3 pretty bushes all in a row

In the last week, my three sturdy backyard garden butterfly bushes have changed personality a bit. The white, in fact, became the loudest of the bunch, with blooms so big, so long, so wide, they threatened to drown out their neighbors. But the pink indeed morphed chameleon-like into the multi-colored beauty of seasons past, and…

What stories will this book tell these four months?

I read the text from my dear wife Karen as I sat on the short wall in little Perseverance Park a block from work at lunchtime Friday afternoon in downtown Syracuse. She told me I’d gotten three good things in the mail. Film blogger paycheck from the Syracuse New Times I immediately texted back. Correct.…

The skunk makes us miss the days of the gopher

My dear wife Karen let out Ellie B in the backyard for a few minutes just when the sun was setting Monday night. I heard the bark, the frantic one, the I’ve-got-an-animal-bothering-me pitch. I heard Karen calling my name with an equal amount of panic. I smelled the hint of trouble as I saw my…

When you used to be Governor, you can make up words

Arnold Schwarzenegger told the world on Instagram Wednesday that the fifth Terminator film will be called “Terminator Genisys.” The world laughed. Taunted. Asked him if he knew how to spell. Over on my Syracuse New Times Film News installment of my twice-weekly blog, I compared it to the way they willy-nilly come up with the…

A show for the ’80s in 2014

Organizers said the gates to the Benny’s Lost 80s Bash would open at 4 p.m. last Saturday at Onondaga Community College. It was held inside instead of outside. It did rain that night, so that was a great move. But they made us stand in line until 5 before opening the doors. I’m at the…

‘Get on Up’ shows all sides of James Brown

When I saw James Brown listed for the main stage of Woodstock ’99 in Rome, N.Y., I made sure I was as close as possible in my role as music critic for the big daily. In fact, the promoters made him the opening act. The Hardest Working Man in Show Business, the Godfather of Soul…

A pretty little golf course in the city

When my wonderful daughter Elisabeth and her terrific boyfriend George and I decided it was time for some Sunday golf, I suggested the little city golf course that’s just two miles from our house in our Eastwood neighborhood. They’d already been to Sunnycrest’s sister nine-hole, par-three course, Burnet Park, so they were eager to try…