Word says ‘Star Wars 7’ will kill off a character

The latest round of speculation surrounding the seventh installment of the “Star Wars” frachise says a beloved character from the initial triology will not be left standing a the end of “Star Wars Episode Seven: The Force Awakens.” In my weekly Fim News blog today on the Syracuse New Times site, I quote writer Joseph…

Odd couple, maybe, odd Oscar, definitely

Let’s talk about Oscar Madison. You know, the fictional sportswriter. Cigar-smoker, beer-drinker, poker-player, buddy to Murray the Cop. Forever cranky roommate to fussbudget Felix Ungar. Oh, yes, that is the crux of the long-lived male tale born in the mind of playwright Neil Simon for the 1965 Broadway production “The Odd Couple,” with Walter Matthau…

No secret: These Brits can figure out clues

James Bond had his decades, oh so many of them. Jack Ryan. Jason Bourne. Bring on Gary “Eggsy” Unwin. Yeah, “Kingsmen: The Secret Service” continues the long line of agent thrillers, but this young British hero has more to do with 007 than the rest, with gadgets and fighting and cool. You can read my…

Well it looks pretty nice

Things were looking pretty as Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle raced to do her morning thing off the back porch of the Little Bitty my dear wife Karen and I share in the Syracuse city neighborhood of Syracuse. The sun was inviting. Postcard alluring, perhaps. Vivid skies invited birds to the treetops off in the…

You win some, you lose some

Snow and cold, hot Italian food, snow and cold, hot college basketball, cold and snow. A happy Valentine’s Day it was for my dear wife Karen and I in Syracuse, N.Y. We started with a drive through the snow to Carrabba’s Italian Grill in nearby Fayetteville. The 2 p.m. late lunch/early dinner plan was perfect…

Eclectic Corner Fiction: The Bar and The Ring

Justine at Eclectic Odds N Sods throws a weekly party of prompts in which she tempts bloggers to add to her foundation with photographs or words. She calls in I Love Eclectic Corner. You can find the latest installment here. She writes of a painter, a woman at her easel in the field of her…

A Valentine’s Day story about a dog and a bird

My Valentine’s Day started with an Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle clamor. Bed to floor to French doors to bed to my face. Get. Up. Da! I know the language of our beloved 4-year-old rescue mutt well. The 7:30 a.m. door-open resulted in a quicker exit than usual, and Ellie B scampered haphazardly around the…

Cementing a Bond between boss and writer

Yesterday afternoon I drove to the offices of Syracuse Public Media site waer.org to pick up tickets to today’s Syracuse-Duke men’s basketball game. I was offered the tickets after another blogger saw my story that mentioned Valentine’ Day plans that included taking my dear wife Karen to see the game on the movie screen at…