2006 July

The place: Way out west. The time: Not that long ago. The cast: Blond-haired, blue-eyed Young Man; gray-haired, grizzled Old Man. Young Man: Tell me, Father, what’s “The Cowboy Way”? Old Man: Son, we...

"Freedom fries" are only the latest manifestation of this country's 150-year-old tradition of linking patriotism with food, as documented in the Clements Library's exhibit Patriotic Fare: Abe Lincoln Tomatoes,...

The young new Canadian band Greenwich Meantime calls its music "Celtic rock/ pop," but even more than these three genres are involved. These musicians seek to use the Celtic past in a modern, eclectic context without...

I’m in thrall to a rerun. I can’t help it. It doesn’t matter what I’m doing, where I’m going, how late I am, what’s burning, or who’s ringing the doorbell with a hot pizza, I will stop...

In 1995 two sisters, Kristy and Kelly Montee, originally from Detroit but then living in two different southern states, combined to become one mystery writer, P. J. Parrish. As Parrish, they (or she?) created the essential...

Outside the historic Stockbridge Township Hall, an older gentleman wearing a John Deere hat calls to me from his truck, "Miss, is this where the drumming thing is?" "Yes, sir," I shout. My boys and I are...

Last fall, New York Times dance writer Gia Kourlas wrote a still-controversial "think piece" lamenting that New York City has lost its edge and no longer serves as the vortex of international contemporary dance....

I first discovered the strange, quirky pop music of Umberto, the alter ego of Ann Arbor singer-songwriter Gina Pensiero, about a year ago when I was cruising for free local downloads on the myspace.com music site. I snatched two...