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James Maguire: Journalist, Author, Raconteur

James Maguire: Journalist, Author, Raconteur

James Maguire, Journalist, Author, Raconteur

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Passing by the Tattoo Parlor

July 13, 2016 by James Maguire
An almost Norman Rockwellesque tableau, if the old master painted urban types. A tattoo parlor in downtown San Francisco. 
Read morePassing by the Tattoo Parlor
ellen at the oscars

Ellen Degeneres’ Tweet Heard ‘Round the World

March 3, 2014 by James Maguire
It was a rich moment: Ellen Degeneres snapped an impromptu selfie as she hosted the Oscars, and requested that viewers retweet it with the goal of breaking the record for most retweets. The Twitterverse responded with a frenzy. I'm trying to decode the …
Read moreEllen Degeneres’ Tweet Heard ‘Round the World

Clarence Thomas, Where Are You?

February 24, 2014 by James Maguire
I’m a huge fan of Jeffery Toobin, the CNN commentator and New Yorker writer. Among several other books, he wrote the definitive account of the O.J. Simpson trial, The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson. A great read. I greatly enjoyed his …
Read moreClarence Thomas, Where Are You?

Television is So, So, So…Dead

May 22, 2013 by James Maguire
It’s odd that TV still has as much life as it does, given as close to the bottomless grave as it is. No one under age 35 or so cleaves to the cathode ray teat like in the golden era of classics like Love Boat and Mork & Mindy. And it makes sense. TV …
Read moreTelevision is So, So, So…Dead

The Great Gatsby is…Kind of a Snooze

May 20, 2013 by James Maguire
I knew that the Great Gatsby didn't get great reviews, but I had high hopes anyway. The trailer looked good, the NYT's A.O. Scott offered a dissenting, positive review, and it's a film based on a classic novel. It ought to be hard for it not to contain …
Read moreThe Great Gatsby is…Kind of a Snooze

Deep Thoughts

May 9, 2013 by James Maguire
The university's llama appeared deep in thought this morning, as if pondering the eternal interconnectedness of all things. What's up, Mr./Ms. Llama?
Read moreDeep Thoughts

A Seriously Romantic Piece of Music

May 7, 2013 by James Maguire
Yeah, okay, you might say the arrangement gets loungey at times, but the feeling comes through. Diana Krall lights a warm candle with this one. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=it1NaXrIN9I KJPNJ9PXXS7V
Read moreA Seriously Romantic Piece of Music

Great Moments in Film: The Dude Abides

May 3, 2013 by James Maguire
The final scene from The Big Lebowski. Damn. One of the finest, deepest, most lyric moments in American cinema. Period. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYsw0KVRjCM
Read moreGreat Moments in Film: The Dude Abides

Living in a Hyperconnected World

May 1, 2013 by James Maguire
Great column by Tom Friedman in the New York Times: "Here is what I mean: Something really big happened in the world’s wiring in the last decade, but it was obscured by the financial crisis and post-9/11. We went from a connected world to a …
Read moreLiving in a Hyperconnected World

Rockin’ Beethoven

May 1, 2013 by James Maguire
Sure, Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata is a tired warhorse, abused and over-played by generations of pianists, from the so-so to the geniuses. Think of it as a staple of the Classical Top 40. But in the hands of Valentina Lisitsa, it takes on new power and …
Read moreRockin’ Beethoven

The Place Beyond the Pines

April 29, 2013 by James Maguire
Saw the new Ryan Gosling/Bradley Cooper movie, The Place Beyond the Pines. It has ambitions as a Seriously Meaningful film, which it mostly lives up to. It’s a gritty flick, about what gets handed down from father to son – which isn’t always pretty – and …
Read moreThe Place Beyond the Pines
political cartoon

The Strip, by Brian McFadden

April 28, 2013 by James Maguire
A bright spot in political humor: Every Sunday the New York Times runs The Strip, by Brian McFadden. Mordant, brilliant, and well drawn, this insightful bit of political commentary is almost always worth checking out. Here's the title panel from this …
Read moreThe Strip, by Brian McFadden
James Maguire, at Agamemnon

Agamemnon

April 27, 2013 by James Maguire
Great show: Agamemnon, the 2,500-year old Greek play, put on in a barn in B-Burg. This play has it all: family love, complex characters, crazed rage, lust, hubris, poetry, blind prophecy, timeless questions. The shows also runs Saturday and Sunday, 8 PM, …
Read moreAgamemnon

The site is under construction

April 26, 2013 by James Maguire
Yup, I'm redoing my web site. Please pardon the mess! In theory, progress will be be made in the immediate future....
Read moreThe site is under construction

Beautiful sunny day!

April 20, 2013 by James Maguire
I'm loving this gorgeous sunny Saturday!
Read moreBeautiful sunny day!

Contact

April 15, 2013 by James Maguire
Read moreContact

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Blog

How to Be Happy: Two Choices

March 25, 2023

Fear, Loathing and Popcorn: Are Movie Theaters Doomed?

March 24, 2023

Running Days: Tales of a Teenage Oxygen Junkie

December 18, 2022

The Joy of Pfizer

April 5, 2021

George Floyd and the Protests Heard Across History

June 6, 2020

Women in Tech, Tech in Transition

October 26, 2018

The ‘Rustic Apple Tart’ (Can Barnes and Noble Survive?)

October 23, 2018

Who is James Maguire?

October 14, 2018

The Meaning of Autumn

October 12, 2018

The Red Tide in Florida: What Have We Done?

October 9, 2018

Humblebrag: I won an award for my feature writing

April 28, 2018

My Tribe in the Music Store

April 7, 2018

March for Our Lives in SF – Feelin’ It

April 1, 2018

I turned the corner and there it was….

January 21, 2018

Nightfall 

December 2, 2017

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