Homer and Langley by E.L. Doctorow is a fictionalized telling of the story of the Collyer brothers — two eccentric New York brothers from a wealthy family, living in a spacious brownstone on 5th Avenue.  They became famous, not for their wealth or their looks or their philanthropy, but for their compulsive hoarding.  It’s a tragic story and Doctorow’s fictionalized account is compelling reading, trying to give some background and insight into the lives of these famous recluses. [Read more →]

Tags: books & writing, Lisa Reads by Lisa Hura
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On Sunday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present its awards for the year’s “best” cinematic achievements. The Academy Awards is a celebration of success. It’s well worth remembering that for most who live in Hollywood, such success is elusive, and the Academy Awards ceremony offers a distorted view of life in the shadow of the dream factory. The following expose is an unflinching and thought-provoking look at the all-too typical of the experiences of Hollywood denizens.

In a rundown bachelor apartment in Hollywood, there lives a dream. A dream denied and battered, scraping by on memories of might-have-been, at that cold intersection of Loneliness and Possibility, but actually closer to Yucca and Las Palmas, literally speaking. For $750 a month, one man who is the living embodiment of Hollywood watches from his window as the traffic, which is a metaphor for the world at large, passes by.

“They’re heading to Chateau Marmont,” he says, knowingly. His voice is gravelly, with the age that comes from wisdom, of having seen and experienced much in pursuit of that elusive dream of Hollywood fulfillment.

I ask him how he knows this, and he replies, “Because it’s where I’d go, if I had any hope.”

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Tags: art & entertainment, ends & odd by Ricky Sprague
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Another politician goes down because he doesn’t understand the social network.  Jeff Cox, former deputy attorney general of Indiana, responded to a question by a writer for MotherJones about riot squads being readied in Wisconsin.  The guy tweeted “Use Live Ammunition”.

What a dumb thing to say.

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Tags: politics & government by Mike McGowan
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In other words, he ain’t cavin’. Apologies to the Gov for the last column and its presumptions as to his character. Given his RINO-esque whitewashing of the protests as “civil and nonviolent” when they were anything but, I thought he might be looking for an out, especially one that could deliver all of his legislativegoals immediately just not permanently. It looks like Walker has no interest in such a maneuver even though it could relieve the assault on Madison today while tripping up the Democrats at a crucial point two years from now.

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Tags: money, politics & government by Ken Watson
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Do you know how Hallmark became a successful company? They introduced expectation. They used a seemingly worthless trinket to set a low bar, but a bar where none had existed before.

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Tags: race & culture by Mike McGowan
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I realized, after rereading my post from last week, that I hate the word “experimental” as it applies to the arts. Done right, all art is experimental. I recognize the need for artists in every discipline to be able to stretch their legs — to try new things. But the thing is, I don’t see art without any boundaries as much of a help in the growth of human expression. An artist who creates only to be different; who creates only to “break the rules” might be making a statement, but I am not sure that statement is as much about art as it is about desperation. [Read more →]

Tags: artistic unknowns by Chris Matarazzo by Chris Matarazzo
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Just what was that all about last December? How is it that two years after Obama’s election he and the Legislature had to wrestle with Bush’s Evil and Foolish Tax Giveaways to the Rich (as once we knew them)? Memories long and deep recall that this Stimulus of Yesteryear could only be passed, even in a Republican majority, with a Sunset Clause.

It’s sometimes hard to keep up with all these corny euphemisms and that is a large part of their charm to our Legislators. All this means is that the subject law, unlike most, has an expiration date. For the Bush Era Tax Rates (their new handle) the date was set for last New Year’s Day. On that day, absent the extension so long and bitterly fought over, income taxes would have gone up for all payers some ten percent. The reasons for the time limit? These were variable. For the most part it was understood that cutting the tax rates were an emergency measure to avoid a deep recession after 911. That danger would certainly be passed in ten years, right? Right. And we couldn’t deprive the Treasury of those precious funds indefinitely. But much of the appeal at least for those Democrats enticed by the Clause was that it would limit the political positives accruing to the grinning cowboy from his triumph today and lay a mine field for Republicans tomorrow as they presumed, so hopefully, that over time the legislation would grow as unpopular with the country as it was with themselves. That didn’t quite go as planned, did it? No, as it happened even a Legislature where the Democrats were in firm control could not do what they had to do to rid us of these dangerous and foolish tax policies and all they had to do was sit on their hands. [Read more →]

Tags: politics & government by Ken Watson
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In the ever-turbulent economic climate, hearing about the demise of yet another big box store is not that surprising, or even that unsettling. In fact, seeing storefronts shuttered until the next box chain moves in and breathes recycled air in that space until its life cycle ends, is now more common — and more expected — than seeing a chain or department store last the duration of one’s lifetime.

Keeping that in mind, along with the knowledge from following their ups and downs in the news, I was not surprised to read that Borders had finally filed for Chapter 11. But it didn’t make it any less sad to see. [Read more →]

Tags: books & writing, money by Sara W. Moreno
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Why was I wearing an Eddie Bauer fleece vest this weekend and listening to songs like “Far Behind” by Candlebox? Well, it was because this past weekend I had the opportunity to go to a basketball game at my alma mater – Mount Saint Mary’s University in the bustling metropolis of Emmitsburg, Maryland. And since I still can’t really let go of college even after almost thirteen years after graduating, this was a very special occasion to me. It was just what I needed, another reason to get outrageously nostalgic.   [Read more →]

Tags: Marty digs, sports by Marty O'Connor
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A couple of weeks ago, Chicago White Sox pitcher Mark Buehrle was quoted as saying that he and his wife had been rooting for Michael Vick to get hurt during the NFL season. Now, my feelings on Michael Vick have provided much fodder for this column over the last couple of years. I can not claim to have never had a similar thought, regarding Vick’s playing health, if we’re being completely honest. I certainly have little interest in being in a position where I need to defend Michael Vick. I have had to do my best to focus on the positive things he is doing off the field, rather than think about the abhorrent things he did to those dogs. As a fan of the Eagles, and with him clearly sticking around for a while here in Philadelphia, I either needed to look on the bright side or get a transfusion to replace my green blood with the more traditional red. [Read more →]

Tags: bad sports, good sports by Alan Spoll
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