Chris Rodell's Blog, page 6

RIP Charlie Appleton: a great newspaperman, an even better man

 (478 words)Charlie Appleton, the extraordinary newsman, would have frowned at all the adulatory words being used to mourn the passing of Charlie Appleton, the ordinary family man. And just the sight of the word “adulatory” in a scrappy newspaper would have set him off.He came from the man-bites-dog school of news gathering, but then raised the bar by becoming a de facto dean of the

February Tweets of the Month

 • Legendary escape artist Harry Houdini could extricate himself from a straight jacket in just 4 minutes and 9 seconds. I have to imagine escaping from an LBGTQIA jacket would be much more time consuming.• Restitution is the act of restoring ownership of something that was illegally taken. The act of restoring something that was illegally taken but doing it with island rhythms and bales of ganga

Bravo Bucs signing McCutcheon! Now sign Bonds & Ted Williams's head

 (849 words)The Pittsburgh Pirates made a bold move when they signed veteran superstar and beloved former Bucco Andrew McCutchen.I love Cutch. Besides being an outstanding Pirate centerfielder from 2009-’17 and league MVP in ‘13, McCutchen plays the game like a kid. He laughs, he jokes, he cheers his teammates and generally cavorts like he can’t believe he’s getting $5 million a year to play a

I'm 60 today. Only as old as I feel?

 (932 words)I turn 60 today. That’s what my driver’s license says so it must be true. The number is vintage enough to provoke friends into telling me I’m only as old as I feel. It’s a charming concept, but I’m old school. In fact, I’m so old school I’m willing to concede that any reputable school district starts revving up the bulldozers when ever a building hits 50.But I was taught to use

Happy Valentine's Day to me and my Parkinson's!

 (757 words)I hadn’t been on a blind date in more than 30 years. I wasn’t seeking companionship. I wasn’t needy or desperate. My life was fulfilling. And then there was this:I was married. Had a couple of kids. A dog. The whole nine yards (and, no, none of the nine yards was mowed, raked nor landscaped, but that’s another story).Clearly, on Valentine’s Day 2018, I wasn’t expecting to be fixed up

Hear ye! Hear ye! Tweets of the Month!

• In my on-going efforts to test the boundaries of the so-called "No Judgement Zone," I'll today show up to exercise at the Planet Fitness wearing just my Speedo.• For better or worse, I fear the way we become acquainted continues to coarsen. We used to withhold judgement. Now we scour the internet for failings. We used to wait to get to know you better. Now, we're in a hurry to know you worse

From 2004: "Joe Hardy: The Billionaire who's Bound to Die Broke"

Pittsburgh Magazine in 2004 asked to write a cover story about Joe Hardy, founder of 84 Lumber and Nemacolin Woodlands Resort. Flawed and controversial, I remember him as one of my favorite interviews ever. He died yesterday, his 100th birthday.Joe Hardy: The Billionaire Who's Bound to Die BrokePittsburgh MagazineBy Chris RodellIt's become fashionable for cheeky reporters to ambush aging

Me on lesbians

                                        (792 words)Our daughters’ reactions to my provocation were so visceral, so instantaneous, and so homicidal I remember being glad the girls don’t pack heat.We’d just finished watching some pleasant-looking young lady, a talent show contestant, belt out a rousing rendition of some pop ditty with which I am unfamiliar and we began to opine.“Nailed it,” said

Hooray! Best Tweets of '22!

 The picture above depicts exactly how I imagine these being consumed/read by you and your loved ones, You take turns reading all 161 outloud with the rest of the listening family roars with laughter.It's really presumptuous of me thinking anyone would want to read ANY of them.But if you want to browse, I put my favorites in bold. I set out to do a top 20, but I began to even bore myself and

December "Tweets(?)" of the Month

 • There oughta be a litmus test for the number of times a lazy reporter can declare a non-scientific judgement a litmus test• Our daughter is studying ancient times in the hopes of becoming a future historian, an aspiration that I believe must involve some sort of time travel. I imagine we’ll one day be sitting down to watch a program and she’ll just before our eyes disappear. Her mother will