February, 2011Archive

Oscar: Night of 1,000 Wrong Guesses

Posted on 02/28/2011 by Bill Newcott | Movies & TV | Comments

EntertainmentSo, how did your Oscar Night Predictions go? I’m happy to say I set a new personal record this year: I got fewer winners correct than ever. How badly did I do? Well, I’ve crunched the numbers, and not only would a monkey throwing darts at an Oscars chart have a higher winning percentage than I got, but so would a monkey throwing darts while another monkey threw darts at him. But I get ahead of myself. Earlier this week …

Revealed: The Secret Oscars Winner List

Posted on 02/25/2011 by Bill Newcott | Movies & TV | Comments

EntertainmentPolitical junkies have election night. Sports nuts have the Super Bowl. Sunday is Oscar Night, the best of both worlds for movie fans since, like politics and football, it involves a full body contact, endless speeches, and tasteless production numbers. Like everyone else, I have my preferences as to who should walk off with the statuette; unlike everyone else, my reasoning is unassailable. And, despite Oscar’s focus on youth – the hosts are James Franco, 32, and Anne Hathaway, 28 …

One Give A Day

Posted on 02/25/2011 by John Briley | AARP Blog Author | Comments

VolunteeringHere’s an inspiring and fascinating twist on charitable giving: A man who doesn’t have a lot decided to give a little bit to a different charity every day for a year, and he set up a Web site to encourage others to give to his featured charities. Who is he? Carlo Lorenzo Garcia, a Chicago-based actor who decided to launch his mission – Living Philanthropic – after ruminating on what it would take to give to charity every day. He …

NASCAR Race Rookie No More

Posted on 02/23/2011 by Jen Martin | volunteer | Comments

VolunteeringWho’s your driver? That was the question I asked race fans the most this past weekend in Daytona. Although I could usually tell from the t-shirt, hat or satchel they carried, it was a fun way to spark conversation and you could tell that they were proud to be a fan of this driver or that driver. Me? After this weekend, well I’m a Jeff Gordon fan. Although Jeff’s Daytona hopes were thwarted by a crash, the race still went …

The Beatles Rain-ing Supreme on Broadway

Posted on 02/22/2011 by Bill Newcott | Movies & TV | Comments

EntertainmentI jumped to my feet at some point the other night during Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles, and for me and everyone else there, the ornate decor of Broadway’s Brooks Atkinson Theater melted away, and there we all were in Shea Stadium, August 1965, drowning out the airliners on their final approach into LaGuardia, screaming, singing, crying even. And as I chanted along to “Hey Jude,” waved my hands over my head to “Come Together” or clapped (with a …

The #24 car in the Drive to End Hunger tent.

I Have the Need for Speed

Posted on 02/19/2011 by Jen Martin | volunteer | Comments

VolunteeringLast week Beth was in Daytona and now it’s my turn. And like Beth, before this weekend, football was the only sport that had my heart racing, no pun intended. I’m here for what a co-worker called the Superbowl of NASCAR – the Daytona 500. It’s the biggest race of the year and here I stand with the equivalent of a learner’s permit. My first day here, I met a few fans at the Winn-Dixie “Winner’s Circle Event” in Altamonte …