Funerals at Arlington are a strange two-part affair. The first event is the stunner- the one in which you discover that an old pal or professional acquaintance has passed from this world to another. There is a grieving family, a memorial service, and tears. Then the matter is turned over to the Cemetery Administration for […]

I hate to do this to you guys, but it really was a nice event. It was a glorious afternoon- sultry but not overwhelming- and we had just buried The Judge a couple hours before at Arlington. Too many people passing these days. I was unsettled. The company I abruptly quit after almost nine years […]

I was parked out in front of Front Page last night- I had come from my first meeting with the management team of the concern where I will now be working, so I was wearing smart-casual for a change. I had ensured that I was legally parked, since that can be problematic with all those […]

Not content to just deal with the hysterical pandemonium surrounding this surreal election, or the rising tide of social unrest that seems to threaten the dissolution of life in the West, I decided to put what is left of my professional life into the Waring blender, punch the button for “Frappe,” and see what would […]

No, I am not talking about a Ukrainian drug smuggler. I am talking about the tasty and refreshing summer cocktail to enjoy as the Republic shows signs of collapse all around. I think the way to get through the GOP convention in Cleveland this week is vodka, plenty of it and keep it coming. Given […]

I thought we were done with senseless violence and murder this week, but I guess I was wrong. I had just climbed out of the pool. I wanted to get the cardio workout done and out of the way on what promised to be a spectacular edition of gem of a day in July. I […]

Well, I will be hornswoggled. We got tagged, and are official locals at the Front Page. It was a Friday crowd and we were drinking and watching the dozen or so flat screens to see of the BLM protests scheduled for that evening were real, or some hoax perpetrated to stir up trouble. I have […]

This is a sad, but necessary read, forwarded to me from a retired senior officer. I read it in disbelief. The alternative was to write about the other elephant this has taken up residence in our collective living room, and to that I can only offer my sympathy to the people of Nice, and say […]

I was torn between writing about making the perfect dough for Piergois, the tasty polish dumpling, in Rose Wysocki’s nice cook-book, or attempt to describe the assembly of some of ancient cocktail concoctions contained in the re-print of the 1935 Waldorf-Astoria Bar Book. And I have been meaning to talk about some of the sure-fire […]

(Berrien County Court Bailiffs Joseph Zangaro (L) and Ron Kienzle. Both had previous service as sworn police officers and had worked at the Courthouse for a decade. Photo Jason Heeres/Twitter). I was moving the cars late yesterday afternoon. The saving grace was that I had remembered to forget that the crew from the Brother Asphalt […]