From a most auspicious Pi Day, to the famous annual green river, to bewaring the Ides of March, a full weekend this past one certainly has been– and it’s not even St. Patrick’s Day yet! Nevertheless, this annual trio of spirited occasions always deserves good mention, celebrated– in one unique way or another– as each might be.
The sight of Oscars host Neil Patrick Harris almost au naturel on stage may have triggered for you an infamous memory of Academy Awards show history, as it quickly did for me. While no comparing these two very different moments (except in above-waist result), the audience (i.e. the world) had not seen this much bare skin in more than 40 years, even on Cher, until last night!
As they already did for us in Santa Barbara this past weekend, “le bon temps” that is, so too they shall roll today no doubt. Happy Fat Tuesday to all, in New Orleans and well beyond.
Click image for Mardi Gras photos.
Is it just me, or was this year’s lot of Super Bowl commercials rather bland and underwhelming? Wait, I can quickly answer my own question: It’s not just me. Never mind I seem to be saying the same thing every year; 2015 out-dulled itself. Oh sure, we were treated to everything from a JFK voiceover to Kardashian egocentrism, media history vis-a-vis a Couric-Gumbel reunion, celebrity appearances by the likes of Matt Damon and Chelsea Handler, and my personal favorite of the evening– the latest nostalgic nod to television sitcom history with the clever and winning union of “The Brady Bunch” and Snickers. Still, not enough I’m afraid.
(Courtesy: Shamburger/thebiglead.com)
Altogether, my favorite moment of the evening came not from an ad, but during the game itself. Imagine that! The final interception that sealed New England’s win– and Tom Brady’s immediate reaction to it– are far more memorable than any 30 or 60 second “break” from the action. Unlike last year, Super Bowl XLIX produced a close, unpredictable and truly exciting game to the very end, brawl included! The commercials will just have to keep trying.
In advance of this Sunday’s annual round of pricey TV spots, I like many have seen the so-called “controversial” GoDaddy Super Bowl commercial that– thanks to the typical set of complainers– will not be aired in its original, expensively scheduled time slot. First, join me if you will in a big eye roll. Then, let me say I echo the well-reasoned sentiments of Brett Baker: It’s fine.
But it’s gone, unfortunately. So let’s take this entire illogical mess a step further, as you too might appreciate the clever reasoning of Alexandra Petri. She certainly raises a few great points to make her point, begging the question: How much more ridiculous does the whole matter have to get? Or better yet, why was this ever an issue in the first place? At least GoDaddy is getting an excellent publicity return on its $4 million investment! (Click image to watch the :30 ad.)
This special evening seems like a lifetime ago. Compared to the length of her very, very long life however, it was merely yesterday. Needless to say, I’m honored to have enjoyed this uniquely memorable friendship in her final years. Plus, how nice it is that our impromptu camera appearance has been up on YouTube almost since it was recorded. Happy Birthday Greta!
The first time I watched this “behind-the-scenes” montage, late in 1987 I believe, it was a private piece for which you needed a connection to know it existed– which fortunately at the time I happened to have. Now all these years later, available online to the public, it’s just as funny. If you too are a “Knots Landing” fan and have never seen this, you’ll certainly appreciate it!
Seemingly a touch less energetic than last year, the Tina-Amy duo nevertheless worked well yet again. A certain someone however came between them, proving even funnier! (Photo: Paul Drinkwater/NBC)
The greatest number of miles I’ve ever cycled in a calendar year came in 2014– the same year I of course turned “4-oh”– surpassing my 2008 by a mere 84 miles. For a variety of non-physical reasons, while my cycling will certainly continue, I don’t see beating 6353, not this year at least.
Click photo to enlarge
The auspicious “first meal” that began for us three years ago made a comeback once again in our Southern-influenced home to kick off 2015. Now let’s see how these three desirable elements pan out this time around.
What better way to kick off the new year than by eating?!
According to Southern tradition, so I’m told, the first big meal of the year carries quite a bit of meaning. As such, in my home tonight, thanks to the well-planned preparations of two Southern gentlemen, the lineup consists of pork for prosperity, cabbage for wealth, and black-eyed peas for good luck.
The meanings were explained to me and seem to make decent sense. See for yourself if you can figure them out. Suffice to say, my first dinner of 2012 has been beyond satisfying. I hope and rather doubt, however, that such copious consumption will be a nightly trend this year. Happy New Year!
There’s always a first time, and in this case it’s bacon and ahi tuna in the same bite. These two distinct yet divergent ingredients lay the foundation for the single most delicious sandwich I’ve eaten in recent memory, if not ever! Such a successful contrast of flavors really is like no other.
The menu wording reads quite simply: “Seared rare ahi tuna with avocado, grilled pineapple, bacon, red onion, island slaw and greens with wasabi aioli on toasted sourdough.” What arrives before you: Absolute bliss. The ahi tuna club at Boathouse at Hendry’s Beach wastes no time in proving itself a unique and delightful experience on the palate. Then with the addition of a blackberry mai-tai, the deal’s done. This meal “seared” itself into my discerning culinary memory.
Needless to say, a repeat sitting can’t come too soon. May your own “taste” meet mine.
Needless to say, the passing of Thanksgiving leads us right into Christmastime. This means as trees go up and lights get strung, while parties kick into swing and egg nog flows, so comes the annual playing of my favorite classic Christmas duet performance. Here’s to old-school shtick, Dean-and-Frank style! Enjoy some other versions too, if you’re so inclined. 😉
October 31, 2012: 4000. October 31, 2013: 4900. October 31, 2014: 5300 and then some.
Suffice to say on this marker day, my yearly cycling mileage remains once more on the upswing, climbing right along with the elevations of my newly discovered routes here in very mountainous Santa Barbara. At this rate, with two months to go, my annual record will indeed be broken.
Pedaling to “new” views in Santa Barbara County.
“As you will have observed, an increasing number of your neighbors have been keeping company with their pets in human-only establishments, cohabiting with them in animal-unfriendly apartment buildings and dormitories, and taking them (free!) onto airplanes—simply by claiming that the creatures are their licensed companion animals and are necessary to their mental well-being. No government agency keeps track of such figures… Contrary to what many business managers think, having an emotional-support card merely means that one’s pet is registered in a database of animals whose owners have paid anywhere from seventy to two hundred dollars to one of several organizations, none of which are recognized by the government.” (Marx, 10/20/14)
“Pets Allowed” by Patricia Marx appears in the October 20 issue of The New Yorker. It’s one insightful, disturbing and funny read which I highly recommend. You can draw your own conclusion on the need, within this matter, for some form of government regulation. Either way, Marx clearly makes her point. And naturally, I agree with her.
Thanks to the winning combination of modern technology and current real estate marketing practices, my childhood home and neighborhood are now visible from this rare aerial viewpoint.
At the end of the 20th century, only two U.S. presidents in history had reached 90 years of age, in far different eras at that. By the start of 2014, this number had risen to four, then a few months ago to five, and today the total hits six. Remarkable all the more are four in a row; that is, the four additional nonagenarian commanders-in-chief of the 21st century held office consecutively.
While what’s called “the world’s hardest job” clearly ages the incumbent, it doesn’t seem to be shortening his lifespan these days. Then again, it’s worth noting that all but one of these multi-party six were one-termers. Furthermore, this distinction won’t see number seven for quite a while yet.
How’s all this for a could-be Jeopardy! category of presidential longevity?
Jimmy Carter turns 90 today, in addition to the post-presidential record he set two years ago. (Photo: AJC/Curtis Compton)
“Exactly the irreverent show she would have wanted,” Geraldo Rivera aptly summarized. “More Broadway than Hollywood,” The New York Times put it, however sans a multiple-accent-crying Meryl Streep. Altogether– amidst Howard Stern’s “perfect” eulogy among all else— Joan Rivers got her final wish, her “showbiz” funeral proving as refreshingly over-the-top as she was.
So now we go on, commending her legacy while ideally putting her key lessons on life to practice. Leading them of course, on when not to laugh: “Never.”
There will be no “next Joan Rivers,” irreplaceable as she truly remains. Anyone who eventually manages to get closest to the title, however, will win in my book. Meanwhile, at least we can thank, and perhaps learn from, Joan for putting the “fun” back in funeral.
Really, truly, irreplaceable.
Don’t say she’s in a better place, because she probably had a house in the Hamptons. And the best line I heard all day: “Just keep on laughing.” Clearly, Joan Rivers wants us to do so.
The biggest missing piece of this bittersweet event du jour— Joan is not here to make jokes about her own passing. Or is she? Her funeral is yet to come, and may it be everything she wishes it to be, as she described in her recent book, “I Hate Everyone, Starting With Me.”
Joan was everything that made her fabulously one of a kind: opinionated, irreverent and irreplaceable, just to pick a few of so many apt descriptors. Altogether, I’m sorry she had to go, perhaps in a less-interesting manner than she was hoping, no less! At the same time, one of many life lessons with which she’s leaving us is that we needn’t take death too seriously. After all, “funeral” does begin with “fun.” And given the way Joan has outlined hers, we all should be looking forward to a good show– set for this Sunday. May we indeed “keep on laughing.”
Photo: Casey B. Gibson | http://www.cbgphoto.com
Five miles to the finish, and the almost-43-year-old “affable German” was leading the way, as if to fan his feathers just one last time. The oldest rider in the peloton did not win the day, but he certainly shaped it. And with still six days to go, he may very well pull off another moment or two yet. In any case, Jens Voigt has begun his well-planned swan song– his last professional cycling race. And with this bittersweet farewell, among all else, the 2014 USA Pro Challenge is well underway across Colorado.
The talk this week has centered on Robin Williams, understandably so considering his unexpected death. At the same time, his passing unfortunately has overshadowed another big celebrity loss the very next day, one perhaps a bit less surprising if only for age alone. Just one month shy of her 90th birthday, the legendary Lauren Bacall has left us. Her unique legacy, like Williams’, lives on.
“Only if you’ve been in the deepest valley, can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.”
“Always remember, others may hate you. But those who hate you don’t win, unless you hate them. And then, you destroy yourself.”
The “fastest and toughest” day of the year in Brentwood came around once again. Terrific it was to be back among the action, this time from the sidelines as a Velo Club La Grange volunteer. As I’ll always fondly recall, the Brentwood Grand Prix was my first sanctioned race back in 2008.
As we “knew” would be the case barring any last-day catastrophe, Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali is the champion of the 101st Tour de France– by a huge margin no less! He joins only five other cyclists in history to win all three Grand Tours– the other two of course Italy’s and Spain’s.
For the first time in more than 30 years, France saw two of its own take the yellow podium–Jean-Christophe Peraud in second and best young rider Thibaut Pinot third. This, after Marcel Kittel’s second Champs-Elysees bookending victory shut out a stage win for Peter Sagan, even as a LeTour.fr survey of more than 4000 votes favored the man in green to take stage 21. And let’s not forget our resilient American finishing fifth, Tejay Van Garderen, nor Jens Voigt’s swan song.
And now, the end. So passes another Tour de France into the history books for 164 riders who made it to Paris– big-name losses notwithstanding– complete with all the triumph, tradition and Parisian fanfare that defines the finale. While I’ve yet to get there to see it all in person, for now having Phil Liggett, Bob Roll and all their comrades deliver the action every day for three weeks– plus a commendable first-year commentating job by 2013 retiree Christian Vande Velde— remains an acceptable substitute. I’m happy to have cycled a mere one quarter of the Tour’s total distance during this time, less than I did last year, but nevertheless taking me there every day in spirit. Vive Le Tour!
From a royal send-off to fittingly colorful sheep, the big first day got underway with full fanfare in the English city of Leeds, followed later in the day by polka dot victory for this year’s oldest rider. Then, as instantaneously as everything can change in cycling, stage 1 did not end as hoped for the day’s largely anticipated winner. Not only did the region’s star competitor lose the day– but rather, complete disaster prevailed. With the rare chance to capture yellow in a sprint finish on not just his native soil but his mother’s hometown of Harrogate– before the eyes of William, Kate, Harry, Prime Minister Cameron and thousands of supporters, not to assume any pressure of course– shockingly, painfully, and in a cycling instant, it did not happen.
The 101st Tour de France appears likely to resume with one less rider at the start of stage two in York, a huge loss indeed to the next 20 days of racing. Sadly enough to say, for as “royally” as his day began, his crash on finish line approach looks like a pretty bad one for Mark Cavendish.
Now on the eve of the start, all cycling eyes are on France– or rather England in this year’s case. Bon voyage!
As we’ve already known for a while now, it will begin in the United Kingdom. While not a first, it’s all the more fitting this time around, given a defending champion of the same nation of course.
Behold, the route for the 2014 Tour de France has hereby been unveiled, avec distinctly British spin.
As if the Northridge earthquake, all things Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding, and the deaths of Richard Nixon and Jacqueline Onassis weren’t enough to seal the first half of 1994, more was to come. Just days after two infamous murders in Brentwood came the ludicrous yet indelible event that reshaped broadcast media culture and altered the sensibilities of television programming forever. Two decades on, the granddaddy of all “breaking” freeway police chases remains as unfathomable now as when it occurred, 20 years ago today.
No Caption Needed.
Ryan R. Sanderson 