Batteries Not Included
Rolling Thunder Revue
In 1975, Bob Dylan assembled a group of troubadours and embarked on the somewhat ambitious and unusual “Rolling Thunder Revue.” A two-leg, fifty-seven date tour that took place in smaller venues than the typical stadium tours that were becoming commonplace. The tour was filmed and became the focus for a fictional movie, 1978’s “Renaldo & […]
Batteries Not Included
So Long, 2020
Look. You know how you’re feeling. You’re feeling like I am feeling. You’re tired, exhausted, worn out. You know that intellectually the close of 2020 doesn’t mean the magical end of the pandemic. You know that you feel foolish that back in March you thought that we would all do the right thing and be […]
Batteries Not Included
The Diary of The Twelve Days of Christmas
Hello friends and loved ones! A very Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to you all. Whatever it is that you celebrate at this time of the year, I hope you have as fine a celebration as possible, while being safe and smart. This week, I’m doing something a bit different. I’d like to share with […]
Batteries Not Included
Christmas Parade: The Home Game
If anything, I am nothing but a jolly old elf. It even says so on my Tinder profile. That’s why a festive idea struck me the other night. I was looking at posts made in our neighborhood watch app. You know the one. It’s where everyone goes to complain about raccoons and squirrels. There was […]
Batteries Not Included
A Seasonal Trio
Warner Archive brings a trilogy of seasonal favorites to blu-ray for the first time this month. One film is one of the all-time, well-established greats, “The Shop Around The Corner” with Jimmy Stewart and Margaret Sullivan. The other two films, “Holiday Affair” and “It Happened on 5th Avenue” are films that are largely little known, […]
Batteries Not Included
Endorsement
I was out for a drive and I noticed a sign up that proclaimed a regional grocery chain was the official grocery store of a local athletic department. This caused me to turn my head sever so slightly sideways and stare. On the one hand, I get it. I understand how endorsements in sports on […]
Batteries Not Included
The Thanksgiving You Want, But Will Never Have
Thanksgiving is going to be different this year. I hope you’re planning on being smart and safe about it. Two of my closest friends have gotten COVID, I will judge the heck out of you if you’re not smart about it. As Thanksgiving is going to be different, I’ve spent a lot of time dreaming […]
Batteries Not Included
Moonstruck
I agree with film critic and historian Leonard Maltin, It’s hard to find a well-executed romantic comedy these days. Matlin says as much before he introduces the singular force that is Cher before a 2013 American Film Institute screening of Director Norman Jewison’s 1987 film “Moonstruck,” video of which is included in a brand new […]
Batteries Not Included
Dot Dot Dot
I decided to take a social media break right before the election. I had my fill of “doom scrolling” throughout most of 2020. It seemed like a good use of my time. Some days being on Facebook and Twitter can feel like getting beaten up by a robot holding a sock full of dead batteries. […]
Batteries Not Included
Things 2020 Have Taught Me
Congratulations! You’ve made it to November! We have just two more months in this garbage year to get through, and then…well…a new year where hopefully better days are coming. As we are now entering into a time of reflection and gratitude for—hopefully—several things about this year ending. I thought I would now, instead of in […]
Batteries Not Included
Fantasy Dinners
Lately, at night I’ve been having trouble sleeping. It runs in my family, it comes and goes, but this year there has been a sizable uptick in nights not sleeping than usual. When each day feels like the same over and over again, each night feels the same over and over again, things start to […]
Batteries Not Included
It’s The Catalog Season
Due to the collective “Leroy Jekinsing” that we find ourselves in with the pandemic still going strong, it’s clear that this upcoming holiday season is going to be different than most. When I was a kid, in the pre-internet shopping days, the coming of the holiday season always meant a large number of catalogs starting […]
