Last week I briefly stood outside the gates of one of the year’s biggest music festivals, wrestling with my age. As the Chicago skyline shone directly to my west, thousands of teens and 20-somethings wearing plastic wristbands streamed past me. Some waved open purses and backpacks in my direction, assuming I was there to inspect both.…
My kids’ current favorite show is Shark Tank, where budding entrepreneurs pitch ideas to a team of corporate tycoons who double as potential investors. While listening to concepts for, among other things, collapsible kayaks and colored fur spray for dogs, my daughters vigorously interrogate the television. “What are your yearly sales?” they ask, before Dallas Mavericks…
The property market in Brazil appears to be heating up and, mark my words, I plan to dive in with the zeal of seasoned real estate pros like Donald Trump or that Barbara woman from Shark Tank. At issue is what to do with 12 soccer stadiums that were either built or refurbished specifically to host…
It’s time to stop trashing this nation’s crop of college graduates for not knowing common facts — the name of the U.S. Supreme Court’s chief justice for example — and start applauding them for what they did learn after four years of academia. Specifically, how to master a rock climbing wall. I say this after…
Until recently, I didn’t know it was possible to talk to God via voice prompts. Now I’m not so sure. My religious epiphany occurred in the midst of trying to locate the concierge at the Grand Wailea hotel, a Maui vacation destination that will play host to my family later this month. I had heard…
As the World Cup ambles toward completion, the much-maligned Fédération Internationale de Football Association continues holding its breath in hopes that the “did he or didn’t he/yuck, I guess he did” biting incident involving Uruguayan striker Luis Suarez will go down as the tournament’s most controversial moment. That, or Dutch winger Arjen Robben’s boo-boo, resulting…
Five dudes in an SUV on a Saturday night, heading to Chicago for a rock music extravaganza. As tunes from satellite radio filled the vehicle’s interior, naturally the conversation turned to concerts. “Last one you attended?” I asked my companions while steering the car through barely-crawling city traffic. “I’m embarrassed to say mine was Celine…
A very “with child” Mila Kunis recently showed up on Jimmy Kimmel’s couch to discuss her latest movie and her pregnancy. Soon the conversation took an unexpected, although scripted, turn. Kunis objected when Kimmel, an expectant father, said, “We’re having a baby.” “Oh, you both are having a baby,” Kunis replied. “You AND your wife…
Golf Ball Exploritorius – The unexplained and incurable desire to search for other peoples’ lost golf balls in the midst of a round. I’ll admit it; I suffer from this disease, which I just coined. It’s an affliction that has netted me numerous eye rolls and shouts of, “Come on, we’re two holes behind,” from my…
I have never been a fan of rewriting the rule book when it comes to sports. I wept a little on April 6, 1973 when New York Yankees first basement Ron Blomberg strode to the plate as baseball’s first designated hitter. I threw nachos at the screen the moment I first heard a football announcer…