It’s easy to feel haunted by the ghosts of Christmas past this year, even more so than usual. Dickens aside, while some spirits come from Stephen King, others hail from the likes of Harvey Comics, Tim Burton, Harold Ramis and a legion of others. Either way, for some reason – maybe with all the uncertainty… Continue Reading
As a young man from Mississipp, Ed Dees learned to love jazz while serving in the military and stationed in Japan. To paraphrase a standard from the Great American Songbook, what a wonderful world. So wonderful it could be, sometimes. In fact, Ed said he once met jazz legend Louis Armstrong, who, of course, recorded… Continue Reading
Still Christmas shopping? Just buy booze. Otherwise, drink, then Uber over to Walmart. Or sit home in your underwear and make Jeff Bezos even richer as you order from Amazon and hope stuff arrives before Dec. 25. Whatever works. With so many choices these days, buying booze is as frustrating as trying to find something… Continue Reading
Last Friday I was kidnapped by my buddy Diane – at least until she found out all she could get for me were some Kohl’s coupons and a half a pack of gum. Either way, she convinced me to go with her and other buddy Jen to a concert at the Arcada Theatre in St.… Continue Reading
Our fourth and final episode in this season’s trip to Michigan began with a visit to the family farmland in Birch Run. When they were kids, Mark, Tom and one of their other brothers frequently spent part of their summers with Grandma and Grandpa Owens and Uncle Pat on land that’s been in the family… Continue Reading
Happy Eastern Orthodox Christmas everybody! Happy New Year, too. To mark those occasions, best fest buddy Tom said he was going to be shaving off his beard on on before the Jan. 7 holiday. But no. The beard has been keeping him warm during the tundra time between regular old Christmas and the Orthodox one.… Continue Reading
Here’s my checklist of things I’ve been doing during the Christmas holly daze season, an aging fat guy’s attempts to get through a time of year when it gets dark before 4:30 p.m. First, I have a tradition of eating as many Thanksgiving dinners as I can get invited to attend. I frequently repeat this… Continue Reading
Until last Sunday, I had never seen the Goodman Theatre production of “A Christmas Carol” – which in these parts is like saying you’ve never seen the seasonal windows at Marshall Field’s/Macy’s or headed into the Walnut Room with your grandma to have lunch there while you gawked at the tree as you ate your… Continue Reading