A community comes together to help a kind man

Friends come from many places in life, if you’re fortunate. My dear wife Karen and I met Dave and Pauline Togni when they joined the group of folks we take cruises with on the big ships. They know people who know people who we know. For several of these happy vacations, Dave and Pauline were…

Mark it Up brings Doyle to WAER for my podcast debut

There’s a new wrinkle to my work for Syracuse Public Media site waer.org. Add a Mark It Up in Syracuse podcast to my weekly community blog column. For the debut edition, I interviewed veteran Syracuse guitarist, arranger, band leader and more Mark Doyle in the WAER-FM 88.3 studios. He’s bringing his quite cool Guitar Noir…

In the end, it’s Louisville and Michigan State fans that win

I was right in my prediction Thursday when I declared that the Sheraton University would not be empty in the Friday hours before the East Region of the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen up the hill a short stretch in the Carrier Dome. Interestingly enough, as my dear wife Karen and I made our way to…

How do you prep for a Sweet Sixteen?

There are many ways, I suppose, for a bunch of college-aged men to spend a few hours in a strange city before a very important evening. Add in the fact that they’re joined by the collective purpose of their university’s sports team, and it’s surely no surprise to discover them in a pack, dressed rather…

Aretha Franklin, Wynton Marsalis, legends, will be coming to Syracuse in July

The names were announced for this July’s M&T Syracuse Jazz Fest and the top two were huge. Aretha Franklin will be singing on Saturday night, July 18, on the rolling hills of the campus of Onondaga Community College, and Wynton Marsalis will lead the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra the night of July 17. That’s…

Syracuse music, with The Works

And the winner is … Friday night, 13 best-of category recipients will be announced at the Syracuse Area Music Awards annual ceremony at the Palace Theatre. There also will be shiny black trophies handed out for the Brian Bourke Award for best new artist, hall of fame inductees (including Chris Goss of Masters of Reality)…

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…

Eli Cook will drive from Virginia to spread his vision of the modern blues

Eli Cook will point his vehicle north come two weekends from now and be excited about meeting new people. The solo trip from Virginia to Syracuse won’t be so bad when there’s a guitar in the back, songs in your heart and the tradition of a style of music to modernize and keep alive. And…