Martinfest enjoys the short February thaw

A late February day in downtown Syracuse with the high temperature hitting 68º F? Martinfest really does see it all. This gathering of great friends started four years ago by the Martins, of course, has weathered deep snow blown around by gusting winds and bone-deep cold that made one wonder if the coffee would freeze…

The Sapphires brings a needed shine to Aboriginal talent

The photo of Chris O’Dowd in a hipster singing pose with the interestingly arranged women surrounding him caught my attention on the Blu-Ray rack at the Liverpool Public Library. The Sapphires, I mused to myself, rolling the title around for a moment before I pulled it and checked it out at my workplace for viewing…

Hail, yes, this February thaw has been interesting

On the morning I posted all about the bulbs popping up around A Bitty Better in the Liverpool neighborhood of Galeville, I had to run out to my car in the pouring rain to let my dear wife Karen pull out from behind me to leave for her job at Syracuse Media Group. Lightning flashed…

What will we see coming up at A Bitty Better?

It’s an exciting time at A Bitty Better. My dear wife Karen asked me if I’d seen the sprouts. Out front and in the back. Yes, this February thaw has brought green from bulbs in our new home in the Liverpool neighborhood of Galeville. We moved from The Little Bitty in the Syracuse neighborhood of…

Pink Flamingos dig the February thaw, too

On a stroll around the blocks surrounding A Bitty Better in the Liverpool neighborhood of Galeville, my cherished rescue mutt Ellie B and I encountered some grounded birds. AKA Dogamous Pyle didn’t quite know what to make of these Pink Flamingos. They made me smile. A February smile and fabulous plastic lawn ornaments put out…

Happy dogs at Onondaga Park stay on the leash

Midway through our return leg on our stroll with cherished rescue mutt Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle at Onondaga Lake Park this past glorious Saturday, a woman ran past going the other direction on the inner trail path with her unencumbered dog trailing her. I turned my head and shouted at her. “Leash law!” Indeed.…

You never know when you’ll fall in like with the spies next door

Opposites sure do attract. Movies like Keeping Up With the Joneses wouldn’t have it any other way. This action-adventure-comedy directed by Greg Mottola from a screenplay by Michael LeSieur sends a godly secret agent couple played by statuesque Jon Hamm and Gal Godot undercover into an Atlanta cu de sac populated by the scrupulously ordinary…

A snowmobile kind of week in Galeville

Ellie B did not give chase, and for that I gave thanks. My beloved rescue mutt and I came upon an interesting sight not one block from A Bitty Better during an after-work walk this week in our Liverpool neighborhood of Galeville. A kid and a parent were riding a snowmobile on the snow-filled triangle…