Randolph Mase&#8217;s Weblog

https://www.amazon.com/author/randolphmase

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head (under construction)

Nathan Hale

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!

March 16, 2019

This seems to be an appropriate time to write about St. Patrick’s Day, so I will. Tomorrow is the national holiday of Ireland, and celebrates the life of Saint Patrick, a Christian missionary who lived in the 4^th and 5^th centuries. It began as a religious holiday, and became a public holiday in 1903. The first St. Patrick’s Day Parade was held in Boston in 1737, but the longest-running and largest parade is in New York, which has run every year since 1762, and today attracts two million spectators and 150,000 marchers. And green is the color of choice, with a river dyed green in Chicago, a canal in Indianapolis, and fountains in Savannah. Even those not of Irish ancestry participate in the festivities (in fact, I’ve gone to several “St. Paddy’s Day” parties in the past few years, and I’ve got only one connection – McCracken – and that name hails from Northern Ireland). So regardless of your background, enjoy!

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head (under construction)

Nathan Hale

Posted in Observations on the Strange and Unexpected and on Life Itself | Leave a Comment »

How Well Do You Know New York?

March 8, 2019

One of the categories on a recent Jeopardy! episode was “New York State of Mind.” Here are the answers; just come up with the correct question for each. I’ll give those questions in a future post:

Resort village on Otsego Lake that’s home to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
It was a capital idea to found Albany on the banks of this river.
The atrium seen here is in the New York City building named for this man because of his finance news service, not his mayordom.
Some say this word applies to anything north of the Bronx; it’s the name of a medical college in Syracuse.
The Finger Lakes city shares a name with the home of Odysseus.”

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head (under construction)

Nathan Hale

Questions to How Well Do You Know Broadway?

February 28, 2019

Here are the questions to the Jeopardy! answers in the category “Broadway Debuts” I posted a couple of weeks ago:

In “Harry Potter & the Cursed Child,” Anthony Boyle & Alex Price debuted as Scorpius Malfoy & this man, his father. – Who is Draco Malfoy?
Before “Glee,” Lea Michelle got her start as young Cosette & young Eponine in this show. – What is “Les Miserables?”
After leaving “Saturday Night Live,” Taran Killam made his debut as King George III in this musical. – What is Hamilton?”
In 2018 this actor ditched his shield to go from Captain America to bad cop in “Lobby Hero.” – Who is Chris Evans?
Before he was Dustin on this Netflix show, Gaten Matarazzo debuted in “Priscilla Queen of the Desert.”. – What is “Stranger Things?”

I got three correct this time. How did you do?

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head (under construction)

Nathan Hale

Happy Presidents Day!

February 18, 2019

When I was a kid, I used to love February. My birthday’s in this month, and we also celebrated two holidays – and had two days off from school – in February as well. What kid wouldn’t love that?

We were off on February 12, Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday, and February 22, George Washington’s Birthday. Then in the 1970s, some lawmakers had the wonderful idea to move the celebration of Washington’s Birthday to the third Monday in February, and in the following years Lincoln’s Birthday was dropped as a holiday and the new holiday became a celebration of all of our presidents. It just seems strange that Presidents Day never falls on the actual birth date of George Washington (it’s always somewhere between February 15 and February 21). And it’s also strange that only 4 of our 43 presidents were born in February. But all I know is that we lost a day off from school…

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head (under construction)

Nathan Hale

Posted in Observations on the Strange and Unexpected and on Life Itself | Leave a Comment »

How Well Do You Know Broadway?

February 10, 2019

One of the categories on a recent Jeopardy! episode was “Broadway Debuts.” Here are the answers; just come up with the correct question for each. I’ll give those questions in a future post:

In “Harry Potter & the Cursed Child,” Anthony Boyle & Alex Price debuted as Scorpius Malfoy & this man, his father.
Before “Glee,” Lea Michelle got her start as young Cosette & young Eponine in this show.
After leaving “Saturday Night Live,” Taran Killam made his debut as King George III in this musical.
In 2018 this actor ditched his shield to go from Captain America to bad cop in “Lobby Hero.”
Before he was Dustin on this Netflix show, Gaten Matarazzo debuted in “Priscilla Queen of the Desert.”

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head (under construction)

Nathan Hale

It’s Groundhog Day!

February 2, 2019

Many of us have probably seen the movie with Bill Murray, essentially about reliving something many times, until we change our behavior and transcend it. And most of us probably associate Groundhog Day with Punxsutawney Phil, the famous prognosticator in western Pennsylvania who predicts the arrival of Spring each year, based on whether or not he sees his shadow. However, did you know that each year no fewer than 15 groundhogs make their predictions? Take a look at this list:

Balzac Billy – Alberta, Canada
Dunkirk Dave – New York
French Creek Freddie – West Virginia
General Beauregard Lee – Georgia
Jimmy the Groundhog – Wisconsin
Josh Porter – Ohio, I think (I couldn’t find a more specific reference)
Malverne Mel – New York
Octoraro Orphie – Pennsylvania (Phil’s rival)
Punxsutawney Phil – Pennsylvania
Queen Charlotte – North Carolina
Shubenacadie Sam – Nova Scotia, Canada
Sir Walter Wally – North Carolina
Staten Island Chuck – New York
Wiarton Willie – Ontario, Canada
Woodstock Willie – Illinois

Interestingly enough, half of the furry creatures typically predict six more weeks of winter each year, and the others predict an early Spring. So who do you believe? I think the best way is to do it yourself: walk out of your house at daybreak and see if your shadow appears. I would have done it, except the weather forecast was morning breezy and cold. So I stuck with the electric blanket and let the groundhogs do the work…

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head (under construction)

Nathan Hale

Posted in Observations on the Strange and Unexpected and on Life Itself | Leave a Comment »

Questions to How Well Do You Know Mark Twain?

January 25, 2019

Here are the questions to the Jeopardy! answers in the category “Mark Twain Really Said It” I posted last month:

“I would throw out the old maxim My Country,” this, “and instead I would say, ‘My Country When She Is Right.’”. – What is “Right or Wrong?”
“This city is the grand old benevolent national asylum for the helpless.” – What is Washington, DC?
Of one of these practitioners, Twain quipped he had the “surgical look of a man who could endure pain in others.” – What is a dentist?
The advantages of riding this big creature include an “immunity from collisions” & “the fine view one has from up there.” – What is an elephant?”
Of this Devil’s Dictionary author, Twain wrote, “For every laugh there are five blushes and ten shudders.” – Who is Ambrose Bierce?

I didn’t do bad for my favorite author, getting four correct. How did you do?

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head (under construction)

Nathan Hale

Posted in Observations on the Strange and Unexpected and on Life Itself | Leave a Comment »

A Time to Weep, and a Time to Laugh

January 17, 2019

You may recognize those words from the song Turn, Turn, Turn by The Byrds (and written by Pete Seeger), and earlier from the Book of Ecclesiastes in The Bible; in fact, I spoke those words at the memorial service for my father in 1998. And it’s so true at this time of year, when the list of celebrities who passed away during the year is published. Among those in 2017 were Marty Allen, Harry Anderson, Ken Berry, Anthony Bourdain, Barbara Bush, George H.W. Bush (above, who I met when he was US Ambassador to the United Nations), Dwight Clark, Roy Clark, Olivia Cole, Vic Damone, Aretha Franklin, Billy Graham, Stephen Hawking, Joe Jackson, Margot Kidder, Robin Leach, Stan Lee, John Mahoney, Dorothy Malone, Penny Marshall, John McCain, Chuck McCann, David Ogden Stiers, Willie McCovey, Charlotte Rae, Burt Reynolds, Philip Roth, Neil Simon, Verne Troyer, Jerry Van Dyke, and Nancy Wilson. And let us never forget the US Service Members, Police, and Firefighters killed in the line of duty, protecting us. For me, the ones I don’t have around any more include my parents Lyman and Alice, my father-in-law Ray, my brother-in-law Jim and his wife Edna, my brother-in-law Mike, my sister-in-law Dottie, and our Aunt Joan, Uncle Joe, and Aunt Rita. But we did get one blessing nine years ago with our grandson Evan, and another 6½ years ago with our grandson Noah. So, remember to be thankful for those we do have close to us…

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head (under construction)

Nathan Hale

Posted in Observations on the Strange and Unexpected and on Life Itself | Leave a Comment »

Questions to How Well Do You Know Broadway?

January 9, 2019

Here are the questions to the Jeopardy! answers in the category “On Broadway in 2018” I posted a couple of weeks ago:

“Can You Feel the Love Tonight” in this musical? You sure can, ever since Oct. 15, 1997. – What is “The Lion King?”
“Super Sea Star Savior” & “Bikini Bottom Day” are tunes in the musical with this title guy. – Who is Sponge Bob Square Pants?”
More than a mere apparition, this Hal Prince-directed classic celebrated 30 years on Broadway in January. – What is “Phantom of the Opera?”
Broadway.com said it best about this show: “Tina Fey’s fetch movie is, like, now on Broadway.” – What is “Mean Girls?”
Matt Bomer, Zachary Quinto & Jim Parsons were some of the “boys” in this revived Mart Crowley play. – What is “Boys in the Band?”

I got my typical result for Broadway, getting four correct. How did you do?

Randolph Mase, Fiction Writer

My Novels:

Death on Broadway

Death Beneath the Streets

Death in Central Park

Death at The Cloisters

Death Inside Diamond Head (under construction)

Nathan Hale