Oct
05
Hot Water Beach, New Zealand
Taylor, Marci and I hang out in a rainy jacuzzi we dug ourselves on Hot Water Beach, New Zealand.
Helmet cam: I perched my little point-n-shoot atop my riding helmet and rotated it backward to snap shots while Strawberry “furiously charged” ahead.
Black sand beaches. Just the name sounds exotic. I’ve always wanted to see one and visiting the so-hot-it’s-cool Pacific Ring of Fire, I knew I’d have a chance.
Somewhere out there, a thousand penguins are getting ready to barf.
Close your eyes and imagine sitting by the sea. You’re on a multi-level deck, accessed by a long and winding walkway. Now look out over sea, the clouds have gathered around the already set sun. Ask yourself what would make this scene better, perfect actually.
Why penguins, of course, hundreds of ’em. Close to a thousand.
The stars of PUFFS, including Zac Moon, (center) and Troy High grad Andrea Miller (second from right) brandish their wands. (photo courtesy of Lloyd Mulvey)
She’s no Muggle.
And as a matter of fact — contractually and legally — she has nothing to do with Harry Potter. But Troy High alum Andrea Miller stars in a new Off-Broadway play, PUFFS, about “a group of young wizards going to school at the same time as a certain famous boy wizard. It takes place over the same seven years and shows what it was like for the house that has never been brave, ambitious, or smart,” Andrea explained.
Jun
19
My life-partner left me seven years ago this month. It’s been a difficult time since the breakup, to say the least. Severe health issues and two or three jobs later, I still miss our connection.
We were good together. Sure, we had our quarrels. They were understandable given the passion, the love. But we experienced a whole lot together, traveled to incredible places and were invited to witness the entire gamut of the human condition from the slums of Port au Prince, Haiti, to the opulent mansions and castles of the world’s richest elites.
We spent time with presidential candidates, toured prisons and flew in balloons & helicopters together. It was a great relationship.
But then it ended; I got dumped.
The early reviews are in!
So far, Hope’s Diamond is a hit.
HOPE COMES TO DETROIT
Detroit is a town in need of Hope, and in Rodney Curtis’ world, Hope comes in the form of Baseball. If you love Detroit, Baseball and Hope, you will enjoy this delightful little book.
Play Ball!
After three non-fiction books, his first novel.
Detroit — With Spring Training well underway, Detroit-based author Rodney Curtis has just released his latest book, Hope’s Diamond.
The novel is a fun, fantastical tale focused on baseball, Detroit, relationships and the funny things that happen when you toss a little mystical Hope into the mix.
Mar
12
Busking for money along London’s famed Portobello Road in Notting Hill, a man stands upside down in a bucket.
Avoiding a Parliament funk when visiting London with your family
These London Travel Tips were initially published in 2006
We heard it from friends, from family and from folks we hardly knew; “You’re so brave,” or “Aren’t you scared?” or even “Your kids won’t remember it.”
When we finally decided we’d saved enough money to take our kids to the British Isles, we heard every excuse not to go. We listened politely and even took some of the warnings to heart. But my wife and I wanted to give our daughters an amazing learning experience and we, ourselves, wanted to have fun in a foreign country.
Instead of gearing our trip towards only what we adults wanted to see and do, (like watching a live session of Parliament with all the jeering), we planned our journey around our kid’s needs.
Welcome to my list of favorite films from last year. I’ve been compiling these since back in the 1990s when I used to just email them to friends. Before that, I had actual face-to-face conversations about movies. Thank goodness those aren’t recorded. I remember once telling high school pals Danny Baron and Jeff Dorchen (director and co-writers, respectively, of the upcoming Brie Larson musical comedy Basmati Blues) that I really enjoyed Olivia Newton John’s terribly maligned Xanadu.
Jan
29
For years my wife and I have started humming the Downton Abbey theme song only to morph it, after the first few bars, into The X-Files opening.
Now that the two shows are on Sunday nights together (for a very limited run), I thought it was a good time to mashup their intros and put our music theory to the test.
You be the judge; the truth is out there!
Don’t hate me John Lunn (who wrote the Downton theme music), or Mark Snow (who penned the X-Files theme).