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My daughter Talia recently became a Certified Cicerone (beer sommelier) after spending two years studying the science of brewing not to mention performing extensive personal research at craft breweries in the U.S., France, Australia and New Zealand (tough duty). She was encouraged to take the test … Read more about Cleopatra, Martha Washington and Niels Bohr walk into a bar

On November 30, 2004, Nancy Zerg, a Los Angeles real estate agent dethroned reigning Jeopardy champion Ken Jennings. The champ had recorded an unprecedented 74 consecutive victories and was so dominant that in 64 of his matches he entered Final Jeopardy with an insurmountable lead. In his … Read more about Potpourri for $1,000

11/26/18It’s not easy keeping peace at the Thanksgiving table. You don’t want to be refereeing an argument between your survivalist cousin who only hikes in from the backwoods once a year and your snowflake son who is quitting college to join a group committed to insuring that all bathrooms in … Read more about Happy Thanksgiving 2018

During the 1880 presidential race, Charles Guiteau, a deranged former lawyer and preacher constantly hounded Republican officials for a place on James Garfield’s campaign. His contribution was microscopic but the delusional Guiteau believed he had been indispensable. After Garfield’s election, … Read more about The Tragic Death of James Garfield

October 26, 2018: On Saturday John Cleese will celebrate his 79th birthday. The ingenious comic actor was born and raised in working-class Weston-super-Mare, England. Cleese attended several elite prep schools, studied law at Cambridge and then spent two years teaching Latin. In 1963 he decided … Read more about Happy Birthday Mr. Fawlty

On October 19, 1812, Napoleon withdrew his “Grande Armee” from Moscow and began his tortuous retreat to France. Prior to his invasion of Russia, Napoleon was championing his “Continental System”, a blockade designed to economically isolate Britain. Russian participation was vital to Napoleon’s plan, … Read more about A Tale of Two Debacles

The Remarkable Life of James Garfield On November 2, 1880, James Abram Garfield was elected president of the United States. Until recently all I knew about Garfield was that he was the second president to be assassinated and that his presidency lasted only a few months. Then I had the good … Read more about The Remarkable Life of James Garfield

October 12, 2018 Today marks the 29th an:niversary of the death of Jay Ward, the creator/producer of the immortal cartoon series, “The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle”. After earning his MBA at Harvard, Ward went into real estate but developed a fascination with the emerging medium of … Read more about Moose and Squirrel

October 5, 2018: On October 5, 1962 the London Pavilion at Piccadilly Circus hosted the premiere of “Dr. No”. The film had an amazing sense of style, pulsating action and memorable characters most notably, James Bond. The British intelligence agent is the quintessential man that men want to be and … Read more about “Bond, James Bond”

June 28, 2018: While many cable news talking heads on the right and the left act as agitators for their respective audiences, one could always depend on the late Charles Krauthammer to be a voice of reason. As Fred Hiatt, the editorial page editor for the Washington Post wrote last week “For … Read more about The Incomparable Charles Krauthammer

June 22, 2018: On June 23, 1939, Bronko Nagurski defeated defending champion Lou Thesz to capture the National Wrestling Association World Title. Say what? Wasn’t Bronko Nagurski one of the greatest old-time football players? Yes, he was. Nagurski was dominating in both sports and as such is the … Read more about Gronk’s Long-Lost Ancestor?

June 15, 2018 Recently I learned the details of the honeymoon being planned by my young friend Chris and his beautiful fiancee Lynn. I guess the days when honeymooners were content with sitting in a heart shaped tub in the Poconos or walking the beach on Ole Cape Cod have gone the way of the … Read more about Exotic Honeymoons