So as my father-in-law would say, I have three days and a wake-up before I fly to Scandinavia. Starting off in Helsinki and then taking a boat across the Baltic to Stockholm, I don't suspect the weather will be any…
When I was a kid my parents had a subscription to the Saint Louis Symphony and I quickly became indoctrinated to the all-so-civilized world of Bach, cocktails at intermission, and polite applause. Often the music itself was so soothing that before long my eyelids became heavy and I sank deeper and deeper into my cushy, red seat.
I would dream that I was in one of those British period dramas. Sitting up in my box. Nodding down in approval. Peering through opera glasses. Turning to my cultured friends and smiling knowingly, “This is the shit.”
I was beginning to doubt whether winter was ever going to come to Cincinnati - the average temperature had been in the high 40s-low 50s during December and January - but then that rat-bastard groundhog had to go and see…
One of the stand outs in my current rotation of songs is the Decision by the Young Knives, a band out of Oxford, England. The song comes from an EP the trio put out in November. At first listen it…
Seamus and I are both unabashed fans of character actors. Okay, maybe we’re abashed fans, but this is a 
great time for them. Two fantastic character actors (I’m looking at you, Messrs Hoffman and Giamatti) have been granted starring roles in major Hollywood movies (in Mission Impossible 3 and Lady in the Water) and nominated for Oscars (for Capote and Cinderella Man). Long-time under-the-radar character actor David Strathairn has also been nominated for an Oscar for his role in Good Night, and Good Luck. The common factor among all three of these men is that they play creepy really well. Maybe that’s why we like them. Anyway, one of my favorite character actors who happens to play creepy oh so well has been slithering his way into the forefront of public conscience.