April 30, 2007

SQUIRRELED AWAY -- by Steve (Don't Call Me Squirrel) Nadis

Keeping up with our recent rodent theme (i.e., "The Rat Race"), I was just accused of "squirreling away" some snacks left over from a preschool concert that I volunteered to help at. (In point of fact, I put them next to the director's office and then informed her of their presence.) The person who said that probably didn't think anything of it but I, personally, don't like the image conjured by the term "squirreled away," which sounds, well, "squirrely." And, with our six-year run at preschool coming to an end in a month, squirrely is not the way I care to be remembered--especially after doing the school what I thought was a good turn.
Posted by Snake at 09:05:30 | Permanent Link | Comments (1) |

April 29, 2007

THE RAT RACE -- by Steve Nadis

I thought I moved around fast. On a typical day I might quit work at 5, race to the Y for a quick swim, do some food shopping and still get home by 5:30 when the babysitter leaves. But after seeing the movie, "The Pursuit of Happyness"--apparently based on the true-life story of Chris Gardner (as portrayed by Will Smith)--I move glacially slow. That guy was always sprinting, sometimes getting stuck in subway doors and occasionally getting hit by cars. He would stay up nights in homeless shelters repairing medical diagnostic devices and study for a financial exam in transit station bathrooms. Compared to the pace he set, my life seems positively sedate.
Posted by Snake at 23:11:20 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

April 28, 2007

THE MANY LEVELS OF ‘ROCKY BALBOA’ -- by Steve Nadis

(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is part of a recurring series on "Deconstructing Rocky Balboa in the 21st Century.") It hit me while I was playing handball, me a guy who might be termed middle-aged (if you want to be technical about it), playing other guys who are middle-aged or worse. The movie, "Rocky Balboa," is a story about a guy too old to get back in the ring, starring a guy too old to play a guy getting back in the ring, and watched in this case by a guy too old to fall for this same old story again. That's all I have to say about "Rocky Balboa" for now, but I promise to get back to you as soon as I have something new to say on the subject. Or maybe not so new...
Posted by Snake at 22:34:28 | Permanent Link | Comments (0) |

April 27, 2007

REVERSE DISCRIMINATION IN THE DAIRY CASE? -- by Steve Nadis

Let no one claim that CALL ME SNAKE plays chicken when it comes to the biggest issues of the day. And I will apologize upfront if I have asked this before. However, if I am repeating myself, it's simply because I have yet to receive a satisfactory answer. So I'll say it again in the hopes that my persistent queries might eventually lead to a resolution of this mystery: Why do brown eggs cost so much more than white eggs--sometimes 30 cents more per dozen? And why do so many white people seem to have an aversion to white eggs?
Posted by Snake at 09:25:40 | Permanent Link | Comments (15) |

April 26, 2007

I CONNED A DEAD MAN -- by Steve Nadis

Last night I sold a condo (at a price well above its market value) to a dead man. Or I should say to a man who is now dead. He wasn't when I sold it to him. Or at least I didn't think so. But upon reflection, I realized that he really was dead, and the fact that I had soaked him troubled me quite a bit when I considered the plight of his widowed wife and two young children. But I then figured out that I’d just been dreaming and that I actually don’t have any condo to sell, so I shouldn’t feel bad about conning this guy, dead or alive. So once I put all that together and concluded that none of the above happened, why did I proceed with the foregoing? Simply because I liked the title: “I Conned A Dead Man.”
Posted by Snake at 16:50:11 | Permanent Link | Comments (6) |

April 24, 2007

STATE OF DENIAL -- by Steve Nadis

President Bush is in a "state of denial" about what's going on in Iraq, claims Senator Harry Reid. Which is certainly true since the administration has been based on denial throughout his entire term. We're seeing that once again with embattled Attorney General Alberto Gonzales who has Bush's utmost confidence, despite the fact that he is a disgrace to the office. He's doing a tremendous job, Bush says, and has handled himself impressively under fire from the U.S. Congress, deftly answering every question that was put to him. Sure his responses consisted of either "I don't know" or "I don't remember," but that, apparently, was good enough to impress our president.

Posted by Snake at 23:34:58 | Permanent Link | Comments (2) |

April 23, 2007

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO AGING GRACEFULLY? -- by Steve Nadis

Last night I saw a preview of the the new movie, In the Land of Women, which stars a virtually unrecognizable Meg Ryan. Once America's darling, Ryan has since become the topic of much discussion about cosmetic surgery gone awry. An obviously pretty woman, I don't know who she looks like anymore. She doesn't look like anyone, or maybe she looks like too many people--like a bunch of actresses plastered onto the same face. It's very sad to see.

In this movie, Ryan plays the mother of an adult woman--or almost-adult woman--so why can't she look like a mother, rather than a sister? And as I said before, whatever happened to aging gracefully? Or if not gracefully, at least with some modicum of dignity and respect for nature's inevitable ways.

Posted by Snake at 09:49:37 | Permanent Link | Comments (2) |

April 22, 2007

THE 'FRYING PAN' APPROACH -- by Steve Nadis

Twenty years ago, I wrote an article about a mathematician with whom I've since kept in occasional contact. Now he's offering me advice about writing. That might seem galling, except for the fact that I soliticited his advice. And what's more, the advice he's given me is good. For too long (going on six months now), I've been struggling with a book proposal and, given that the book is about math, I called on my mathematician friend for advice. He couldn't understand why I was having such a problem winning over my agent. "I'm sure all the stuff you need is already there in the proposal. Now you just have to hit them over the head with a frying pan." That image stuck vividly in my mind, perhaps because, embarrassingly, I watch Boston Legal from time to time--a show in which the frying pan often proves to be the weapon of choice. And I, too, will soon take up the cast-iron skillet in the hopes of leaving a lasting impression on a relcalcitrant literary agent.
Posted by Snake at 00:57:55 | Permanent Link | Comments (6) |

April 20, 2007

New England Country Journal, Part___: "Mystic Pizza" -- by Steve Nadis

“Mystic Pizza” was an important moment in film history, as it really launched the career of Julia Roberts. (The careers of Lili Taylor and Vincent D’Onofrio also got big boosts.) And now I'm an important part of that important moment in film history because on Wednesday I ate dinner at Mystic Pizza in Mystic, Connecticut. Julia Roberts evidently did well enough with that role that she’s no longer dishing out pizza there. The pizza itself was decent, and certainly cheesy enough, though nothing to write a cheesy screenplay about. I was also dismayed to learn that the movie was not shot at Mystic Pizza in Mystic at all but rather at a pizzeria in nearby Stonington, Connecticut. I couldn't help wondering about that locations choice. What was the problem? Couldn't they find anything in Toronto?
Posted by Snake at 00:57:25 | Permanent Link | Comments (4) |

April 18, 2007

SHOCK AND AWE COMES TO VIRGINIA -- by Steve Nadis

The murderous acts at Virginia Tech were sickening, part of a disturbing trend toward dramatic murder-suicides that reflects a growing malaise in our society. Events like these should be a time to rally, to come together, yet I can't help feeling a bit cynical upon considering the words that George Bush spoke at a memorial service on campus: "It's impossible to make sense of such violence and suffering. Those whose lives were taken did nothing to deserve their fate. They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time."

For once, I actually agree with what our president said. Yet the cynical side of me can't stop thinking about the innocent civilians in Iraq who were killed as a result of Bush's "shock and awe" display. They too "did nothing to deserve their fate. They were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time."

 

Posted by Snake at 00:15:47 | Permanent Link | Comments (7) |
1 2 3