It was officially called “Woodstock Music & Arts Fair” and it began 50 years ago today.

More often than is justified, it’s thought that people, especially boy people, accumulate gadgets to make themselves feel cooler than they actually are.

Building 20 is no more.

More than a month has passed since I told DirecTV to stuff its high rates. The satellite got unplugged, and I’ve been experimenting to learn if one can obtain high-quality television over the internet.

There’s been a lot of coverage and there will be a lot more: 50 years ago right now, three astronauts in a cone-shaped thing attached to a short cylinder were on their way to the moon. Two of them would land there, get out and walk around, pick up some souvenirs, and return to Earth.

In the early days of the planet, a box with knobs on the front allowed us to see television broadcasts. Where I grew up, this meant the ability to watch either of two television stations, called channel 8 and channel 13. On occasion both were broadcasting things worth watching. They were ava…

Not long ago I watched an episode of “The Orville,” Seth MacFarlane’s funny and perceptive science-fiction series on the Fox broadcast network. The episode was called “Majority Rule,” and it was as powerful a piece of social commentary as I’ve seen.

A year ago this Sunday evening, Athens authorities received the call, the second one like it in as many years: someone had disappeared beneath the surface of the Hocking River near White’s Mill.

My house has central air conditioning, but again this year I’m not turning it on.

When word came out last week that Leon Redbone, if that was really his name, had died at age 69, my first thought was, how do they know he was 69?

Every Monday (well, except for holidays, in which case Tuesday) for the last 12 and a half years, this column has appeared in The Athens NEWS.

It was originally called “Decoration Day,” and was designated as a day of especial honor for Union soldiers who had been killed in the Civil War, though at the time it was instituted the official document referred not to the Civil War but to “the late rebellion.”

The effort was a good and noble one, but there comes a time when one must gaze out solemnly and in sad but sober voice utter, “The hell with it.”

One of the few advantages – actually, the only advantage – of no longer making news photographs for a living is the opportunity for the artsy muse to take hold.

There’s a good chance that this week you’ll hear of the coming collision between Earth and an asteroid.