Monthly Archives: March 2014

Give Gwyneth Paltrow a break

paltrowEarlier this week, Gwyneth Paltrow was quoted as telling E! online regular folks — those of us who work in an office and have a (fairly standard) start and end time — have it easier than actors and actresses.

Specifically, she said “I think it’s different when you have an office job, because it’s routine and, you know, you can do all the stuff in the morning and then you come home in the evening. … When you’re shooting a movie, they’re like, ‘We need you to go to Wisconsin for two weeks,’ and then you work 14 hours a day and that part of it is very difficult. I think to have a regular job and be a mom is not as, of course there are challenges, but it’s not like being on set.” Continue reading

But that doesn’t make sense

just reducedI’m a tad OCD with words. Sure, I make typos, but when I hear something that’s just … wrong … I want to message a correction, such as ….

10: A radio station can’t be “all new” when they’ve had their call letters for several years and their current format for nearly one year.
9: When a realtor leaves the “just reduced” sign up — for months. The “just” passed over a couple of weeks.
8: When someone calls something “funny as hell.” Hell, I’m sure, is many things. Funny isn’t one of them.
7: Could care less. It’s couldn’t — as in could.not.
6: Also, the “who cares?!?!” (the writer always seems to think you need all those question marks and exclamation points). Someone — or several someones — always cares. Always.
5: Calling a 2-year-old a baby. By medical standards, you are no longer a baby when you can walk, talk and eat pizza. Continue reading

The most glorious baked good in the Capital Region

crodoI rarely post food photos to social media but, a couple weeks ago I had no choice. Really, it was my civil duty, my obligation to readers to share the goodness I found at The Crisp Cannoli in East Greenbush.

It’s the region’s version on the croughnut — a treat so popular people wait in line for hours in New York City just to buy one.

Locally, The Crisp Cannoli calls theirs the crodo, but it’s the same thing: a croissant/doughnut hybrid. The result is a buttery sweet pastry so exquisite it melts on your tongue like cotton candy (but it tastes nothing like the whipped sugar).

We had our crodos (the apple cider variety) more than a week ago and I’ve thought about them every day since. You can get yours at The Crisp Cannoli, 669 Columbia Turnpike, East Greenbush. They cost just shy of $4 each and are best eaten warm, right out of the fryer.

I didn’t admit to it then …

boy:girl“Turn away,” said the ultrasound tech. “It has its hand on its gender.”

We were at my 20-week scan, a two-hour appointment where they looked at everything from the valves on the heart to the length of the pinky fingers and thigh bone.

This was also the appointment where we could learn the gender. We’d known since the day the little plus sign appeared on the stick we weren’t going to find out if we were having a boy or a girl. I’d made that clear to the tech before she squirted the gel on my abdomen.

Now she’d ruined the surprise. Continue reading

What’s your Travoltified name?

travoltaSomething — or several somethings — always comes out of awards shows that trumps the awards and the gowns and run-on speeches. Basically, they’re those things we — the media and the public — just can’t, um, let go.

This year, it was John Travolta’s mishap.

The former “Grease” hottie made headlines for more than just his odd hairdo Sunday. Travolta introduced Idina Menzel  — the Broadway standout and Taye Digg’s wife — as “Adele Dazeem.” Menzel was coming on stage to sing the “Let It Go” from Disney’s “Frozen.”

Within minutes, Adele Dazeem had her own Twitter handle (and the made-up name trended for two hours on the social networking site). And now Slate has created a widget that allows you to find out how your name would sound if it was Travoltified.

Check it out here.

Sincerely,
Kurtis Brazent (FKA Kristi Barlette)