Rare, Collectible, & Otherwise

Tag: Featured (Page 17 of 43)

The words. A clue to authenticity.

Don’t get me wrong – I love George Clooney. Here’s the trouble. Right off the bat, George’s character says, in the World War Two setting, “We have been tasked with….”

Reality check.

In the WWII era, NO ONE had ever been “tasked with” anything. They might have been assigned the task of, or have been “given the task of” doing this or that. George’s new movie, Monuments Men, is set in the 1940s, back when the word “task” was a noun. They’re changing up the grammar rules, I guess.

Tasking? Or – as presented in the past tense – tasked? I’m sorry. That’s a made up word. Like gifting.

Engish, I realize, is a constantly changing language.

But it will be a good while before I snap a “selfie.”

Come visit!

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main, Broken Arrow OK!

Ooh. Sooners!

I expect a call immediately from OU coach Bob Stoops. Thanks are in order. There has been a (shall I say it?) jinx over the years. When I watch the Sooners play on TV, they lose. When I don’t watch – they win. Needless to say, I was in front of the television the night of the Sugar Bowl. I watched a crime show.

Granted, I flipped over every ten minutes or so. I was fortunate enough to watch – LIVE – a Sooner touchdown! I changed channels immediately, worrying about the whole sports balance of things. (When I flipped back later, there was a significant penalty against OU, which I figured was Karma for my having seen an OU scoring drive.

Earlier in the evening – me alone in the bookshop – I said some words I won’t repeat in this public forum – after hearing the ESPN announcers prognosticating the odds of a University of Oklahoma win as slim. NO. It wasn’t a no chance thing, not at all, it was an impossibility for the University of Oklahoma Sooners to win the Sugar Bowl game against the Alabama Crimson Tide. No. No chance. Nada. None, whatsoever. (Get it?) The Sooners can NOT possibily win. Oh, the announcers were very eloquent about the subject, but the bottom line was, the University of Oklahoma against the University of Alabama? Sell the souls of your children. It won’t make any difference. No divine intervention will stop the Crimson Tide. Not a prayer in the world will be heard on behalf of an OU win.

Arghhh!

It’s hard to hear that kind of talk. Especially when it comes to the Sooners. I’m old enough to remember the years of Sooner Magic. When – against all odds – the Sooners – Oh, OH! Time is running OUT! – pulled out the win.

OH!

The blood pressure! Now, SportsCenter is calling it the biggest upset in the history of the collegiate Bowl Games. AAAaaaaahhhhhhhh! It is only an UPSET because the on-air doofus-announcers chose to call a Sooner’s win an impossible task.

Ouch.

I’ m really proud of OU – knocking off the Crimson Tide in a BCS Bowl Game. It never occurred to me that winning the game was against ALL odds. But that is what ESPN is all about.

They’ve even hired Tim Tebow, their main-man, their Prince-of-Pigskin, their Messiah of Mainstream, as a broadcaster for future collegiate games. Their guy who was the answer of ALL football questions. His future co-horts?

Mark May? The fellow who said the Sooner had ABSOLUTELY (Absolutely!) no chance of winning the game? Ooops. He was wrong.

Has he admitted his error? Not as of this late hour.

It doesn’t matter to me, though. My daughter – and all the money I could spare – went to OU. She was gracious enough to invite me to some Father-Daughter games and I was flattered at her invitation and excited to attend with her. As an OU family, it means a lot to get a win. (I remember when she attended a Bowl Game in New Orleans and the Sooners lost. The LSU fans wound up buying her drinks, even in her loss. (She knows public relations!)

Congratulations, Sooners! (And – as for my personal struggle – wanting to watch the game but knowing I can’t because of the resulting jinx – I’m hoping my viewing-abstinence can result in some form of – game over recollection – or at least a chance to watch a replay.) Nah. On second thought – I’m just happy just to have tuned in at the end, when the University of Oklahoma got the win over the team that ALL over America thought would be the winner.

Boomer. Sooner!

Come visit!

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main Broken Arrow, OK!

Zounds! What a Surprise!

A big Thanks! to all who cast a vote in the annual Broken Arrow Ledger “Reader’s Choice Award” survey. McHuston Booksellers & Irish Bistro received enough in the count to win a little local recognition (and the framed certificate!).

It tickles me to have enough people stop what they are doing long enough to complete a write-in ballot – the marketing representative for the Ledger told me the survey was done by category, but that no store names were listed.

Your time and efforts are certainly appreciated!

The year’s end is upon us and after the tedium of six month’s of street and sidewalk construction in the Rose District, the surprise makes for a nice way to wrap up 2013.

I hope your holidays have been the best ever! And to you and yours, may the coming year bring great happiness and success in all your endeavors!

Come visit!

McHuston

Booksellers & Irish Bistro
Rose District
122 South Main, Broken Arrow OK!

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