Latest news with #Cheers
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Climate
- Yahoo
Cocooning during this Kansas storm season, I try to avoid the cataclysm outside my window
The spring storm season has brought frequent rain and thoughts of self-preservation, writes opinion editor Clay Wirestone. (Max McCoy/Kansas Reflector) Each day now in Lawrence, where my family and I live, I watch the clouds roll in and the rains come. The spring storm season thunders and flashes and pours, and the lawns flourish and gutters overflow. I sit here in my home office through the evenings and watch as the lightning casts strange shadows. I hear the rain pelting the roof. Later on, when I take our dog out for a walk, the rains have usually slowed and the neighborhood smells earthy and damp, while the doused roads shine under streetlamps. During these days, my son hangs around the house. School has ended, and summer activities remain a few weeks distant. He plays video games and dotes on the pets. My husband's work has shifted into its busiest season, so some days I only see him toward the end of the day. I seem to live now, for a week or two at least, in a small protected bubble. The rains come and the world rumbles and my son and I stay indoors and wait for the storm to pass. Aren't many of us doing that right now, staying in those kind of bubbles, waiting for the skies to clear? We can create those bubbles in different ways. Some of us watch seasons of old situation comedies, following the adventures of Sam and Diane and Cliff and Norm on Cheers (rest in peace, George Wendt). Some of us watch horror movies (I enjoyed Nicholas Roeg's 'Don't Look Now' the other night). Some of us find escape through exercise or alcohol or other activities that change our brain and body chemistry. It is the season of survival. We endure the weather. It's different for all of us. Here in Kansas, the weather might be a private prison company pressing to reopen facilities to serve Immigrations and Customs Enforcement. It might be a law that denies critical yet misunderstood health care to teenagers. It might be your immigration status if you study at a university. It might be an uncertain economic climate that threatens small business in towns and cities. In uncertain times, we search for comparisons. We judge today's storm against the storms of the past. We survived those, we tell ourselves, so surely we must survive these ones. Those storms may have even been worse, we tell ourselves. We should expect spring rains, Discover Magazine explains, as humid summer air collides with dry winter air. The mixture forms clouds, yields precipitation. We still wait indoors, swaddled in decades-old quilts and drinking hot tea. The metaphor strains. My correspondents will write me email messages insisting that determined Kansans can weatherproof their homes. We can work together to find community and purpose during these dreary, overcast days. We need not — must not — hide from the work ahead of us. I understand these things, agree with them, have written them before. We can both endure and act. The stormy season will pass. These times will end. The clouds will clear and the sun will nudge itself above the horizon, and we will pick up the pieces. I will mow the lawn and pick up the random branches that fell from the giant tree in our front yard. Cleanup awaits, and it will take the whole subdivision pitching in. Yet while spring storm season continues, at least let me have these gloomy evenings. Let me embrace poetry and fiction and imagination leaps. Grant me the time to recharge, to dote on my family, to enjoy distractions for a handful of days. We all deserve time to center ourselves, to feel protected from the inevitable deluge. These moments of grace will steel us for a long, hot summer. Clay Wirestone is Kansas Reflector opinion editor. Through its opinion section, Kansas Reflector works to amplify the voices of people who are affected by public policies or excluded from public debate. Find information, including how to submit your own commentary, here.
Scottish Sun
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Scottish Sun
Legendary Scots band reveals how festival favourite was almost ‘never written'
It the hit song was inspired by a legendary US sitcom SONG SHOCK Legendary Scots band reveals how festival favourite was almost 'never written' Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) AN iconic rocker has revealed that one of his biggest hits was almost "never written". Travis frontman Fran Healy, 51, opened up on the origins of 1999 festival favourite Driftwood. Sign up for the Entertainment newsletter Sign up 2 Travis frontman Fran Healy performs at The Concert Hall in Toronto, Ontario Credit: Getty The red-headed singer told how the song was inspired by an episode of legendary US sitcom Cheers. However when he rushed upstairs to document the tune, the musician forgot to hit record on his device. He said online: "Driftwood almost didn't get written. I was washing the dishes, thinking about that TV show Cheers. "There was an episode where Norm was talking about overhearing the boss, talking about getting rid of all the driftwood. "I sung it out loud, just out of nowhere, while I was washing the dishes. "Ran upstairs to record it, but I actually accidentally pressed pause instead of record. "So when I came back to listen later on in the day, all I could hear was me walking away from the recorder. "And I sat for about an hour while this thing went through. "And you can hear me in the house, faffing around. And then eventually, just before the tape ends, I sing it as I'm walking up the stairs. "And had I not sung that tiny little, you know, driftwood little bit, it would be gone forever. And it's one of my favourite songs." Billy Joel Cancels Tour Amid Health Concerns: Fans React It comes weeks after Healy was rushed to hospital after suffering from a horror injury at a gig in the US. The singer was wheeled out of the venue on a stretcher after their show on Monday night. The iconic band were on their Raze The Bar North American Tour which kicked off in January. Travis were playing at the Showbox in Seattle, Washington, when Fran twisted his ankle stepping off stage while waving goodbye to the crowd.
Axios
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Axios
Rook Room opens Saturday with 700+ board games
The Rook Room, a board game café and lounge years in the making, officially opens its doors Saturday — and Axios got an early look during a media preview Wednesday. Why it matters: It's the only space of its kind in Des Moines, offering more than 700 unique board games to play alongside a full food and drinks menu. State of play: The new hangout is situated in the former downtown space of St. Kilda restaurant, which closed at that location late last year. What they're saying: Co-owner Tony Tandeski tells Axios he hopes the Rook Room becomes a neighborhood hub — a place where, like the 1980s TV show "Cheers," "everybody knows your name." There will be regular tournaments and game learning sessions, he said. The intrigue: Game donations are welcome, and many on the shelves are from local players. 🍽️ On the menu: A range of sandwiches and snacks, including an achiote lime chicken sandwich (mozzarella, pico de gallo and lime cream) and spicy pineapple skewers — a nod to Tandeski's favorite fruit. Specialty drinks include the Charisma Check (Jameson, pineapple juice, sour, caramel and vanilla) and the RG&T (Revelton mulberry gin, lavender syrup and tonic). If you go: Regular hours are 8am–midnight on Fridays and Saturdays and 8am–10pm on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays.
Daily Mirror
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
Acting legend Dick Van Dyke, 99, shares the biggest curse of being nearly 100
Dick Van Dyke will turn 100 later this year but the Hollywood icon revealed the sad thing about being an almost centenarian Dick Van Dyke has revealed what the biggest curse of being almost 100 is. The Hollywood legend, who is famous for films like Mary Poppins and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, will reach the milestone birthday in December this year. But in a Q&A with his producer and actress wife Arlene, 53, the 99-year-old - who is still working - shared that although "life's been good to me" the sad thing about being an almost centenarian is losing his loved ones, particularly his peers. He revealed how he and good friend Ed Asner were set to do a remake of the 1970s American sitcom The Odd Couple before Ed's death at the age of 91 in August 2021. Dick said: "That would have been such fun - and we lost it. I've lost a lot of friends." His wife Arlene cut in and said: "He's outlived everybody. That's the curse of living to 100." Asked what the secret to a long life is, Dick said his work and continuing to perform keeps him young because it "energises" him. PEOPLE magazine reported the star told the audience at the special Q&A event in Malibu, California: "I'm a ham. I love it. I get a jolt of energy from an audience." Despite his age, Dick still regularly performs and did on the night with his musical group, barbershop quartet The Vantastix. He also opened up on what it was like to work with co-star Dame Julie Andrews, 89, in the classic 1964 film Mary Poppins. He shared: "I'm not a real singer, so I tend to be under, fighting to get up there and sing on top of the note. Just took me forever in the recording. "Julie was just patient as could be and kept helping me, saying, 'Think high. Think up there.' And it turned out great. She was wonderful. We had a wonderful time together." Earlier this year, the screen icon said the secret staying so youthful at his age was also down to his strict regime of regular workouts. And his famous all-singing and all-dancing act still shines through at the gym because he 'literally' dances between weight machines instead of walking. He revealed how he likes to workout for an hour and swim laps in the pool before taking a nap at home. He said: "I've always exercised. Three days a week we go to the gym, still. Three days a week. And I think that's it - why I'm not stove up like my equals." Fellow actor Ted Danson, 77, who is known for Cheers and more recently in Netflix series A Man on the Inside, recalled seeing Dick at the gym in Malibu. He said: "If I got there early enough I would see you literally workout on some weight machine and then - almost like you were doing circuit training - you would not walk to the next machine, but dance. You literally danced to the next machine and I watched that for a couple of weeks." His wife Arlene added: "He still does that."
Telegraph
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
Don't fall for Waitrose's mega wine sale – go to the pub instead
It's a temptation more alluring than that of Saint Anthony, more bewitching than the sirens of the Odyssey. Waitrose is offering 25 per cent off its wine and champagne. There's a very decent muscadet for £5.25, an aromatic rosé for £6.75, a seriously posh champagne for £30. Right now, as my metaphorical ship sails within touching distance of the shores of Britain's leading upscale supermarket, I'm breaking free of the ropes tying me to the mast. To misquote Withnail and I: 'I want these bargain wines, I want them here and I want them now.' Yet, to give the metaphor a final push, as I near those shores I spy the jagged shorelines that will break my ship to pieces. And they are the rocks that are wrecking a cornerstone of our hospitality industry. Each glass of moschofilero rosé 2024 that I sip at home is a glass that I won't be sipping at a bar. And it doesn't take too many bargain booze hunters to land a deal, invite friends around for drinks, then literally empty the local tavern. The personal economics are not hard to fathom. For the cost of a single glass at the pub, we can drink a bottle at the kitchen table. For the price of a decent steak, chips, salad and a pud for one – £25 to £30 – we could feed some four people at home. Faced with the logic of these costs, why on earth would we go to the pub? Well, I'll tell you why. The Waitrose offer comes in the week that George Wendt died. You'll remember that Wendt played the barfly Norm Peterson in the sitcom Cheers and the character was loved, simply because there are aspiring Norms in every decent pub around the world. The pub provides a Norm with a place of refuge, the Norm provides the pub with character. The random conversations struck up with Norms, the casual quips, the banter between landlord and the Norm is what makes a pub special and what turns a pint into a soul-nourishing experience. Shut the pub and the Norms have nowhere to go. Loneliness goes from sadness to tragedy, human society diminishes. And that's without making the obvious remarks about the livelihoods that are inevitably lost when pubs close. And they are closing, as I write, at a rate of some 23 per month. In the first half of 2024, in England and Wales, it was over double that number. And one of the reasons behind this obliteration is the affordability of supermarket booze. The latest Waitrose offer has been purposefully dangled before this Bank Holiday weekend, a three-day vacation during which Britain's pub landlords are hoping to make some hay, albeit while the rain pours. But faced with a relentless marketing campaign to stock up on great-value booze from a leading supermarket, how on earth can they compete? Firms like Waitrose can afford to unleash these offers. They have deep pockets, healthy marketing budgets and clever ways to fund such schemes. See that Austrian red Lentsch zweigelt 2022 selling for £7.50 as part of a mixed six-plus bottle deal? You can bet your bottom dollar that the producers themselves are being pressured to fund it. A place on a supermarket shelf may seem like a golden ticket but it comes with listings fees, compulsory marketing spend and sleep-depriving contractual obligations to achieve a weekly sales target. These being some of the dirty secrets of the supermarket industry I learnt during nearly two decades of producing magazines for supermarkets, including Waitrose. That is until I had an unseemly spat with a vegan and had to scuttle off and become your restaurant critic. I remember spending time with a passionate and earnest producer of my favourite Greek assyrtiko wine in Santorini. I recall the pride he had of his Waitrose listing. I shan't forget his despondency when he was told he had to reduce his prices to fund a money-off wine event. And will I succumb to the Pied Piper of Waitrose? Well yes, actually. But also, this Saturday, the landlord of our local pub, The Bear, is willing us in with his annual Mussels Festival. And so to assuage my guilt and because I love his pub, we'll have lunch there and sip some of his in-house brewed Black Bear ale. I urge you to do the same. Head to your local pub, order a drink and strike up a conversation with your local Norm. You, and the world, will be a better place for it.
