That Weird Thanksgiving Parade
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade is a weird parade, unlike any you’re likely to see in real life. It’s not just the balloons either, it’s the weird performances they pause…
Labor Day Without Jerry
Something was wrong with Labor Day and not just the melancholy about the end of summer or the wearing white shoes thing. It was the disappearance of the Jerry Lewis…
Eyewitnessing A Capitol Fourth
Usually, I tune over to the PBS coverage of Washington D.C. fireworks as part of the July Fourth crowd avoidance strategy. It involves catching the pyrotechnics from the privacy of…
Report from Cherry Blossom Central
The two week Cherry Blossom Festival was kicking off Sunday night with a concert event. As for the trees, they had peaked a week before. I’m just getting used to…
FTD Fail, Candy Hearts and Other Valentine Stories
Got a timely Valentine's Day e-mail today. It was from the FTD.com floral spot that I had done some business with the other day. "Despite our best efforts, due to…
What Hath the Super Bowl Wrought?
How’d the Super Bowl get to be a national holiday? It’s another professional sports championship turned national bad snack eating day with an emphasis on commercials and inordinate interest in…
Ten Portrayals of Martin Luther King
In honor of the holiday, we recall 10 different portrayals of the civil rights leader over the years. Paul Winfield, left, for a time seem to have the MLK role…
Erasing the Holiday
January second couldn’t come soon enough. The Christmas tree had been dropping needles since the time we carried it home. Just natural, the saleswoman said. Well, yes. Everything about the…
Bring Back Guy Lombardo
With the swagger of its mashed-up name – New Year’s Rockin Eve – Dick Clark’s TV signaled a youthful new method of ringing in a new year when it debuted…
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…