A monster and good deeds come to our theaters this weekend

The two movies opening this weekend couldn’t be more opposite. In ‘I Frankenstein,’ we will have the latest incarnation of the scary, zipper-necked fellow, taken from the pages of a graphic novel, by the creators of “Underworld.” I am scared already. And then there’s the Hindi-language film “Jai Ho,” a remake of a Telugu movie,…

RIP, sweet keyboardist Al Dunn, you gave so much pleasure to so many

Mr. Owl passed away Thursday. That was the stage name of Al Dunn, a keyboard player who fed the music jones of Central New Yorkers with his exciting performances and steady presence. Al Dunn was a cool guy in a lot of bands. He was part of the first lineup for Masters of Reality, the…

From the Mailbag: Irv Lyons, Safe, Todd Hobin-Garland Jeffreys, Austin John Band-Kohlton Pascal

My last trip to the Syracuse New Times office to hand in a bunch of movie ticket stubs for reimbursement — I know, lucky me, paid to review an opening movie every week — I was greeted by Kimberly Rossi. She wanted to talk about music, not movies. So she brought up the new CD…

How to shoot a truly high score at Pebble Beach without leaving Syracuse, N.Y.

I loosened up the old golf swing this week. The temperature was at zero when I pulled out of my driveway for the trip to the Syracuse, N.Y., mega shopping, dining and entertainment complex Destiny USA. I had wisely, I thought, moved my clubs from the back porch into the house some 10 hours earlier…

The ACC feels a lot like the Big East for Syracuse basketball fans, and that’s pretty cool

It was a big and happy crowd Saturday at Rosie’s Sports Pub and Grille in Syracuse. That’s where my latest blog gig, writing about the Central New York community for Syracuse Public Media site waer.org, took me. More specifically, that’s where I decided me dear wife Karen and I would go to watch the Syracuse…

I fondly remember The Snurfer, that early yellow snowboard

I was a pioneer in the snowboarding movement. This I discovered yesterday, when my sister Fran started a look-back Facebook thread because they were expected a good bit of snow on Long Island. Our neighbors two doors down on the Suffolk County hill that cascaded on our suburban street, the Carrs, chipped in with memories…

Oh. My. God. Drew and Adam will be back on the screen together

This happy film blogging gig I have for the Syracuse New Times puts me in front of a lot of movie trailers. If it’s coming on the silver screen, I’ve seen the preview. And seen it. And seen it one more time for good measure. Sunday, I saw one for the first time. “Blended” will…

‘Ride Along’ drives from totally tiresome to pretty terrific

Kevin Hart plays a security guard geek who finds it hard to pull himself away from his video game in the morning to go work at the high school. Ice Cube plays a policeman who not only lives Hart’s Ben Barber’s dream life, but also is the brother of Barber’s girlfriend. So the little man…

If I were a rich man …

You can’t get to the bagels without passing the huge flat screens. I think these folks know what they’re doing, the way they plot your entry way to the goods at BJ’s Wholesale Club. My dear wife Karen and I stopped at the need-membership-to-shop store yesterday afternoon. Their gas is about 20 cents cheaper a…

The Swimming Gorilla – Mark

The Swimming Gorilla – Mark. Don Charisma allowed me to participate in the second installment of his Blog Impro volley. (I know, over hear in the States we call it improv, but because Don is a Londoner now living in Thailand — love his pictures! — I’ll go with impro.) Feel free to take a…