfer and the sweetest guy I’ve ever known.
The two rarely equate.
Bad golfers throw clubs.
Jerry threw parties.
Of course, all the obituaries will note this splendidly preposterous golfer was the younger brother of Arnold Palmer, one of the greatest golfers in history.
Jerry, 72, died just 55 days after his brother
Our friend Jerry was simultaneously the worst golfer and the sweetest guy I’ve ever known.
The two rarely equate.
Bad golfers throw clubs.
Jerry threw parties.
Of course, all the obituaries will note this splendidly preposterous golfer was the younger brother of Arnold Palmer, one of the greatest golfers in history.
Jerry, 72, died just 55 days after his brother
November 21, 2016
I now have one (out of four) agents
(732 words)
I’ve gone my entire life without having even one of these and by the end of this week it’s possible I could have three.
A decent haircut?
No, that for now remains bucket list.
I’m talking professional agents, men and women who sense profit and fun working on my behalf.
Understand, I’ve gone decades without doing even a day of work on my own behalf, so this could be
I’ve gone my entire life without having even one of these and by the end of this week it’s possible I could have three.
A decent haircut?
No, that for now remains bucket list.
I’m talking professional agents, men and women who sense profit and fun working on my behalf.
Understand, I’ve gone decades without doing even a day of work on my own behalf, so this could be
November 20, 2016
Maybe world needs a "National No-Pray Week" (from '08)
One of the banes of returning from vacation is the e-valanche of electronic messages in our in-boxes. We are besieged with pleas, queries and so many pornographic advertisements that many truly worthwhile e-mails get deleted without even a cursory glance.
Think you have it bad?
Imagine how God must feel.
Heaven knows, we are a prayerful society. Americans of many faiths pack the
Think you have it bad?
Imagine how God must feel.
Heaven knows, we are a prayerful society. Americans of many faiths pack the
November 19, 2016
The bizarre true story of the Pilgrim turkey rapist
I always turn to history, our most reliable teacher, any time I become convinced modern man has cornered the market on folly and wickedness.
That’s how I found myself immersed in Nathaniel Philbrick’s 2006 book, “Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community & War.”
I read everything he writes. He’s one of our very best historians, if not the very best. And like another national treasure,
That’s how I found myself immersed in Nathaniel Philbrick’s 2006 book, “Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community & War.”
I read everything he writes. He’s one of our very best historians, if not the very best. And like another national treasure,
November 16, 2016
Springsteen's depressed? Join the club
(687 words)
It made me sad and confused when I read Bruce Springsteen suffers from prolonged bouts of deep depression.
Hasn’t he seen the Muppet movies? It’s impossible to be depressed after watching those hilarious flicks.
That Springsteen gets depressed shows how pervasive depression can be.
The man’s moved 64.5 million records, sells out multiple 20,000 must-see concerts in 15
It made me sad and confused when I read Bruce Springsteen suffers from prolonged bouts of deep depression.
Hasn’t he seen the Muppet movies? It’s impossible to be depressed after watching those hilarious flicks.
That Springsteen gets depressed shows how pervasive depression can be.
The man’s moved 64.5 million records, sells out multiple 20,000 must-see concerts in 15
November 15, 2016
Breaking news: Rats are ticklish! Are you?
Researchers are giving one of the world’s most loathsome creatures a playful makeover.
We now know rats are ticklish.
Whew!
And I thought all they did was scamper through sewer pipes to spread things like plague.
Rat ticklers — and isn’t that an offbeat job description? — at the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience in Berlin found that rats relish a good tickle.
We now know rats are ticklish.
Whew!
And I thought all they did was scamper through sewer pipes to spread things like plague.
Rat ticklers — and isn’t that an offbeat job description? — at the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience in Berlin found that rats relish a good tickle.
November 11, 2016
Veteran's Day and the '12 story of my WWI vet grandpa's picture
It’s become in one month one of my favorite keepsakes. It’s a just-found picture of my grandfather who died more than 30 years before I was born.
It’s formal picture of him and seven rifle-toting comrades serving under Gen. John “Black Jack” Pershing in the U.S. Second Army near Verdun during the First World War. It was taken Dec. 8, 1917, about 11 bloody months before the war’s conclusion
It’s formal picture of him and seven rifle-toting comrades serving under Gen. John “Black Jack” Pershing in the U.S. Second Army near Verdun during the First World War. It was taken Dec. 8, 1917, about 11 bloody months before the war’s conclusion
November 10, 2016
Why I always give wrong directions to trusting strangers
(707 words)
I think people are always asking me for directions because I walk with a confident stride and have a friendly face. When I’m out for a stroll, I look like the kind of guy who really knows where he’s going.
It’s yet another triumph of appearance over competence because I have no idea where even familiar places are.
But that never stops me from pretending I do.
Happened
I think people are always asking me for directions because I walk with a confident stride and have a friendly face. When I’m out for a stroll, I look like the kind of guy who really knows where he’s going.
It’s yet another triumph of appearance over competence because I have no idea where even familiar places are.
But that never stops me from pretending I do.
Happened
