“80% of success is just showing up.”  — Woody Allen Agreed. But should we give our highest  praise for just showing up? Shouldn’t we save that for the other 20%: showing up with something truly outstanding? Take Broadway. Please. A pet peeve of mine and many another cranky critic is the standing ovation, which every show seems to get,...

Why do these tiny Turkish bowls remind me of the Italian superstar Sophia Loren?   It’s this: I love these bowls, even though I really and truly believe the great Sophia’s wise words, “Never love anything that can’t love you back.” She gave this advice when interviewed about a high-class heist that relieved her of many valuable...

They’re mad at Obama. “They,” of course, are always mad at Obama. This time, it’s because he made a joke while discussing the current financial mess when he appeared on Sixty Minutes. Now, as any idiot could tell you, he wasn’t laughing AT the financial situation, but ABOUT it. Why? Because as bad as things are, a person with a sense of humor can find something...