I have never been much of a tree-hugger, even though I consider myself a sort of environmentalist. The fact is, I’ve never been much of a hugger at all. One’s willingness to […]
No surplus hugs, and let’s shake on it
Is bigger really better? Let’s think
“Bigger is better!” Well, that woke me up. I was sitting there in the Garden Grove City Council chambers enduring another Much-Longer-Than-They-Need-To-Be discussions and one councilman came out with that bit of […]
“Us” paints a scary picture of, well, Us.
By Jim Tortolano I’m not sure that the best way to judge “Us,” the new film by Jordan Peele, is as a Hollywood movie. I think it may well be more important […]
Don’t be a prisoner of “Captive State”
By Jim Tortolano So these giant porcupines invade Earth in flying rocks and – with no obvious effort – conquer the planet. A decade later resistances arises in a run-down section of […]
Take me out to the “gentler” game
There was a funny skit on “Saturday Night Live” in which a comedian portraying essayist George Will waxes poetic about the glories of baseball, but can’t even catch one tossed gently to […]
It’s official. Being a ref is a thankless job
“Steeeeeee-rike!” “What? Are you blind? That ball was a foot over her head!” “Which game are you watching?” “You’ve got to be kidding!” The grass is sweetly new-mown and the thonk and […]
Retorts: The negative power of negativity
“More people, on the whole, are humbugged by believing nothing, than by believing too much.” – P.T. Barnum If you want to know why our political world seems to be stuck in […]
Retorts: The perfect idea for Willowick?
OK, try these on. The Los Angeles Angels of Santa Ana/Garden Grove. University of Willowick. Willowick Acres. SOGG (South of Garden Grove). Getting a little silly here, I know, but the possibilities […]
What is really real in this “Serenity”?
By Jim Tortolano I don’t like mimes, hypnotists, magicians and the like because I don’t like being fooled. But sometimes there is pleasure in being hoodwinked in a clever and stylish way. […]
Retorts: Just what are you afraid of?
“We will not walk in fear, one of another. We will not be driven by fear into an age of unreason, if we dig deep in our history and our doctrine, and remember […]
