Three Fat Guys plumps up with food, music

The thought struck when the platter of chicken tenders and fries was put in front of me. The trio behind the bar named Three Fat Guys may well have been three skinny guys until they started eating the food so well put together in the kitchen in the green bar at 3898 New Court Avenue…

Yeah, that’s the ship we’re supposed to be on in September

Cruise news. When things go bad on those massive hotels-on-the-sea, my dear wife Karen and I had a fallback position. Stuck in the ocean? Not our cruise line. No food, bathrooms plugged? Different company. Tugged back to safety? OK, change the channel, already. Do we really need to hear this? A couple of minutes ago…

There’s fun to be had in Syracuse’s old hockey barn, and possibly a Cup, too

What says Memorial Day Weekend in Syracuse more than an American Hockey League playoff game in the Onondaga County War Memorial? How about it, I asked my dear wife Karen as we enjoyed our Saturday afternoon. Wanna go? All joking aside, the signs pointed to yes. Good hockey and a bite in the air were…

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…

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…

Lunch with an old student reveals great dreams for a new beginning

Keep in touch, I told my smiling students that final day of Music Journalism classes. I meant it. We’d just spent a Le Moyne College semester exploring the glory of words and music together. I hoped they’d gotten as much out of our collective efforts as their teacher had. I was the one who shined…

To save The Sound Garden in Syracuse, go to college

Listen to the people. Do not force The Sound Garden to shut down its Armory Square store. News accounts in the Syracuse morning daily told of a crowd of 50 or so folks that gathered in front of City Hall in support of the record store. The nub of the matter is an ordinance that…