tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014123044506298965Tue, 07 Apr 2026 20:23:13 +0000Largely pointless commentaryStupid NewsReally Good ThingsMediaWhining and complainingNapa stuffPoliticsTales of the RoadThings people are freaking out aboutWeb 2.0family historyFacial Hair Newscitizen journalismGood readingBeing soloPandemicRighteous indignationpedantic bloviationsAdam SandlerAristotleArt history investigationsCounting ActorsCourtney on The BachelorEuro CupFirst World ProblemsFreudGovernmentGreeksLana del RayMitt RomneyStyxTBA conferenceTony AwardsVernon Davisanhedoniabad tvbaklavabest pillow evercatharsisentitlementgender bias in theatreinfomercialsintrospectionnewton minnownincompooperynot memorizing my linespaparazzi action figuresrock hard abstelevisionthe interwebvoting on the eurowomen in theatrezombie apocalypseAbout issues in Napa Valley, the North Bay, California and beyond. About media and communications. About family, history, good writing, wine, travel and everything else. All opinions expressed here are mine. This time it's personal. Endorsements: "...the good ol' Martin sarcasm." - my sister. "... it's only the third blog I've ever read, but it's much better than the other two." -Anonymoushttp://barryhasablog.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Barry Martin)Blogger294125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014123044506298965.post-4816447793915097751Thu, 11 Mar 2021 03:36:00 +00002021-03-10T19:36:41.417-08:00PandemicEarly March, 2020...For me, it doesn't get any busier than it was the first 10 days of March one year ago. On top of prepping and hosting the morning drive radio show on KVON, I anchored our election night coverage, sat in as a "guest teacher" on a friend's acting class in Santa Rosa, had a couple of fund development meetings for the Lucky Penny, rehearsed Sweeney Todd, and prepped the theatre http://barryhasablog.blogspot.com/2021/03/one-view-of-pandemic-one-year-later_10.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Martin)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014123044506298965.post-8650320714052946398Sun, 07 Mar 2021 20:25:00 +00002021-03-07T12:25:11.257-08:00PandemicIt's mid February, 2020. I have a business meeting over a drink at nice Napa Valley bar and grill. There's no way of knowing that such simple pleasures will soon become off limits for more than a year.  At the theatre my biggest worry is the new law, AB5, that is going to turn community theatre financials upside down. But our rehearsal room is busy with dance classes and vocal lessons, http://barryhasablog.blogspot.com/2021/03/one-view-of-pandemic-one-year-later.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Martin)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014123044506298965.post-5885696256699812700Tue, 02 Feb 2021 01:53:00 +00002021-02-01T19:40:56.470-08:00PandemicThe first two weeks...One year ago today the calendar was chock-a-block with things to do and places to go. It was Saturday, February 1st, 2020, and over at Lucky Penny we had some classes for kids going and a rehearsal for our upcoming musical. I was set to work a half day in a local tasting room, and the Kiwanis Club of Napa crab feed was a highlight on the social scene that evening (which http://barryhasablog.blogspot.com/2021/02/one-view-of-pandemic-one-year-later.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Martin)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014123044506298965.post-6201725086361939409Thu, 15 Jun 2017 22:11:00 +00002017-06-15T15:11:10.587-07:00 About five years ago, this blog vaulted out of the water, flopped around on the shore a little, and then stopped breathing. It wasn't that the water was too hot, or too cold, or too filled with plastic trash. Time, or the lack of it, conspired against me. But lo and behold, this blog survives! And it's time to jump back into the deep end. To prepare yourself properly, I encourage you to reviewhttp://barryhasablog.blogspot.com/2017/06/the-boy-is-back-in-town.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Martin)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014123044506298965.post-3024410966237496900Fri, 28 Sep 2012 16:46:00 +00002012-09-28T09:54:41.606-07:00 Yesterday a Starbucks opened at First and Main in downtown Napa. It is across the street from the long-time popular Napa Valley Coffee Roasting Company. Reaction to the event falls into one of three categories: 1.  Cool, that's convenient. 2. There was a corner somewhere that didn't already have a Starbucks? 3. APOCALYPSE!! GO TO YOUR BUNKERS!! THE CORPORATIONS HAVE EATEN YOUR http://barryhasablog.blogspot.com/2012/09/coffee-tribes-of-napa-report.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Martin)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014123044506298965.post-1171499718858885530Sat, 23 Jun 2012 15:48:00 +00002012-06-23T08:48:07.260-07:00Ever have a burr under your saddle about something and no one to complain to? Feel like you could Tweet it till Christmas but no one would notice? I did - a complaint about an annoying trend in live theatre. I decided to open my big fat mouth and say something about it, and wrote this piece for Howlround, which is a website for theatre nerds like me. http://www.howlround.com/here%E2%80%http://barryhasablog.blogspot.com/2012/06/theatre-nerd-first-world-problems.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Martin)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014123044506298965.post-695599355858361749Mon, 11 Jun 2012 02:05:00 +00002012-06-10T19:07:10.748-07:00baklavaentitlementEuro CupGreeksnot memorizing my linesTony Awardsvoting on the euro This was NOT the "Greek" topic I was thinking of. I was sitting around looking for an excuse for not memorizing the lines I need to memorize, and I started thinking about how I am part of a fairly small subset of American men today - those who were excited about both European Cup soccer and the Tony Awards in the same day - and naturally that led me to furrowing my brow over the prospect of http://barryhasablog.blogspot.com/2012/06/beware-of-greeks-bearing-ballots.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Martin)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014123044506298965.post-6620000135814355662Wed, 16 May 2012 04:44:00 +00002012-05-15T21:46:45.450-07:00Counting Actorsgender bias in theatreLargely pointless commentarypedantic bloviationsTBA conferencewomen in theatre As an old, white, hetero male ("Four strikes and you're still not out, cracker?") I have no place taking part in any discussion about bias. But I will anyway, because, as history shows, the world needs old, white, hetero males to wander into problematic situations and quickly assemble solutions before toddling off to the club for a tot of gin. The problematic topic is gender bias in the http://barryhasablog.blogspot.com/2012/05/white-male-speaks-out-about-bias.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Martin)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014123044506298965.post-6187715858540360028Wed, 28 Mar 2012 07:25:00 +00002012-03-28T00:25:56.438-07:00Stupid News From "News of the Weird": ... in Tacoma, Wash., in March, corrections officer Alan O'Neill, 41, was charged with bigamy after his long-estranged first wife found out about the second one when Facebook suggested the two be "friends." - KOMO News (Seattle), 3-9-2012 From The Telegraph: Forced to choose between her man and her scaly reptile's health, Lizzie Griffiths chose the latter. The http://barryhasablog.blogspot.com/2012/03/five-utterly-random-items-of.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Martin)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014123044506298965.post-7168474190009815258Sun, 18 Mar 2012 19:38:00 +00002012-03-18T15:25:31.316-07:00best pillow everinfomercialsMedianewton minnowrock hard abstelevision If you'd like people to actually pay attention to your blog, and possibly even read it, I suggest the gratuitous use of this type of photo.  I was in the radio business for a long time. I usually say I was in commercial radio, to distinguish that form from public broadcasting. "Commercial" was the key word. Back then, public stations didn't air advertising like they do now - they http://barryhasablog.blogspot.com/2012/03/well-be-right-back-after-this.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Martin)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014123044506298965.post-2707808695636124815Wed, 07 Mar 2012 14:57:00 +00002012-03-07T07:12:58.716-08:00Adam SandlerCourtney on The BachelorLana del RayMitt Romneyzombie apocalypseBased on the recent alignment of Mars, Venus and the crescent moon, a series of revelatory dreams I have experienced, and the news that Adam Sandler has a net worth of $300 million, it is apparent that the long-awaited and overdue end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it is about to commence in the form of a chaotic zombiepocalypse. Evidence abounds that the brain-devouring undead are increasingly http://barryhasablog.blogspot.com/2012/03/reflections-on-pending-zombiepocalypse.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Martin)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014123044506298965.post-9216679207263391683Fri, 27 Jan 2012 03:42:00 +00002012-01-26T19:49:06.265-08:00anhedoniaFirst World Problemspaparazzi action figuresStyx It's a play on words, see? I am pondering the condition known as "too much time on my hands." I am pondering this sitting in a room next to at least 75 books I have not read. A few feet away is a guitar that I play so rarely I have no calluses. I have an infinite number of browser tabs at my disposal to explore this new internet thing, a couple hundred satellite channels. And I http://barryhasablog.blogspot.com/2012/01/its-play-on-words-see-i-am-pondering.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Martin)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014123044506298965.post-2355817476838795387Sun, 15 Jan 2012 20:21:00 +00002012-01-15T12:23:37.721-08:00AristotlecatharsisFreudpedantic bloviationsReally Good ThingsVernon Davis A big, strong man dissolved in tears of joy...the climax of an aria...someone you love in a cap and gown...a new high score in Angry Birds - all of these things are just like the others. I speak of the moment of catharsis. Warning: Pedantry follows. Catharsis derives from the Greek word kathairein, meaning to purge, purify or clean. Aristotle used it first in a clinical sense, to describe http://barryhasablog.blogspot.com/2012/01/love-touchdowns-and-good-writing.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Martin)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014123044506298965.post-9067192851785816908Tue, 10 Jan 2012 02:44:00 +00002012-01-09T18:46:26.362-08:00nincompooperythe interwebThings people are freaking out aboutWeb 2.0Whining and complaining When things go wrong, there is only one thing on my mind - find someone to blame. Being the self-centered yet sensitive sociopath that I am, I rarely find my satisfactory scapegoat to be (a) me, or (b) another specific person So I am happy to report that the deficiency of blog posts on my part of late is not the fault of (a) me, or (b) another specific person But my good friend http://barryhasablog.blogspot.com/2012/01/blog-failure-part-2.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Martin)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014123044506298965.post-4926106629983201347Thu, 17 Nov 2011 06:26:00 +00002011-11-16T22:26:48.143-08:00Largely pointless commentaryForgive me, readers, for I have slacked. It has been almost six months since my last post. I'm not Catholic but I heard those lines in a movie or something. This blog has lain fallow for awhile. I've had no internet since I moved from Cozy Cottage to Rancho de le Dorma  back around the 4th of July, but today I achieved connectivity with the interwebs again so, good God, let me blog! http://barryhasablog.blogspot.com/2011/11/mea-culpa-mea-maxima-culpa.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Martin)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014123044506298965.post-4940824523850914334Tue, 31 May 2011 14:40:00 +00002011-05-31T07:40:46.972-07:00A third of my hometown was blasted to splinters. In real life, tornadoes don't give you a bump on the head and send you off to Oz. They drive you to hide and cower and scream, and you hear the sounds of things flying that aren't meant to fly, and your ears pop and your skin crawls and sky is the deepest bruised black and the house blows out from around you. If you're lucky the tornado http://barryhasablog.blogspot.com/2011/05/my-city-of-ruins.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Martin)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014123044506298965.post-187810466669362790Tue, 03 May 2011 20:13:00 +00002011-05-03T13:13:54.793-07:00The evangelist on TV was working up a lather, all about the book of Revelation. Smoothly building with interpretations, suspending the climactic resolution. I watched his gestures and his face, and listened to his rhythm. For the last couple of months, I had spent time watching those evangelists on TV, seeking others out on YouTube. A good actor works at his craft, and I am about to play Jim http://barryhasablog.blogspot.com/2011/05/how-peoples-temple-made-me-better.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Martin)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014123044506298965.post-7711723865610780610Tue, 19 Apr 2011 05:37:00 +00002011-04-18T22:37:39.126-07:00bad tvLargely pointless commentaryI know there are millions of people suffering somewhere, and I'm sorry about that, but look, I have problems of my own, ok? For example, basic cable. Basic cable is my lack of clean water. Basic cable is my cholera. It oppresses me. Recent attempts at viewing basic cable led me to this list of THINGS I DON'T WATCH TO WATCH 1. Any show with an acronym in the title. 2. Any show with Gary Busey http://barryhasablog.blogspot.com/2011/04/things-i-really-dont-want-to-watch.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Martin)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014123044506298965.post-2969366311805518374Fri, 18 Mar 2011 13:46:00 +00002011-03-18T11:58:12.611-07:00Largely pointless commentaryIn the beginning, God was mean. Right from the get go it was all about punishment. Adam and Eve, evicted, with shame as their lovely parting gift. Frogs and boils and rivers of blood were doled out to the Pharoah. And let's not forget that petulant moment when God drowned just about everyone in the world. Man, was he pissed that time. Then there's Job, and Abraham, and others who weren't so much http://barryhasablog.blogspot.com/2011/03/say-hello-to-old-mean-god.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Martin)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014123044506298965.post-2406030995296457114Wed, 16 Feb 2011 14:06:00 +00002011-02-16T07:13:17.323-08:00Tales of the RoadThere was a revolution while I was on vacation. The protests in Cairo started January 25. I was in London, five days into my ramble and paying not much attention to the news. Won't last long, I thought, when I heard about it. Mubarak won't let it last long. While I went here and there amusing myself, frustrated Egyptians held out for change and 18 days later the strongman was gone. It was http://barryhasablog.blogspot.com/2011/02/tales-of-road-part-10.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Martin)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014123044506298965.post-451487163440104336Thu, 10 Feb 2011 09:16:00 +00002011-02-10T02:04:33.945-08:00Tales of the RoadLast night a tight modern jazz quartet played on a houseboat on the Vltava river; sax, Gibson guitar, six-string bass and a drummer whose fast hands made his sticks look like the wings of a hummingbird. Between songs the front man chatted in Czech but now and then a phrase in English dropped in - "you know what women do to men" or "we've all been on that road before" - but the music was sexy and http://barryhasablog.blogspot.com/2011/02/tales-of-road-part-9.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Martin)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014123044506298965.post-1696014313286175805Tue, 08 Feb 2011 11:50:00 +00002011-02-08T04:14:48.508-08:00Tales of the RoadThursday February 3, 2011In BerlinThat date up there - took me a little time to figure out what day of the week it was. Thirteen densely packed days on the road, a few thousand miles traveled, and I have lost track of time. I consider that a vacation success but at the same time I now see the end of the trip and the return to "reality."Berlin is unlike any city I have visited. An architectural http://barryhasablog.blogspot.com/2011/02/tales-of-road-part-8.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Martin)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014123044506298965.post-3294447165448182900Sat, 05 Feb 2011 19:16:00 +00002011-02-05T11:59:03.120-08:00Tales of the RoadFebruary 2, 2011En route to BerlinA thick mist makes Amsterdam even more gray as I join quiet crowds in the early morning.(Note: A tip for travelers - getting a cheap hotel in the Red Light District may seem like a fun idea, but makes sense only if fun takes priority over sleep. Even on a Tuesday night, when all the red light windows were closed, the party in the street carried on to 3am, http://barryhasablog.blogspot.com/2011/02/tales-of-road-part-7.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Martin)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014123044506298965.post-1513758400150708952Thu, 03 Feb 2011 23:58:00 +00002011-02-03T16:56:02.378-08:00Tales of the RoadWednesday February 3, 2011It's 1:11am in Berlin and my friend Henry is snoring like a banshee if banshees snored and I put on my headphones and write. Thirteen days into my travels some familiar music is nice, and putting words on "paper" is solace.Four days/a lifetime ago, Sunday, In Brugges, I fought my instinct to just keep moving and after a battle with my intrinsic restlessness, I stayed http://barryhasablog.blogspot.com/2011/02/tales-of-road-part-6.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Martin)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3014123044506298965.post-2020241791601591551Tue, 01 Feb 2011 19:24:00 +00002011-02-01T11:53:35.213-08:00Tales of the RoadMonday February 1, 2011AmsterdamThere used to be a big name in radio, a guy called Paul Harvey, who would relate a story of some bizarre, usually abhorrent behavior in a foreign culture, and tag the story with the line "It's not one world." That was his code for saying white, Protestant, American culture was different and inherently better. Saner, logical, and just simply right.In fact, it is, inhttp://barryhasablog.blogspot.com/2011/02/tales-of-road-part-5.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Martin)2