Colin McEnroe Show - RSS/Podcast

The Nose: The New Busway, Chasing Doctor Clinics, And The Facebook IPO Drama

Fri, 25 May 2012 13:55:26 EST

I'm convinced that people in Connecticut really hate and fear mass transit, which is why mass transit in this state is stuck the era of Don Draper from Mad Men. The way people react to the Hartford/New Britain busway project is basically the way Gollum reacts when he's tied up with Elvish ropes: "It burns! It burns! We hates it!"

There are lots of reasons why now, getting into the game very...

Joel Stein And His Quest For Manliness

Wed, 23 May 2012 14:05:41 EST

Joel Stein will be at the Mark Twain house with Colin on Thursday, May 24th at 7:30 to talk about his book, "Man Made: The Stupid Quest For Masculinity". Get a preview of the evening with this conversation with Stein, including stories about going to boot camp, getting choked out, overcoming his fear of dogs, participating the stock market, and hanging out with the especially manly football sta...

The Real Revolutionary Connecticut & Other State's Theme Songs

Wed, 23 May 2012 14:42:27 EST

Maybe what Connecticut needed, during and immediately after the American Revolution, was a huge marketing campaign like the one recently announced. As most of you know, the state has just jumped into a $27 million marketing push with the slogan "Still Revolutionary."

The only problem with that is that Connecticut has always appeared to be, at best, a supporting player in the story of that...

Sex After 60

Tue, 22 May 2012 13:35:38 EST

A few years ago Men's Health, one of the magazines I write for, spun off a brother publication called Best Life, which was specifically aimed at the generation a little older than the washboard abs, do-it-all-night target demo of Men's Health. And I was dispatched over there to write a sex column. For aging men. Best Life didn't last all that long. I think everybody still wants to participate i...

All About Feet!

Mon, 21 May 2012 14:00:06 EST

One night, a couple of years ago, I laid me down to sleep and discovered my foot was numb.
It was numb like Adam Sandler's chronically frostbitten foot in the cinema masterpiece "Mr. Deeds," wherein he invites people to whack it with a fireplace poker while he smiles blissfully.

An hour later, my foot was still numb.

Stroke. That's it, I thought. I'm having a stroke.

The probl...

The Nose: Connecticut Is 'Still Revolutionary', Donna Summer Dies & Endorsements

Fri, 18 May 2012 14:19:43 EST

Donna Summer would have been a great pop singer in any era, but she happened to come of age in disco.

I'd go further than that and say that Donna, because she was a first class talent, lifted disco up out of what it had been -- a swamp of backbeats and heavy production -- and almost single-handedly said: This can be great music if somebody great sings it.

The reason "Last Dance" is par...

What Is Jazz - Two Musicians Make Jazz Easy

Wed, 16 May 2012 11:11:55 EST

I once heard a story about Liza Minelli talking to a fellow singer about her approach to a song called "Bobo's Bar and Grille." It's a Kander and Ebb song and not one of their really memorable ones. Anyway, it turned out that Minelli had an explanation, a motivation, a strategy for how to sing every word of the song. And when she got to the end of all that she said: "Or" --dramatic exhalation o...

Humans In Flight

Tue, 15 May 2012 13:56:37 EST

It's time to try defying gravity.

You'd think we'd get accustomed to the sight of a person taking flight but we don't. When it happens in "Wicked" you can feel pulses race all over the theater. When I took my kid, years ago, to see Cathy Rigby in "Peter Pan," I inexplicably choked up when she flew out above us. It had something to do with sitting there with my young son sharing one of the b...

Jack Hitt Chronicles 'A Bunch Of Amateurs' In Latest Book

Mon, 14 May 2012 11:43:39 EST

Jack Hitt will speak at R.J. Julia Booksellers Thursday, May 17, at 7 p.m.

Today I got into a Twitter debate with a guy who thinks the press spends too much time covering candidates who aren't really legitimate contenders.

I'm on the other side of that these days. I told him I think anybody running should be invited to the debates.

He wrote back, in all seriousness: " I could see so...

The Nose: Obama Supports Gay Marriage, While Romney Accused Of Bullying

Fri, 11 May 2012 14:57:27 EST

Maybe we all live in the United States of Cranbrook.

By that, I mean that we're all faced with choices, all the time, about how much we're going to stand up for the people getting the short end of the stick - whether they're poor, of color, gay or elderly.

If that's true, then last week's hero was, for me, Joe Biden.

He's often a figure of fun, but last week at our Universal Cranbro...