Pumping Life Into Super Sunday Won’t be Easy

by Kevin Burton    I’m trying to care. Honest to God, I’m trying.    I am a football fan. And I am going to watch the Super Bowl.    Somebody asked me the other day, “you going for Seattle or New England?” “I don’t care,” I said.    And that is mostly true. I would …

The Weather Outside Was Cold, Not Frightful

by Kevin Burton    Those color-coded national weather maps always showed the true snow calamity hitting other regions. We in Central Kansas were to be spared.    But there were breathless local forecasts calling for eight inches of snow on Saturday. My “rule of half” said we would get about four.    Sure enough, by …

Farewell To The Meathead, Closing Credits

by Kevin Burton    I’m supposed to be good with words, but sometimes there just aren’t any.    I’m having trouble expressing my distress at the violent death of Actor/Director Rob Reiner. Reiner and his wife Michele were found dead Sunday and their son Nick is now facing two counts of murder. Sadness, disbelief, anger, …

Bags Of Glory, Crumbs Of Memories, Change

by Kevin Burton    There are many ways to illustrate how a person can change and change profoundly over the years, but I can sum it up in two words.    Stale Doritos.    I was amazed recently to have to admit the truth. The spicy nacho Doritos in our pantry had expired…on my watch! …

You Never Forget Your First Hate (Dodgers)

by Kevin Burton    My very first ecstatic sports moment came via a baseball wild pitch.    The Cincinnati Reds won the 1972 pennant by scoring two runs in the ninth inning of game 5. First Johnny Bench hit a tying home run. Then with two outs, Pittsburgh pitcher Bob Moose uncorked a game-ending wild …

How Are You? Odd Emotions Put Into Words

by Dictionary Scoop    Ever felt something so oddly specific that you couldn’t quite put it into words? Turns out, there are words for those hard-to-describe emotions—you just haven’t heard them yet.    Here are a few you might recognize from your own inner world. 1-Mal de Coucou: Friends everywhere, but no real connection    …

SNL Bits, And Harsh Words By Definition

by Kevin Burton    I say “Jane you ignorant slut,” and you of a certain age know exactly what I am talking about.    It’s an old Saturday Night Live bit from the 70s, Point/Counterpoint, a sendup of the political opinion shows and a similar segment on 60 Minutes. Jane Curtin spoke in favor of …

A River Of Words, Words About Rivers

by Kevin Burton    Residents of one Alaska neighborhood in my newspaper’s coverage area sought to correct a flooding problem by putting rocks in a river.    Riprap, they called it, which is, as I would learn, “a foundation or sustaining wall of stones or chunks of concrete thrown together without order.”    From that …

“Jive Talkin’” Saved The Bee Gees In 1975

by Kevin Burton    Looking back, The Bee Gees’ “Jive Talkin’” seems like an obvious, inevitable number one smash. In its day, it was anything but.    Fifty years ago today the song was in a two-week run at the top of the Hot 100. It pretty much saved the Bee Gees.    There was …

Some Nursery Rhymes Not Exactly Kid Stuff

by Dictionary Scoop    We all have nursery rhymes etched in our memory, verses that take us straight back to our childhood.    But behind some of those catchy, cheerful tunes lie surprisingly dark and mysterious origins rooted in real-life history.     Join us to discover the hidden stories behind the most popular nursery rhymes. 1-The …