I heard The Roots for the first time in the nineties, after they had a few albums out, and I love to travel back to that time by replaying their strong messages of struggle and perseverance. Their song Water is on permanent rotation. The Roots is not only a hip hop band; they weave jazz and…
This Post is bonus content that links to my review/recommendation of Kate Bush’s concept album — two new additional videos — 50 Words For Snow. Please enjoy them. Both are animated short segments from the much longer songs on the album. This segment from the song, Misty, is retitled: Mistraldespair. Eider Falls At Lake Tahoe is a shortened…
Kipling turned the ripe old puppy age of 4 months. She’s now 31 pounds and gets her last shots this afternoon. She’s at that awkward stage . . . Kipling is very long and lean and eats a pound and a half of Common Sense raw food, beef or chicken, each day. Besides the chicken…
Classic modern horror films and novels fill a need for people who want to experience fearful places, confront scary people (monsters), watch horrific things happen from the safety of their armchairs, theater seats or cars (this last a very real thing for me as a child taken to the Drive-In movies–piling on top of the…
Here’s my critical expression: Truly great films are a rarity. This past year had several wonderful movies to choose from, and despite the fact that movie attendance is way down over last year, where it was down even more from the previous year, 2011 was a banner year: The Artist is a love poem of depth…
Zippy and Kipling made 2011 a year to remember. I used to play Freeze Tag with the neighborhood kids and all four of my siblings. Tag someone. Run fast. They have to freeze; remain motionless. The other variation, Statues, evolved from Freeze Tag, where you’d hold onto someone’s wrists and spin around and around and…
Today is the release of John Lescroart’s new novel The Hunter. Russell Blake shares his comprehensive and fun talk with Lescroart, one of the most revered suspense writers in the business. They speak about the craft, what the daily writing life is like, dealing with the business side of the profession, and enlighten any…