The truth is, Adrift makes you feel rooted to Woodley’s talent

Tell Shailene Woodley that she’s Tami Oldham, and the actress is all in. Director Baltasar Kormákur uses the great work from Woodley – and to some measure co-star Sam Claflin as Richard Sharp – to make you feel like you’re living every twist and turn with them. Aaron Kandell, Jordan Kandell and David Branson Smith…

Syracuse looks fine from up high

My job at the library last week took a few carloads of us to downtown Syracuse and the very top floor of a big building on Warren Street. Before the presentation began, we pressed our faces to the window to soak up the view from floor 15. Having worked downtown for many decades during my…

Solitary moments at Onondaga Lake

This gull and the stubborn boats behind look sort of isolated as we move through November at the Onondaga Lake Marina. Walk as long as I can through my library work breaks I will.

There’s action at Lights on the Lake

Not all the displays at Lights on the Lake just sit there. Enjoy.

Happy Thanksgiving! Let there be Lights on the Lake

I promised to walk through Lights on the Lake last week to share photographs of the festive displays after night fell. I chose Wednesday, which was the night the display on the shores of Onondaga Lake was open to dogs and their walkers. I was between my main day and a night obligation two blocks…

The piles got high pretty quickly

Some folks love the first sign of winter. The white stuff comes down in a big way, and they are thrilled. Me? Not so much anymore. I think it terms of snow brushes for the cars and shovels for the paths and clearing both in time for my dear wife Karen to get to work…

We’ve already had the first big snow of the year

Some winters we sit and wonder when that first big snow will arrive. This year the guessing ends prior to Thanksgiving. Ellie B Dogamous Pyle must share the backyard of A Bitty Better with the white stuff in mid-November.

The 15:17 to Paris showcases its real heroes, but are they up for this second act?

There’s so much going for The 15:17 to Paris. It’s a true tale of heroism on the rails from Amsterdam to Paris. Clint Eastwood directs, yes, a guy who knows Hollywood action from his old days playing tough cop Dirty Harry to modern times leading the grit in American Sniper and so many ways in…

Here’s what happens when it snows overnight

I woke up early Friday morning. I knew we were going to get a lot of snow overnight. The weather people were right. So out I rolled by 6:15 because my dear wife Karen had a 7 a.m. shift. I cleared our cars and a path to them so she could pull out of the…

So now the Orange caravan travels to Yankee Stadium to meet Notre Dame

My wish a week ago was for the Syracuse community to turn up at the Carrier Dome in a big way to thank this Orange football team for one heck of a season. Those of us who’ve stuck with it through the lean times have been rewarded through their hard work and the wise direction…