My hometown of Vila Nova in Portugal is situated on the mouth of the River Mira and was founded in 1485 by King John II. Its location at the mouth of the river means it has been strategically and economically important ever since.
-
-
The European Union Goes Nuts Over Olive Oil in Rustic Jugs and Dipping Bowls
As most people know the European Union — the EU — is in the middle of an immense economic crisis, with a lot of its members in recession and others such as Portugal, Ireland, Spain, Italy and Cyprus needing bailouts from the EU and World banks to keep them afloat. You would think that our esteemed MEPs — Members of the European Parliament — would be working determinedly to find ways of improving the economic situation and easing the rampant unemployment and ensuing poverty caused by stringent cuts.
-
I Just Wanted to Be Sure of You
My grandparents are long gone, my mother died in 1963, daddy died in 1986, and my stepmother died in 2010. I guess that, technically, I am a 66 year old orphan – but I am lucky enough to have a big network of friends who have become my family.
I often take time to reflect on what a fortunate person I am. But no more than when I spend time with my friends. As Elbert Hubbard (who?) said, “A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you.”
And I have gathered them from so many different parts of my life. Six of them gathered for a birthday dinner for me recently and we commented on that very thing. All six of us are linked by theater: five by Board membership at the Remy Bumppo Theatre Company and another friend who is a supporter of Remy Bumppo.
-
When the City Becomes the Carceral
In today’s New York Times, there was a depressing story about the ongoing, and strategic, public incarceration of the new “World Trade Center” area before it is even officially open to the public. Where once the citizenry roamed with wild and interested abandon in the area, the Police State have now taken over with barricades and station houses and checkpoints.
-
Do the Hounds Finally have Obama?
Well, it finally happened. The line between Republican paranoia and Democrat fear finally met in the middle and Barack Obama is caught, dead center, in an inescapable vise of his own doing. The Republican hounds have been after him since day one, hoping just to nip him up a bit to put a bit of blood in the water so the President is belittled and begrudged bite-by-bite until there’s nothing left of his presidency except an empty shell of what could have been and what never was.
-
The Review: Paying for Google Play Music All Access
I have not been been much of a fan of Google’s play into music — but today, I think I might just change my mind with my new “Google Play Music All Access” subscription. The new service is an odd dog, to be sure, but it seems to be worth both its bark and its bite so far.
-
Chris Brown’s Urban Semiotic Problem
I’m not a big fan of singer Chris Brown. I don’t like how he treated his girlfriend, Rihanna, but I do appreciate the pressure he’s feeling from his neighbors over an invented Urban Semiotic problem that he’s deeply invested in on a career angle. No, I’m not talking about his Graffiti album, I’m talking about his driveway.
-
Bidding Farewell to Angelina Jolie’s Beautiful Breasts
In today’s New York Times, Angelina Jolie shares the story of her decision to have a double mastectomy after her BRCA1 and BRCA2 tests came back with bad news:
My doctors estimated that I had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman.
As a red-blooded American boy back in 1998, I remember when Angelina Jolie set the world afire in her debut as Gia, the star-crossed SuperModel. The hallmark of Angelina’s performance was the baring of her beautiful and natural breasts that became their own phenomenal meme in the lives of all young men long before there was an active internet. The Google now preserves that original beautiful and naturalistic naked memory – and here’s the start of the stunner that became the star:
-
The Tea Party
Yes, I know “The Tea Party” is a beloved term in USA Politics for a Republican Political group — but do you know what? I think you need to remember the rest of the world’s associations with the phrase you have called yourselves and maybe rebrand accordingly.
-
A 30-Year-Old Perfume Poisoning and the Three-Day Sneeze
Is it possible to poison oneself with a spritz from a 30-year-old bottle of perfume? Can one create their own self-inflicted bioterror attack and suffer the consequences for three straight days of full-body sneezing? I am here to testify that it is not only possible, it just happened to me!
-
Celebrating Canadian Space Oddity Commander Chris Hadfield
I have been following Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield’s journey in space for some time now, and on May 13th, he stepped down from his command of the International Space Station. He has been on the artificial satellite since December 2012, when he arrived as part of Expedition 35, a six-person crew.
-
Traffic Jams in Portugal: Rural Road Hazards
Here are some of the rural traffic jams in Portugal. We do not get many of them — but here are some of the common causes.
First, a farmer leaving the fence with openings so the cows can cross the road from one pasture to another to get water.
-
Prehistoric Portugal and the Iberian Mesopotamia
Hidden away in the cork forests and olive tree covered hills of Alentejo are some real historical gems — especially in the area around Guadaloupe near Evora which is known as the “Iberian Mesopotamia.” The most famous of these is the Cromlech of the Almendres megalithic complex — an ancient stone circle, and to the South the amazing passage mound — The “Anta Grande do Zambujeiro.”
-
Sitting on a Script Professor Domain Squatter
On February 6, 2012 I wrote — David W. Boles is THE Script Professor — because some unsavory person in another country created a new domain based on my ScriptProfessor.com domain by merely adding a “the” before “ScriptProfessor.com” to create “TheScriptProfessor.com” and I was outraged:
Let there be NO DOUBT on the Internets that I, David W. Boles, am, are, and forever shall be, THE Script Professor! I have been THE Script Professor since November 28, 2005, so let there be no question to my authenticity as pale imitators and purposeful thieves step forward and try to wrangle in private and modify in public my mark to serve their selfish ends by fogging reality and futzing legal authority.
This week, I was able to reclaim that illegally registered domain and “TheScriptProfessor.com” now rightly redirects to “ScriptProfessor.com” and the world is right and good again as you can see in this partial screenshot of some of the domains I own and operate:
