Although I’m a member of the oldest generation and a bit shaky on computer nuance, you wouldn’t consider me a Luddite – a person who by nature opposes new technology. I’m no particular fan of the legendary English weaver Ned Ludd, who in the 18th Century supposedly smashed some new-fangled knitting machines and railed against […]
Columns
A look at What’sUpNewp’s latest columns.
Posted inColumns
Dr. Michael Fine: What’s Crazy in Health Care Times Two
A friend in her sixties called to ask if she should take the new RSV vaccine, which is being heavily promoted to people over sixty. That it is being so heavily promoted is driving me a little crazy. Here’s the skinny: RSV — respiratory syncytial virus — is a virus that has been around a […]
Posted inColumns
Gerry Goldstein: Changing names that ruffle feathers
We know a rose by any other name would smell as sweet because Shakespeare told us so. Now the question arises: would a bird by any other name tweet as sweet? The answer is a definite “yes,” according to the American Ornithological Society, which has announced plans to rename all birds currently named after people. […]
Posted inColumns
Just My Opinion: It’s time the state addresses doctor shortage
It’s no secret that Rhode Island is suffering from a primary care physician shortage, leaving many in the state finding their primary care now left to physicians’ assistants and nurse practitioners. While it’s a problem nationwide, a WalletHub report earlier this year, which was quoted extensively, ranks Rhode Island 50th in healthcare. When a longtime […]
Posted inColumns
Gerry Goldstein: Angling for some seasonal wisdom
Since we’re deep into the Christmas buying season – the season when long ago three wise men were wending their way to Bethlehem – it seemed appropriate that on Facebook recently, a shopper begged for sage advice. A vintage bamboo fly-fishing rod and reel had captured his fancy in an antiques shop, but before committing […]
Posted inColumns
Gerry Goldstein: Nothing was half-baked about this ‘thank you’
Without much fanfare, print newspapering in Rhode Island suffered some body blows recently, and though my view on this surely dates me, I grieve the situation. In August, two community weeklies, the Chariho Times in South County and the Coventry Courier, shut down. Now, two daily newspapers that have served the Blackstone Valley since the 19th Century, the Woonsocket Call and […]
Posted inColumns
Just my Opinion: On this Thanksgiving … messages of hope
Each year, a couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, I typically send out an email and Facebook request for people to tell me for what it is they are thankful. Usually, I receive a good response. But this year, it’s different. This past year has been, at best, chaos — wars in Ukraine/Russia, Sudan, and Israel/Gaza. […]
Posted inColumns
Gerry Goldstein: When whispers metastasize, hate sinks roots
To be Jewish in America these days is disturbing, even for those of us fortunate enough to have lived mostly free of antisemitic slurs or worse. Sensitive gentile friends are prone to note their recent astonishment and dismay at the rising level of openly anti-Jewish speech and actions. For us here at the Greenville hobby […]
Posted inColumns
Comic – Sour Grapes: Catch
Here’s this week’s Sour Grapes, enjoy! If you’re heading to Rhode Island Comiccon this weekend, be sure to stop by and say hello to Tim at the National Cartoonists Society booth.
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Gerry Goldstein: By the book, moving to a strange new land
At a soirée 140 years ago in New York City’s Academy of Design, 1,500 people kicked off a fundraising exhibition to finance a pedestal for the aborning Statue of Liberty. According to the New York Times, “Most of the gentlemen wore evening dress, and many of the ladies were arrayed in elegant costumes.” During opening amenities on Nov. […]
Posted inNew England
Jan Brogan: Lessons from a smartphone fast
If you measure an addiction to a smartphone by the number of downloaded apps, I should probably be in rehab. I have three full pages. And that’s after bundling at least a third of them in subject folders in groups of six and nine. I so often ask Siri to set reminders and alarms for […]
Posted inColumns
Tiny Kitchen Magic Finale: Rosemary Saffron Chicken
Hey all, as you can tell from the title, this will be my last recipe. It has been a great ride for the past 2+ years. MANY thanks to Ryan and What’s Up Newp for letting this amateur cook have a go at doing published recipes. Thanks to all of you who read my recipes, […]
Posted inArts & Culture
Review: “Mrs. Doubtfire” at PPAC is worth your time
When I heard that “Mrs. Doubtfire,” the 1993 film starring Robin Williams and Sally Field, was being made into a Broadway musical, I had my – pardon the pun – doubts. So many attempts to turn hit movies into musicals fall flat. “Pretty Woman” and “An Officer & A Gentleman” are recent examples. So, walking […]
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Gerry Goldstein: On this day, kiss your inhibitions goodbye
“A kiss is just a kiss,” asserted composer Herman Hupfeld in 1931 when he wrote “As Time Goes By,” the song that years later would so enhance the iconic film Casablanca. Not to quibble with the talented Mr. Hupfeld, but events down the generations have shown that a smackeroo can be much more than “just” a kiss. […]
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Just My Opinion: We can make a difference for that one…
Locker room talk. Like Statler and Waldorf, the pair of elderly Muppets, seated in the balcony box in The Muppet Theatre, complaining and heckling … like Statler and Waldorf these two grumpy old men sit on their stationary bikes in a popular gym, day after day critical of the current administration, from Washington to the […]
Posted inColumns
Dr. Michael Fine: What’s crazy about getting an FMLA form filled out
A guy calls me out of the blue. I don’t know him from Adam. He got my number from a friend. He’s having a problem with healthcare. He can’t get his FLMA form filled out. He’s a patient of a community health center but he hasn’t been seen there since the pandemic started. His regular […]