Archive for January 2022

Meat Loaf, whose real name was Marvin Lee Aday, passed away last night. He was 74 years-old. I’m deeply saddened. I genuinely loved Meat Loaf’s music and was fortunate enough to see him in concert a handful of times. The last time, about 20 years ago, he performed alongside Cyndi Lauper in one of the…

About 55 percent of public school students in the United States take the bus to school, and 95 percent of those buses have diesel engines. Based on analyses of the pollutant levels produced by of those engines, the pollutants on school buses are 5 to 10 times higher than nearby areas. There’s further evidence that reducing…

Charlie came downstairs this morning to tell me that he dreamt that I was sad last night, so he decided to try to bring our dog, Kaleigh, back to life. “I know how much you loved her.” This planned resurrection also took place in his dreams, of course. He’s not planning to attempt this resuscitation…

Amazing data on vaccines and boosters out of Alberta, Canada.   Essentially:   The hospitalization rate among people 80+ years-old who are vaccinated and boosted is lower than the hospitalization rate among people 12-29 years-old who are unvaccinated.    In other words:   A fully vaccinated grandmother is less likely to end up hospitalized with…

A strange thing happened on Saturday night. I watched one of the worst performances in Patriots playoff history. The Super Bowl loss against the Bears in 1986 was the worst, for sure. I cried after that loss. There was also a loss to the Ravens in the first round of the 2009 playoffs that was…

My wife, Deadspin, and many others argue that teleportation is the greatest of all the super powers. It’s admittedly a fine choice. As someone who prizes every second of his day, I would love to be able to teleport from location to location instantly. However, it is clearly the third best super power. Objectively, the best…

These photos were recently posted on a Facebook page dedicated to the history of my hometown of Blackstone, Massachusetts. I was instantly transported to the past. Almacs was my childhood grocery store, located just a mile from my home. The company went out of business in 1995, but there was a time when Almacs was…

For the last five years, I’ve been a serious investor in the stock market, making it my daily habit to read, analyze, and study industry trends, macroeconomics, financial legislation, and the earnings reports of hundreds of companies. Also buying stocks, of course, and recently dipping my toes into cryptocurrency. As much as I enjoy earning…

My storytelling friend, Steve Zimmer, pointed this out to me recently: Natalie Merchant performing at TED Live 2010.   I love this performance so much.   The best part – first pointed out to me by Steve – is when Merchant tells the audience to quiet down:   “Curb the enthusiasm, just a little bit.…

I’m only one episode into Ted Lasso, so excuse me if I’m way off, but after watching the first episode, my first thought was this: It’s just the 1989 film Major League, except instead of baseball, it’s soccer. Wealthy female owner and corporate male sidekick attempt to ruin a major league sports franchise for personal…