…sexual pleasure, of course, has its own cohesive attributes in a relationship. But it is not the only bonding mechanism between people, and the degree of sensation is arguably not necessarily the grand prize of such a relationship. Like in the Olympics, sometimes people are quite satisfied getting a silver or a bronze medal. Not everyone can win gold, and sometimes just being there is reward enough.
Read more: Coming Solo
Nowadays, in America and probably many parts of the world, going to the movies before the feature comes on has become an annoying and aggressive assault on your nerves, eyeballs, hearing and intelligence; of course, the bottom line of all this hullabaloo is aimed straight at your pocketbook.
Read more: No Escape From the Huckster
The recent horrific incident in Aurora and the mass killing sprees that have taken place in our country and others since the Unruh killings indicate that, however we explain and analyze them after the fact, however modern science and technology has tried to predict such behavior in advance, we have been unable to protect society from the dangers of such a sudden violent and destructive aberration.
Read more: The Enemy Within
I have been baffled for the last few years by audiences rising up like ecstatic robots to give a standing ovation to every Broadway show I have recently attended, no matter how puerile, how badly performed or conceived, no matter how mediocre, as if they have just experienced a high point in national culture.
Read more: The Knee-Jerk Standing Ovation
Pauline Kael, who reviewed movies for the The New Yorker for many years, was considered by many to be the goddess of film critics. Her comments on movies were both insightful and controversial. Once again, a compendium of her reviews is coming out in a newly published book.
Her writings were distinguished by her sharp opinions. When she was negative about the quality of a film, she was downright lethal. When she was positive, she was ecstatic. But whatever her thoughts were about films, her enduring view was that movies were transformative, important, and, in some cases, life changing.
Read more: I Found it at the Movies
I wouldn’t characterize myself as an intellectual snob, but I have always regarded fiction for adults as an indispensable endeavor that offers insight into the human condition through storytelling, excites one intellectually and emotionally, and is truly worth the investment of time and concentration.
My generation read deeply of the works of Hemingway, Faulkner, Fitzgerald, O’Hara, and hundreds of others, as well as the glorious classics as represented by Dickens, Thackeray, Balzac, Flaubert, Mann, Twain, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Shakespeare, Proust and many, many others who form the canon of great works of literature.
Read more: Where is Our Culture Heading?
With all the talk about the disparity of wealth in America, about the rich getting richer, I keep wondering what actually happens with this so-called embarrassment of riches. Frankly, it is the recent auction of the goods of convicted Ponzi scheme hustler Bernard Madoff that has triggered this question and set my mind screaming for answers.
I’m not an economist and have zero understanding of the impenetrable language that marks that esteemed profession. According to press reports, Bernie’s wife’s diamond ring went for $550,000 and her diamond necklace went for $135,000 and a vintage Rolex “Moon Phase” watch went for $67,500. The man was crazy for wristwatches. A Steinway grand piano, originally bought for $7,000 went for $47,000.
Read more: What Happens to the Wealth of the Wealthy
How many times have you faced the dilemma of the monologist?
You have begun a conversation with someone expecting a dialogue and quickly discover that the alleged partner in this dialogue is instead engaging in an interminable monologue. The discovery, while being an affront to your patience, is also a challenge to your essential understanding of the rules of politeness.
Read more: Coping with Life’s Little Annoyances: The Person Who Talks Too Much (First in a series)
