Short Takes
July 19, 2010
Josh Ritter, Tarrytown, NY, 8/7
Josh Ritter will be at the Tarrytown Music Hall on Saturday, August 7th at 8 PM. It’s a small (800 seats) old bandbox, an ideal venue for a singer/songwriter. If years past are a guide, the Josh/Tarrytown combo is a fine mini-expedition: a pleasant drive, a stroll along the Hudson, dinner at one of the restaurants near the Music Hall, and then Josh and the Royal City Band light the place up.
We have winners in the ticket contest, but maybe you can get interested in second prize. Scale down your expectations. The next four of you to write in can join me at dinner. Dutch treat, but my charming wife and mouthy child will be there. Or you can just buy tickets. Ready…go!
July 12, 2010
Beryl Bainbridge: The art of facing death
Beryl Bainbridge, a real writer, died on July 2nd. Last year, she wrote a piece about death. Here’s a sample: "I think of death a lot, indeed always have, although when young I had a belief that it was a long way off. Now, it isn’t, and I continually think of how I would prefer to pass from light to darkness. I don’t want to be run down by traffic, be shot by a madman, or suffer a sudden shock to the heart. I would like, if possible, to be so conscious of what was coming that I had time to write down a few thoughts on paper. I would remember my parents, the love I once felt for them, and for my husband who left so many years ago, and try to put into words the joy my dear children have brought me." And here’s all of the piece.
July 9, 2010
Baby, You’re a Rich Man: My ‘Business Week’ Review
The music business, Hunter S. Thompson once suggested, is "a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side." So what, one wonders, is Edgar Bronfman Jr., scion of the Seagram liquor empire, doing as the CEO of Warner Music Group? I try to answer that question in my Business Week review of “Fortune’s Fool.”
July 8, 2010
A Retreat, and Then Some: Tortola (British Virgin Islands)
Our beautifully renovated West Indian cottage has three bedrooms, two baths, garden living and writing room, and the “best view in the BVI." Terraced landscaping, with bananas, mangos, pineapples and limes. New kitchen and bar, dishwasher, laundry room and studio; with security system. A Caribbean gem located above two bays. Minutes from the beach, but away from the world. $3,500 a month for 6 months. Contact Murray@Ramscale.com.
July 8, 2010
Consumer Warning: Avoid ‘Dinner for Schmucks,’ Find ‘The Dinner Game’
Steve Carell makes few mistakes, but ‘Dinner for Schmucks’ looks like a whopper. Even the trailer looks unfunny. Too bad, because the premise is amusing — sophisticated men host a dinner to which each brings an idiot, and at the end of the evening, the sophisticated guys choose a winner. Or it was amusing in the original, a French comedy that had no need of Americanization. The French title (‘Diner de Cons’) was translated for export as ‘The Dinner Game’, and if you can find a DVD to rent (or, if you’re in the mood to roll dice, buy it from Amazon here), do it, because this movie is screamingly funny.
