Monthly Archives

January 2023

A fabulous time in St. Louis; attack of the flesh-eating fish

My lovely bride Vickie Wyeth and I recently took a second honeymoon trip to St. Louis.

Seeing the musical “Six” at the Fabulous Fox Theatre was the focus of the trip. It was boffo.

Essentially, six women, representing Henry VIII’s wives, sang and danced for 80 minutes. It was visually stunning and the music was powerful. The production also had a lot of humor, for a story about six dead women.

The theater itself was worth the price of admission. It’s hard to describe the interior. A Wikipedia article variously described the interior as Siamese Byzantine or fashioned after Hindu mosques. It is a sight to see. “Opulent” is a good descriptor.

January 30, 2023

Blog ROBERT SHEARON

Entertainment in state can come from film or governor

written by Robert Shearon

My wife, Vickie, and I decided to watch “Tar” with Cate Blanchett, Mark Strong and other folks). My favorite Cate Blanchett movie to date is “Thor: Ragnarok.” After watching “Tar,” “Thor: Ragnarok” is still my favorite Cate Blanchett movie.

The movie ran well over two hours. We watched every second of it because I had to pay $6 to rent it.

Blanchett and Strong turned in great performances (in a dull movie). My favorite scene is when Blanchett body-tackled Strong.

After it was over, we laughed at our tenacity. Then we watched “Saturday Night Live,” which was much more entertaining.

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I know everyone is just thrilled by Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders and her move to ban critical race theory in classrooms and remove the use of the term “Latinx” from state documents. These are moves that are mostly theater because critical race theory is apparently not taught in any Arkansas public school.

January 22, 2023

Blog ROBERT SHEARON

Rough start to the New Year in 2023

written by Robert Shearon

Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been eight years since I last wrote a newspaper column. (Editor’s note: Robert Shearon wrote one column for the Oh, Dougherty! blog in 2018.)

Like many journalists, I left the profession kicking and screaming, but I landed well in a state job where I worked for eight years before retiring.

I’ve decided to start writing again for 2023 with the assistance of my friend Michael Dougherty, who owns this blog site.

My 2023 started a little early, on Dec. 31, when my wonderful wife, Vickie Wyeth, and I had our church wedding (we’d had a civil ceremony in July due to some legal stuff). It was a beautiful event and it was great to spend time with family and friends on such a joyous occasion.

Three days later I was in the hospital — not quite at Death’s door, but maybe in his driveway. So, here are my observations on being in the hospital.

If you don’t have to be in a hospital, don’t. I needed it, unfortunately. The emergency room is a hellish place when you are in a lot of pain. Hours after arriving I was put in a room in the emergency area.

Hospitals are understaffed. I think the nurses and technicians did their best, but getting anyone’s attention was an iffy proposition. Except if you fall out of bed, landing face-first in an open-back gown. I tried to get up, and couldn’t. That was scary. My roommate in the semi-private room called the nurses and I swear every medical person on that floor came down to witness this old man laying flat on his face with his moneymaker on full display. Two burly guys hoisted me up and got me into the bed and told me not to try to get out of bed after that.

January 21, 2023