Tag Archives: 1990s

I Am Spock

Posted on August 20, 2026 by smellincoffee

I cannot tell you how many times I read through this book in high school, but it’s the foundation of everything I know about Star Trek’s original production, from the practical effects to the behind the scenes drama.  I Am … Continue reading →

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All the Best, George

Posted on May 29, 2026 by smellincoffee

. All the Best is a collection of Bush Sr’s letters, diary entries and emails, prefaced by him and read to varying degrees by his family — including “Bar” whose first particular entry is heartbreaking. As a 1990s kid, there … Continue reading →

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Losing the Signal

Posted on March 25, 2026 by smellincoffee

Despite coming of age as cellphones were becoming ubiquitous, I developed an immediate dislike for them on arrival; I grudgingly bought one in 2005 when I began working, purely to keep in the car for emergencies, and but was not … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Iran & Israel: A Lovers to Enemies Story

Posted on March 23, 2026 by smellincoffee

Trita Parsi’s Treacherous Alliance is a history of relations between the United States, Israel, and Iran from 1947 on. It principally argues that Iran and Israel’s relationship has become poisoned not because of Iranian ideology — specifically, that of the … Continue reading →

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Provoked (not Justified)

Posted on February 2, 2026 by smellincoffee

Coming of age amid 9/11 and the terror war made me obsessed with DC’s foreign policy – understanding its actions in the world, and their consequences.  The government’s  line that “[terrorists]  hate us for our freedoms” fell apart pretty quickly … Continue reading →

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The Most Spectacular Restaurant in the World

Posted on September 5, 2025 by smellincoffee

I’ve been collecting WTC photos since high school, haunted by watching the Towers burn and fall on live tv. Some of the most interesting I’ve seen have been inside Windows of the World, a restaurant that occupied two of the … Continue reading →

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Memories from the Microphone

Posted on May 19, 2025 by smellincoffee

Memories from the Microphone is a history of baseball broadcasting that begins with primitive radio and follows broadcasting into the maturation of radio and television networks. In this, it’s also a partial history of how radio and television developed as … Continue reading →

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Trump: The Art of the Comeback

Posted on January 20, 2025 by smellincoffee

This business history / memoir is not something I’d ordinarily read, given that when my reading brushes business it’s usually in connection with something like food, energy, or IT. Howeverrrrrrr, since Trump went out of office and now he’s going … Continue reading →

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Attachments

Posted on July 15, 2024 by smellincoffee

Lincoln thought he’d snagged a sweet new job as an IT security chief at a large newspaper, until he realized the job description was almost entirely about monitoring staff emails and activity flagged as violations of the company’s computer-use policy. … Continue reading →

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Live, from New York — It’s SATURDAY NIGHT!

Posted on February 27, 2024 by smellincoffee

At the end of 2022, a friend of mine discovered that his former roommate had left a boxed set of SNL’s first five seasons — or at least, season two of the same. He was a teenager when SNL first … Continue reading →

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