Culture

World Cup Diary, part one

One of my hobbies is following pop culture. Note that I said “following” instead of “consuming” because when it comes to things like video games, I’d rather read about them than play them. Previously, the World Cup soccer tournament, held every four years, fell into the “read about” category but…

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“What Bugs Me” by Jack McDonough

What bugs me By Jack McDonough Years ago, a Boston morning radio personality by the name of Jess Kane had a segment called “What bugs you?” Kane didn’t actually take calls from listeners but if he returned today and made that a call-in part of the show, I’d probably contribute…

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TV Memories

Sunday I wrote about the new indoor TV antenna I’ve started using (“Cutting the Cord, Step One”). That has caused me to think about the place television has had in my life.   My first clear memory of seeing something on TV was Sunday, November 24, 1963. My (paternal) grandmother and…

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Cutting the Cord, Step One

I bought a TV antenna last week. I haven’t taken the cord cutting plunge completely, at least not yet. This is more of an experiment. We have two TVs in the house. The main TV in the family room is big but modest in terms of what’s out there now.…

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Culture Where You Least Expect It

Review of “All About Me: My Remarkable Life in Show Business” Book by Mel Brooks Review by Richard Howe Midway through my freshman year in college, I was bumped up into the school’s honors program. It was a small group and most of our classes intensely focused on literature, philosophy,…

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Franco-American Week 2022

Thanks to Louise Peloquin for sharing the schedule for this year’s Franco-American Week Lowell’s 2022 Franco-American Festival Week begins Sunday, June 19. Here is the schedule of events. Sunday, June 19: 12:00 pm Mass in French honoring St. Jean Baptiste and dedicated to recently deceased Biloxi Bishop Roger Morin of…

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Valley Girl

Valley Girl By David Daniel Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup by John Carreyrou. Knopf, 325 pp, $27.95. The Dropout Hulu television miniseries (episodes 1-5). Reviewed by David Daniel. ******** In a 2018 60 Minutes segment on health technology company Theranos, its young CEO and founder…

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At Land’s End with Jack Kerouac

At Land’s End with Jack Kerouac By Jim Provencher After all that road-going, coasting into Frisco was always an arrival of respite and relief for Jack Kerouac, shaking off desert dust, bathing in thick ocean fogs, luxuriating in the warm, boisterous scenes of Chinatown, North Beach, Berkeley and Russian Hill. …

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