Tales from the Corners

For most of us the U.S., July is leaving us sweltering and August will probably continue with its sweat-inducing days. The dogs have gone to July because down here in the Southeastern U.S., the kids are going back to school! Yes, students are going back to school in this heat. Perhaps it's a good to know that kids are in our air-conditioned schools rather than being outside for a majority of the day. With bad air quality and a strong sun, it's most likely best to stay indoors except for short recess. At this time of year, this is our version of "cabin fever" with the obvious difference being that we can get out and drive in our air-conditioned cars - a "must-have" in the Southeast.  In the North, "cabin fever" is accompanied by low temps and/or negotiating through snow and ice. Some folks are saying that they would like a return to low temps, but I reply, "Be careful what you wish for." Indeed some people have short memories ...

Dunwoody Police Department A buck was a bit confused and wandered over to Perimeter Mall on Wednesday. He was a tad early for Georgia's Tax-Free Holiday before area students head back to school. Click here for the AJC story.  I won't give away the ending-leaving that to the AJC. 

If there's a car in my way when running or cycling, I typically go around said vehicle. That's not what a certain cyclist did when he encountered a car parked on a bike path. A 'hero' simply picked the car up and moved it out of the bike path.   This method worked because the hero is a big guy and the car is not much larger than a golf cart. Still, this is something I wish I could do when I come upon such a situation. Unfortunately, I'm quite slight and about 90% of cars in my neck of the woods are SUVs, minivans or pick-up trucks. You get the picture.  Folks in my area down in Georgia are excited that casinos might one day come to the Peach State. After leafing through Jim Galloway's column on the subject, the state's House Speaker says that while he's not advocating for gambling, he's open to debate the idea. House Speaker David Ralston said that there's been interest from state House members in pari-mutuel betting accompanied with cas...

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon /NBC I wrote in a previous post that  The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon is basically designed to spawn several viral videos. Last night's installment of 'Tonight'  featured actor Tom Cruise performing on the show's lip sync battles segment . The skit is silly, goes viral and promotes Cruise's new film, Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation. At the end of the day, both Cruise and Fallon pull the whole thing off, especially at the end of the segment where they sing to a female audience member. Things were a bit more serious over at The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore  where the host further examined the Bill Cosby controversy. If you get a chance, check it out. 

Halt and Catch Fire from AMC Remember how audiences were wowed with Happy Days  when it premiered in 1974? I suppose most folks were longing for the simpler times in life as the U.S. was ensconced in the Watergate scandal. The show kept up with the nostalgic look in its first year, but gently moved away from that 1950s/60s set in subsequent seasons. By its last season, one could hardly tell if Happy Days  was set in the 1960s or the 1980s. In essence, the show abandoned its roots and concentrated more on the actors parading before the live audiences. Thankfully the formula that Happy Days and other shows like it - we're looking at you spin-off Laverne and Shirley  - took on, are not in vogue these days. Shows like Mad Men  stayed true to form while producing quality shows with substantial scripts. Oh yes, the stars of AMC's Mad Men  did quite well thank you very much. There was no need to get a live audience and parade Jon Hamm around. Mr. Ha...

HBO's The Brink Once in a while a dark comedic film or TV series comes along and not only piques the public's interests, but resonates with the culture. Whoever could forget films like Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove which mocked the 1960s arms race or how Mel Brooks' The Producers  took on one of history's worst tragedies and mocked it in musical form? On television around that era in the late 1960s, it was Hogan's Heroes that took on the subject of prisoners of war and made a sitcom out of that tragic situation. Making a comedic musical or a sitcom out of World War II? Sometimes I think about that and wonder how did they produce those projects without protesters shouting from the public squares? Oh yes, I'm sure that there were plenty who were offended with Hogan's Heroes and wrote the network and called their switchboards back in the day, but the program lasted from 1965-1971, so most of the U.S. (and later the world) never had a problem...

It was an interesting Sunday night on basic cable this week with the premiere of I Am Cait . For all of the brouhaha over the Bruce-to-Caitlyn Jenner transformation, the new reality program is a tad underwhelming thus far. Maybe it’s me since I’m not into that whole reality TV show thing or perhaps there was too big of a buildup to the show, but it moved a bit slow. The silver lining in it is that Caitlyn wishes to help those who have been struggling with gender identity issues. While many hope that Caitlyn is authentic in this department, the Human Rights Campaignput up a post to coincide with the E! network’s show premiere. Going up to the premium channels, HBO continues to impress with the convoluted second season of TrueDetective and the fascinating Ballers which is a look at the professional football world. I wonder if Ballers is an exaggeration on life within the NFL business or if it’s spot-on with its depictions. Dwayne Johnson seems to be a natural as a pumped-up former ...