Photo 101: Ellie B updates her isolated touch by more than a third

Saturday morning discovery in the backyard of The Little Bitty in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood: As the warming melt has reduced the snow pack, Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle has expanded her collection. I thought made a good shot for a weekend update for Photo 101 from her solitude and rule of thirds…

Eleven strikes in a row for Tom Stagnitta.

A pretty exciting almost for Tom ends at 288

Big excitement bubbled for our CiCi’s Pizza team in the Thursday Night Men’s League at Bowling Green Lanes in North Syracuse, N.Y. When last I reported on our fortunes in this second half of the season, we’d started the night in fourth place, but had won just two of seven points that week, and I’d…

Photo 101: My mystery leads me to …

Lesson 10 in Photo 101 had Michelle sending us to find a Mystery. She used lighting as her teaching cue, illustrating how different angles bring hues and shadows to our frames. I had a trip planned to a big place in Syracuse, and decided to share two views of one of the landmark’s most prominent…

On what would have been your 78th, thanks for what you taught me, Dad

Happy birthday, dad. Seventy-eight March 13s ago, Frank was born in Brooklyn. He was a piece of work, just 20 years old when I was born, his wife Dolores just 19. I loved him. I feared him. I hated him. I loved him all over again. I understood him a little bit more all the…

Photo 101: Let there be Light; Warmth would be nice, too

Do I understand the guiding words from Cheri in lesson nine of Photo 101, explaining the governing principles of Warmth and lighting in her world? I do. And with the sun shining brightly this March 12 day in my Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood, I carried hope of finding something outdoors bathed in direct and…

Johnny Depp hurt Down Under

So while in Australia filming the fifth edition of “The Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, Johnny Depp hurt his hand. I discovered this disconcerting news while compiling my weekly Film News blog posted every Thursday morning on the Syracuse New Times site. You can read where that revelation led me by clicking the link below.…

The spring melt on March 11 in Syracuse, N.Y.

Photo 101: A different view of nature

Today’s Photo 101 lesson eight plan from Cheri sent us on the hunt for nature. Big and small, lines that bend, she said. I had a trip to the Carrier Dome in Syracuse for a ticket purchase matter on my agenda, and kept my eyes open and my iPhone 6 ready. With the spring melt…

Aretha Franklin, Wynton Marsalis, legends, will be coming to Syracuse in July

The names were announced for this July’s M&T Syracuse Jazz Fest and the top two were huge. Aretha Franklin will be singing on Saturday night, July 18, on the rolling hills of the campus of Onondaga Community College, and Wynton Marsalis will lead the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra the night of July 17. That’s…

Two songs, too little air time for Syracuse’s ‘Voice’ rep

It was Two and No Thank You for Syracuse area singer Josh Batstone on “The Voice.” For the second song in a row, the teen singer from Fulton, N.Y., turned in a performance that was whittled down to less than a minute of NBC singing competition air time instead of the full-blown drama afforded the…

Photo 101: Putting big in a new daily scale

The big daily was a constant in my life for 29 years, five months. Yes, my nickname for my former place of employment and the paper that got tossed on the steps of the Little Bitty shared by my dear wife Karen and I here in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood crossed my mind…