I dig digging when it means more beauty in our gardens

We planted five new additions to the Bialczak Botanical Gardens this morning. OK, that’s a bit of a stretch for the oval in front and triangle in back of our Eastwood home, but my dear wife Karen and I love what we can grow on our city plot. A trip to Hafner’s Garden Center yesterday…

A visit to the mailbag finds New York Rock, Final Friday at the Mack, reminder of Styleen’s

First off, I like it when the name fits the band. Mike Brindisi & the New York Rock. Sounds like front man Mike leads an outfit that plays some homegrown rock ‘n’ roll. That’s the way it rolls out of the Ithaca-based band’s new five-song collection, “Taste.” That title, too, fits the bill. The rock…

Rusted Root will showcase that lasting cool vibe at first Long Branch Jam

Two decades later, the first time I saw Rusted Root on the stage still thunders in my mind. The beat. The passion. The voices. The way all of those significant pleasures blended into quite memorable songs. After the set, I picked my jaw back up from the ground and went wandering backstage in search of…

WoodFellas lend their hip-hop cool to video song for Syracuse Chiefs

There’s a new video out that pledges allegiance to the Syracuse Chiefs. It’s titled “Chiefsville,” and it weaves a pretty cool hip-hop mood throughout NBT Bank Stadium. You can find the video on YouTube. The stars of the show come from Syracuse hip-hop crew WoodFellas, Dan Ignacio and Danny Velez, joined by Nikki Feroni. They…

When nature turns nasty, nobody wins

The low rumble surrounded Eastwood before dawn. It didn’t take but the first to wake me up, I figured. I’d watched the news before calling it a Monday, so I’d been told thunder storms would be hitting the Syracuse area. That, coupled with the awful news of tornado devastation and death in Oklahoma, didn’t leave…

A boy falls off his bike, and our cell phone is ready

The scene across New Court Avenue looks at first blush to be a slice of urban Americana as Ellie B and I hit the homestretch of our Sunday afternoon walk. A mom oversees her helmeted young son riding his bike in the lot that stretches behind several businesses. Suddenly, mom is a flash of movement.…

Come on, dog owners, it’s obviously not a public park

Grumpus Bialczak will now officially begin this civics lesson. We’ll start with a multiple choice question: The green space in the accompanying photo looks like: A) An empty lot between two Eastwood houses. B) A green space that neighbors sometimes use when special summertime occasions yield a guest list too large for just one yard.…

I’m not buying this odd attraction to flat-brimmed hats on our green playing fields

It’s crossed over into televised sports, this relatively new fashion called the flat-brimmed hat. How odd. It’s not the name that’s peculiar in any way, mind you. You stick it on your noggin. The big brim has not a bit of a curve to it. Yep, it’s a flat-brimmed hat. (My first urge is to…

‘Go On’ won’t. ‘The New Normal’ was too different. NBC killed them both off

It’s the time of year when the networks announce to the world who made the 2013-14 team and who got cut. Bad news for me this year, on the list of shows hit by NBC’s hatchet. Two shows in particular earned my audible “oh, no!” Bye-bye, “Go On” and “The New Normal,” two comedies that…

Woo, doo, boo, be-doop-da-boop: Giacomo Gates will bring vocalese to M&T Syracuse Jazz Fest

One more addition to the M&T Syracuse Jazz Fest has become official. Executive director and founder Frank Malfitano has announced that Giacomo Gates will sing at 5 p.m. on July 5. On Sunday, Malfitano revealed that Manhattan Transfer vocalist Cheryl Bentine will team with lyricist, vocalist and hipster Mark Winkler at 5 p.m. July Fourth,…