Monthly Archives: December 2011

Making My 2011 Mix, Under the Wire

I’m missing a holiday tradition tonight – joining my friends Jim and Molly for their annual New Year’s Eve dinner. The dinner itself isn’t the best part of it – they always boil up a lot of lobster, I try to act amiable about it as a vegitarian can be but am pretty sure I […]

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Mitt Romney Sings The Doors

“I’ve been talking about music lately,” Mitt Romney said at a campaign stop in Cedar Falls this week. “I happen to love the patriotic songs of America.” And what of the other songs of America? When asked about his New Year’s Eve plans today, he replied “There’s a celebration of the music of the Doors at […]

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A Longer Rockin’ Eve

New Year ‘s Rockin Eve has never taken so much time – five hours at least to countdown one 10-second stretch time. But in addition to “Dick Clark’s Primetime New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” (ABC, 10 p.m.), which plays like a preshow, there is the actual (ABC, 11:30 p.m.) followed by all the West Coast business. […]

Posted in Holidays, What's On TV | Comments closed

Also On Saturday: Countdowns and Coldplay

“New Year’s Eve with Carson Daly” (NBC, 10 and 11:30 p.m.) will also emanate from Times Square, hosted by a guy who has seen success since last year as host of “The Voice,” whose Cee Lo Green and blake Shelton join him. Also taking part: Drake, Jessie J,Tony Bennett, the Roots, Megan Hilty, Brian Williams […]

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Friday TV: A Rush of ‘Gold Rush’ and Bowl Games

“Gold Rush” (Discovery, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 p.m.), which runs in a marathon today, has gotten so popular, it now requires a “Gold Rush Aftershow Special” (Discovery, 9 p.m.), as if it were “Jersey Shore” or a “Real Housewives” spinoff. Then comes another variation in the network’s love for the 50th state, “Flying Wild […]

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My Friend Rich Sivel

I am sorry that I missed the memorial meeting for my friend Rich Sivel this afternoon in Hartford. It had only been 10 days or so ago that he was in that room at the Hartford Friends Monthly Meeting on Quaker Lane, watching his daughter and new granddaughter in the Christmas pageant there, drawing a […]

Posted in Obit, Personally Speaking | Comments closed

Warhol’s ‘Shadows’

Only a couple of weeks are left in the Warhol stand in Washington. In addition to “Warhol: Headlines” show at the National Gallery, closing Jan. 2, there is an epic presentation of  the epic “Warhol: Shadows” at the Hirshhorn, that I just got to this week. The man who made pop from mass produced images […]

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Thursday TV: Behind the National Film Registry

In the week when another 25 films, from “Forrest Gump’ and “Bambi” to “The Silence of the Lambs” and “Faces,” have been named to the National Film Registry for preservation as cultural and artistic treasures, a documentary on “Independent Lens” (PBS, 10 p.m., check local listings) further pins down what the designation actually means. “These […]

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Wednesday TV: Remembering Stars Who Died

Let us now remember some of the people who died this year. Turner Classic Movie does with a night in which they remember stars who died in 2011. They salute Jane Russell, who died in February, with “The Paleface” (TCM, 8 p.m.); Peter Falk, who died in June, in “The In-Laws” (TCM, 10 p.m.); the […]

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Bill Maher Disses Tim Tebow

Even with his show on hiatus, Bill Maher knows how to create a ruckus. A rude comment about Tim Tebow’s poor performance against Buffalo on Twitter has the quarterback’s fans in arms – or at least on computers – deriding the comedian and calling for a mass cancellation of HBO subscriptions. The rise of Tebow […]

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