Author: Alex Diaz-Granados
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Digital Music Album Review: ‘John Williams Live in Vienna: John Williams/Wiener Philharmoniker/Anne-Sophie Mutter’
On August 14, Berlin-based Deutsche Grammophon (DG) – now part of Universal Music Group – released John Williams – Live in Vienna in digital and physical media (compact disc, compact disc + Blu-ray, and vinyl LP). This new album – as well as the filmed concert – marks the first time that Maestro Williams conducts…
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Memory Lane: Thanksgiving 1988 & Semester’s End
Hi, Dear Reader. It’s Wednesday, November 25, 2020, and it is early afternoon here in New Hometown, Florida. Currently, the temperature is 80˚F (27˚C) under mostly sunny skies. With humidity at 62% and the wind blowing from the southeast at 15 MPH (23 KM/H), the feels-like temperature is 82˚F (28˚C). The forecast high for today…
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Memory Lane: A Reporter Remembers His Experiences in November ’88 as a Student in Seville
Hi there, Dear Reader. It’s early afternoon here in New Hometown, Florida on Tuesday, November 24, 2020. Currently, the temperature is 78˚F (26˚C) under sunny skies. With the wind blowing from the east at 11 MPH (17 KM/H) and humidity at 60%, the feels-like temperature is… 78˚F (26˚C). Today’s forecast calls for a high of…
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Musings & Thoughts for Monday, November 23, 2020, or: Dead End for NaNoWriMo & Unsettling News from Miami
Hello, Dear Reader. It’s late afternoon here in New Hometown, Florida on Monday, November 23, 2020. Currently, the temperature is 76˚F (24˚C) under sunny skies. With humidity at 55% and the wind blowing from the north-northeast at 9 MPH (15 KM/H), the heat index is 76 ˚F (24˚C). The forecast for tonight calls for clear…
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Life in the Time of COVID-19: Why Are People Still Saying Coronavirus is ‘No Worse Than the Flu’?
Hello, there. It’s early afternoon here on Sunday, November 22, 2020, and it looks like the rest of the day is going to be gray and somewhat cool. Here in New Hometown, Florida the temperature is 74˚F (24˚C) under cloudy skies. With humidity at 83% and the wind blowing from the northeast at 6 MPH…
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Movie Review: ‘Needful Things’
I rarely ever buy home media versions of movies based on Stephen King novels or stories – especially if (a) I’ve never read the original story or (b) watched the movies themselves – either in a movie theater or (more likely) on TV. There are several reasons why I don’t “blind buy” Blu-rays or DVDs…
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Memory Lane: Futbol & Friendship in Sevilla, 1988
Hi, there, Dear Reader. It’s Friday, November 20, 2020, and here in New Hometown, Florida it is early afternoon on a (relatively) fall-like day in the sub-tropics. Currently, the temperature is 78˚F (25˚C) under mostly sunny skies. With the wind blowing from the east-northeast at 13 MPH (21 KM/H) and humidity at 66%, the heat…
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Musings & Thoughts for Thursday, November 19, 2020, or: The Ghosts of Thanksgivings Past…and Present
Hello, there, Dear Reader. It’s late afternoon here in New Hometown, Florida on Thursday, November 19, 2020. Currently, the temperature here is 73˚F (23˚C) under partly skies. With the wind blowing at 12 MPH (19 KM/H) from the east-northeast and humidity at 65%, the feels-like temperature is 73˚F (23˚C). The forecast for tonight calls for…
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Adventures in Screenwriting: ‘El Grande de Corona’
On November 17, 2020, my friend and frequent collaborator Juan Carlos Hernandez uploaded his latest comedy film, El Grande de Corona, to the Google-owned video platform YouTube. As Juan describes it, El Grande de Corona is a timely set of comedy sketches about the COVID-19 pandemic. Per the film’s description on YouTube, El Grande de…
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Memory Lane: Off to Spain in ’88
In the fall of 1988, I participated in the College Consortium for International Studies (CCIS) Semester in Spain Program, in which I joined a group of 42 students from various colleges and universities from across the U.S. in a 12-week-long “accelerated semester” in Sevilla (Seville), Spain. From September 21 to mid-December of 1988, the members…
