Archive for the ‘Opinion/Letter From The Editor’ Category
December 24th, 2009
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Author: by Bruce VanWyngarden
My house is inhabited by two teenage boys — my 13-year-old stepson and my 16-year-old nephew from Marseilles, France, who is spending the school year with us. Some days I don’t see them for hours, because they hide away in their rooms — on the computer or on the phone. I know they’re in the house, though, because they leave evidence — empty cereal bowls, dirty orange juice glasses, crumpled candy wrappers, basketball shoes on the couch, socks, and more…
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by Bruce VanWyngarden
I got a nice e-mail from a former colleague this week. He was just checking in, happy holidays and such. But it got me wondering about a mutual former colleague, a guy I hadn’t thought about in years. Pre-Google, my thoughts would have gone like this: Hmmm, wonder whatever happened to ol’ Rob? Did he divorce that hellcat he was married to? Did he stop drinking? Is he still taking pictures? Huh. Oh well. And that pretty much would have…
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by Bruce VanWyngarden
I got a nice e-mail from a former colleague this week. He was just checking in, happy holidays and such. But it got me wondering about a mutual former colleague, a guy I hadn’t thought about in years. Pre-Google, my thoughts would have gone like this: Hmmm, wonder whatever happened to ol’ Rob? Did he divorce that hellcat he was married to? Did he stop drinking? Is he still taking pictures? Huh. Oh well. And that pretty much would have…
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by Bruce VanWyngarden
If Midtown has a heart, it’s the Overton Square area — home to the thriving Studio on the Square movie theater; several restaurants, including Boscos, Paulette’s, Memphis Pizza Cafe, Bari, Restaurant Iris, Sidestreet, La Chardonnay, Bayou Bar & Grill, and others; and the new Playhouse on the Square complex. At its center is a vast asphalt parking lot that is buffered from Madison Avenue by several funky 1930s-era buildings that a developer wants to demolish as part of a plan…
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I spent Monday in a DayQuil haze, trying to fight off a cold. As the
evening fell, I eagerly anticipated the transition to DayQuil’s
night-time party partner, NyQuil. This, I thought, will be a lot like
the late ’70s, except without disco or Air Supply …
by Bruce VanWyngarden
I spent Monday in a DayQuil haze, trying to fight off a cold. As the evening fell, I eagerly anticipated the transition to DayQuil’s night-time party partner, NyQuil. This, I thought, will be a lot like the late ’70s, except without disco or Air Supply. But I just fell asleep. Which, come to think of it, was a lot like the late ’70s. But I had great dreams. I dreamed that Eddie Money was performing at this year’s Liberty Bowl.…
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by Bruce VanWyngarden
It is traditional in this fourth week of November to give thanks for one’s blessings. And I have much to be thankful for — a wonderful family, great friends, good health, and a job that never ceases to interest me. So, yes, thanks for all that. And it would be unseemly, really, during this season to complain, so instead let me offer up some thoughts about something I’d like to be thankful for. I’d like to be thankful for a…
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by Bruce VanWyngarden
There has been much discussion lately in journalism circles about the pros and cons of allowing anonymous comments on newspaper websites. Proponents for eliminating anonymity say it will improve the level of civic discourse, because people are much less likely to post libelous, obscene, or irresponsible statements if they have to use their real names. That’s probably true. “Muskrat” is much less likely to call “Boogerhead” a “stupid, racist, dillweed” if he has to post under his real name of…
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by Bruce VanWyngarden
So, as you might have guessed from looking at our front cover, the Flyer’s been around 20 years. That’s a long time — a quarter of a lifespan, if we’re lucky and/or blessed with good genes. For most of those 20 years, I’ve been in Memphis, working in one capacity or another for the Flyer and its parent company, Contemporary Media, Inc. I wasn’t born here, which is a distinction worth noting. I chose to move here in 1993. I’d…
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by Bruce VanWyngarden
I have two brothers. Both are close to me in age, and both live far away — in Minnesota and New Mexico — so it’s rare that the three of us are in the same place at the same time. When that happens, we have a simple plan of action: go play golf and drink beer. It’s what we do, every time. It’s in our DNA, like salmon returning to their home waters to spawn. We see it as clear…
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by Bruce VanWyngarden
I spent last weekend at a family wedding in Missouri. It was a nice wedding, but, sadly, my family is going through a bit of a rough patch. It started a little over a week ago, when the St. Louis Cardinals were ignominiously booted from the baseball playoffs by the Los Angeles Dodgers. On that same tragic night, our beloved and then-undefeated Mizzou Tigers suffered a humiliating defeat by Nebraska. (On a side note, did you know that the “N”…
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