THINGS I WISH MY KIDS WOULD ASK ME
Editor’s note: Barry Courter has a 21-year-old son who is a senior in college and a 16-year-old daughter who is a junior in high school.
Q Dad, I’m nowhere near ready to have kids, but how can I prevent becoming a helicopter parent when I do?
A You’ve got to let your kids fail and succeed on their own. If you find yourself constantly making excuses for them to teachers or coaches or even other parents, you might have a problem. It’s one thing when they are very young, but if you find yourself even once going to battle with a coach about your kid’s place on the team, you probably need to go ahead and get your pilot license.
SCREEN SCENE
NOW SHOWING: “The Town”
Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck) is an unrepentant criminal, the de facto leader of a group of ruthless bank robbers who pride themselves in stealing what they want and getting out clean. With no real attachments, Doug never has to fear losing anyone close to him. But that all changed on the gang’hey briefly took a hostage -bank manager, Claire Keesey (Rebecca Hall). Though they let her go unharmed, Claire is nervously aware that the robbers know her name and where she lives. But she lets her guard down when she meets an unassuming and rather charming man named Doug, not realizing that he is the same man who only days earlier had terrorized her. The instant attraction between them gradually turns into a passionate romance that threatens to take them both down a dangerous, and potentially deadly, path. – Warner Bros. Pictures
READ: “Zero History” by William Gibson
Gibson’s “Zero History” unites us with Einstein, with Galileo, with Hubble, with Robert Goddard who labored tirelessly for most of the 20th century to allow his dream of rocketflight to become real. With Vera Rubin who first conceived of dark matter, with Henrietta Swan Leavitt whose ideas of luminosity of stars catapulted us into understanding the full scope of the universe. With Chuck Yeager, with Charles Darwin. It speaks to the best of us, in all of us. It deserves to be owned. To be read over and over, to be smuggled into your everyday world. – Shathley Q
WATCH: “Terriers” (TV)
Like co-creator Shawn Ryan’s “The Shield,” “Terriers” (Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on FX) features charismatic, complicated grown-ups wrestling with a lot of past mistakes, even as they continue to make them. Though Hank and Britt are accused repeatedly of behaving childishly, they know enough to see what they’re doing and measure it against other so-called adult behavior (say, cheating on land development projects or following proper investigative procedures). Guys who’ve gone wrong now trying to go straight, they value loyalty and intelligence. – Cynthia Fuchs
PLAY: “Monday Night Combat” (Microsoft)
Most people think that sharing a common interest is beneficial to a relationship. But when that common interest is video games, it can cause more problems than it solves, especially if both partners are constantly vying for time with the same console. But thanks to “Monday Night Combat,” which is essentially Capture the Flag with huge guns and boatloads of money, our Xbox is finally bringing us together instead of tearing us apart. – Jamie Lynn Dunston
LISTEN TO THIS
Superchunk: “Majesty Shredding”
In a year when its peers have made some valiant comebacks, and at a time when young upstarts directly or indirectly inspired by its old-school sound are spearheading a spirited punk-pop revival, leave it to Superchunk to show ’em all how things are done. Returning with “Majesty Shredding,” their first full-length release in almost a decade, the underground legends don’t waste any time proving that they haven’t lost a single step. While the album is a complete piece in and of itself, it also works like a best-of that showcases the band’s go-to moves, full of streamlined punch-packing punk-pop that has no problem keeping up either with Superchunk’s best material or the up-and-comers who’ve stolen a few tricks from Chapel Hill’s finest. – Arnold Pan
– PopMatters.coH TALK
I’m often asked about websites that offer great deals.
Woot.com always comes to mind. It usually offers one item on sale per day until it’s sold out. I have bought some incredible bargains there, including a webcam for $5 and a large-capacity MP3 player for less than $20.
They sometimes offer several items during the day, and an attentive shopper can rack up on good buys. Read Donnie Jenkins’ full Tech Talk column on Page E4.