Monthly Archives: August 2011

How George Remembered It

By Roger Catlin | Published: August 29, 2011

The world got a rare opportunity ten years ago to glimpse the face of a world leader the instant he learned his world had changed. When chief of staff Andrew Card whispered to President George W. Bush that a second plane had crashed into the World Trade Center, while he was sitting there trying to [...]

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After Irene

By Roger Catlin | Published: August 29, 2011

Now that the hurricane is over and most people who had hunkered down with the rest of the Eastern Seaboard suffered little more than lawns littered with ripped down leaves, a few sticks and a puddle or two, how should we feel? Relieved? Grateful? Duped? Despite the incessant, hysterical reporting (which got great ratings to [...]

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Sunday TV: MTV Video Music Awards, ‘Apocalypse’

By Roger Catlin | Published: August 28, 2011

Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Adele, right, are all slated to perform in another MTV Music Video Awards (MTV, 9 p.m.), an event where women will likely dominate – on stage as well as in the winners circle for the increasingly meaningless moonman statue. The show is the main event with the performances, from the aforementioned [...]

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Dr. Who vs. Hitler

By Roger Catlin | Published: August 27, 2011

If you’re wanting an endorsement for tonight’s season premiere of “Doctor Who,” there’s always this from Matt Smith, who currently plays the time traveling doctor, who returns tonight with the wish to kill the Fuhrer. “ ‘Let’s Kill Hitler’ is maybe my favorite episode to date. It just rockets along,” Matt Smith declared at the [...]

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Camilla is Smart’s Latest Role as Leader

By Roger Catlin | Published: August 27, 2011

Jean Smart  is used to playing  powerful, highly visible women She was the unstable First Lady of the United States, Martha Logan, on “24.” Then she was Hawaii Gov. Pat Jameson on the first season of “Hawaii Five-0.” Tonight, she plays Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, who plays a much larger role in the made for [...]

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Saturday TV: Hilary Swank, Hillbillies

By Roger Catlin | Published: August 27, 2011

Good night to stay in and watch a movie while the power lasts. Hilary Swank turns in a tough performance in “Conviction” (HBO, 8 p.m.) about a woman who goes to law school tohelp free her brother from jail. The animated “Tangled” (Starz, 9 p.m.) , with the voices of Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi [...]

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Hurricane Diary: The Sandbagging Snarl

By Roger Catlin | Published: August 26, 2011

I thought it amusing when I saw the light-up sign offering free sandbags last night. Not so funny this morning when I learned that the sole distribution area for sandbags for the entire District of Columbia, or judging from the massive traffic tie up, the entire Eastern Seaboard, is right next door to the apartment [...]

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Friday TV: From Rat Busters to Rat Pack

By Roger Catlin | Published: August 26, 2011

If there’s something strange in your neighborhood, who ya gonna call? “Rat Busters NYC” (Animal Planet, 10 p.m.) is a new series about a pair of middle-aged exterminators in Gotham, where there are more rats than people, and there are 8.3 million people. Some people say there are four rats for every person so, you [...]

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Stocking Up on Hype for the Hurricane

By Roger Catlin | Published: August 26, 2011

It’s probably not good form before the dire landfall to complain about hurricane hype. Irene may well prove to be among the most fearsome beasts ever witnessed by the East Coast. Or she could be like Earl last year, when all manner of hysterical warning made way for what turned out to be not a [...]

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The Face of Irene

By Roger Catlin | Published: August 26, 2011

She’s mean. She’s cantankerous. And she won’t stand for swimmin’ in the cement pond before the viddles are done. Irene Ryan, who played Daisy Clampett, better known as simply Granny on “The Beverly Hillbillies” had a fierce stare and was tough as nails and wasn’t going to take any guff from anyone, including Jethro or [...]

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