Playbill Features: Together Again! Stroman and Young Frankenstein and His Monster

Here's a review of the play, Young Frankenstein as it plays on the road in New England. It's written by my cousin, Sheryl, a fine writer. Enjoy.

Playbill Features: Together Again! Stroman and Young Frankenstein and His Monster

That's what I think.
Stephen M. Flatow

Ring a ling- Jackman Tells Broadway Audience Member to Turn Off Cell Phone

Hugh Jackman stops the show as reported here 1010wins.com - Jackman Tells Broadway Audience Member to Turn Off Cell Phone.
My first nasty experience with a cell phone user was about 10 years ago on an early morning Amtrak train to Washington, DC. The fellow next to me spoke at the top of his voice for about an hour. Being civil as I was at the time, I didn't tell him to stick the phone back in his pocket. Now they have quiet cars on the train where cell phones are prohibited. Count me in.
Cell phones, can we live without them? My biggest complaint is the same as Jackman's, pick the place to use it. If you live and die with your cell phone, learn how to silence the ring or turn it off.
That's what I think.
Stephen M. Flatow

Can't sing? You better be careful in Connecticut.

1010 WINS reports on "Conn. Women Charged with Attacking Karaoke Singer"

Apparently,

Six young women are accused of taking karaoke a little too seriously, charged with attacking a woman at a Connecticut bar because she performed badly behind the microphone.

The victim was heckled and when she told her new found friends to take a hike, it "prompted the six to rush the singer, knocking her to floor, punching her and pulling her hair."

Is this a great country or what?

1010wins.com - Conn. Women Charged with Attacking Karaoke Singer

That's what I say.
Stephen M. Flatow

Talk about the suspense - Raymond Clark III arrested

The US Constitution prohibits "cruel and unusual punishment." So what was going on with the New Haven police as they questioned and then followed Raymond Clark III as a "person of interest" in the murder of Yale student Annie Le? Why not arrest him right away instead of camping out on his doorstep and at his motel where the poor boy just wanted to get some rest?

How do you think Clark III felt every time he looked out that motel room window to see the building surrounded by police?

Hats off to the New Haven police for doing this the right way-- get the evidence, then arrest. Assuming the evidence is legit and it stands up at trial, I look forward to Mr. Clark spending many years on a cot in care of the Connecticut prison system.

Read the 1010WINS report.

Well, that's what I have to say.
Stephen M. Flatow

Phyllis Chesler on Hijabs and Burqas

Who, in America, has not been astounded by the site of a figure covered in black cloth from head to toe coming to them along the street or seeing them in a subway or in a car? That outfit is called a burqa.

While riding the PATH train one day I came across a group of women wearing burqas eating lunch out of a Burger King bag. (Hey, no comment about violating PATH's rules against eating on the trains.) What struck me was the movements they had to go through to eat. The clothed hand would come out from under the cloth, dip into the bag, grab some French fries and then insert the food under the cloth hiding their faces into their mouths. It reminded me of the way elephants feed themselves, and looked as if there was no way the burqa would not get dirty.

Many feel that wearing the burqa diminishes the status of women and, some would say, poses a risk to society as the burqa effective masks the wearer's identity. So, Ms. Chesler asks for the abolition of the burqa on various grounds while preserving the wearing of the hijab that covers the hair but leaves the face fully exposed.

See the full article here, Hijab (The Headscarf)—Yes; The Burqa—No.

Well, that's what I have to say.

Stephen M. Flatow

Feeding the world.

Today's World Street Journal contains an editorial on the passing of Norman Borlaug. Borlaug won the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize for figuring out how to increase crop sizes of food staples such as wheat and rice.

While the Nobel Committee noted that he helped provide "bread for a hungry world," the Journal goes on to say,

The committee might have added that more than any other single person Borlaug showed that nature is no match for human ingenuity in setting the real limits to growth.

Giving a country such as India the ability to feed its own exploding population was no simple feat, but Borlaug did it "by developing genetically unique strains of "semidwarf" wheat, and later rice, that raised food yields as much as sixfold."

Yet, he had his critics. Go figure.

Read the full article, Norman Borlaug- The man who fed the world.

Well, that's what I have to say.
Stephen M. Flatow

Is it me?

I don't know about you, but everytime I head out to Staples or Home Depot with a list of items, I can only find about three quarters of what I came for.
Staff always asks, "did you find everything you need?"
"No," I say. And the response?
"Gee, I'm sorry."
How about the next time telling me that you will personally go to the manager and order those royal blue washable ink refills for my Parker pens?

Stephen M. Flatow