April 2017
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Once Leonardo defeated the old king and began to rule the pride, he evolved into a more modern lion — more sensitive, more sharing, and more mindful. While he did not trim his mane or become less manly, he transitioned to a new kind of male. First he decided no longer to bite the necks…
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Four years ago, I listened to a radio interview with Markwayne Mullin, a new member of the House of Representatives from eastern Oklahoma, and was absolutely flabbergasted. Astonished and dismayed, I wrote a few paragraphs about him. Here''s what I said then: "It wasn't that he was inarticulate or stupid. It was that he was…
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By all rights I should have been attending to the intricate areas of my face while shaving, but I lapsed into a reverie. My obsession of the moment–the beard. Why? Why in the world do human males grow hair on their faces? What's the point? The beard is completely valueless except to Gillette and Schick…
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On the main street of Estes Park (Gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park), a sign outside the restaurant advertised "deepfried oreos." I was both flabbergasted and thunderstruck, not believing my eyes. But here's the evidence: Just above ice cream and below "funnel cakes" (but that's another story). Is it a hoax, or can there be…
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What was it like in the 1940s when I was your age? Very different. Milk was delivered daily in bottles: a milk-wagon, drawn by a tired, plodding old horse, appeared on East 9th Street three times a week before we sat down to breakfast. There were also daily visits from a horse-drawn vegetable truck. An…
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Here's another film in the sub-genre that might be called a "Did I Do It." And still another case of "post-murder amnesia." Singleton, who can't remember anything, even her own first name, is played by Jennifer Jones with a kind of distant unfocused look about her. She is seriously troubled; in addition to her amnesia,…
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This pre-Code film deploys amnesia in a manner that is bizarre and possibly unique. Paul, a playwright, is conducting a no ambiguity, no euphemism affair with the actress Odette. His wife Francoise is jealous, so much so that she shoots and kills her rival. And gets away with it. However, she is overcome with guilt…
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Just two days after we watched The Scarf (1951) along comes another case of not "whodunnit" but "dididoit" or better still, "doirememberdoing it." Another case of amnesia, this one implicating Hollywood stalwarts Vera Caspary and Fritz Lang, who should have known better. This time it's Norah Larkin, a telephone operator well played by Anne Baxter, who picks up…