Puppies, homicide and the Great Depression were a combination powerful enough to fill the Birdcage Theatre’s seats Saturday night. Even the spare lawn chairs by the men’s room were recruited to seat the overflow crowd for “Of Mice and Men” in Oroville For those not familiar with John Steinbeck’s novel (he also co-authored the play), […]
It was a long climb up the stairs at the Blue Room Theatre on a day that never warmed. Only half the seats were filled at the summit. It wasn’t New Year’s Eve yet, but a trio of young women celebrated with a bottle of champagne before the lights went out and “Wintertime” began. As […]
After the first presidential debate had been hashed to pieces by pundits and know-it-alls, I was reminded by “The Daily Show With Jon Stewart” that John Kerry’s obliteration of Bush wasn’t a great achievement. Kerry beat a man in a debate who’s choked on a pretzel. I didn’t hesitate to laugh, but an important thought […]
It didn’t matter that the Panthers couldn’t overcome Favre on Monday night. By the end of the first week of the NFL season, I was already 5-10. That 11th loss was just an extra nail in my coffin. Out of 16 games, I only picked five of the winners. Thanks to my worst week ever, […]
With Labor Day weekend passed and another chapter in the annals of tubing written, we have the same-ol’-same-ol’ issues. It’s a bunch of ruthless and awful college students getting together and partying. Or is it a bunch of uptight cops getting agitated because people are trying to have fun? Actually it’s a little of both […]
I came to a conclusion while watching the Olympics; the Beijing games in 2008 will be much longer than four years away and will be even more painful to watch. NBC confused me royally with their mammoth 24-hour 7-channel lineup. Unlike the Nagano Nightmare CBS provided with the 1998 Winter Olympics, there are events broadcast […]
It’s been two weeks since Mel Gibson’s movie went to DVD. No, not “Lethal Weapon 9.” It was The Gospel According to Mel — I mean, “The Passion of the Christ.” The grace period where I would have gone to hell if I criticized the movie is finally over (at least that’s what I’ve been […]
The room was packed. People would scream, clap and dance as they heard the promise of a better tomorrow. Hope sprang eternal. The tyrant would be overthrown. John Kerry was Elijah, Moses, Jesus and Mohammed all in one long-faced body. Some people call this preaching to the choir. How many Republican and third-party voters would […]
As a semi-poor college student, I am appalled by the outright boasting by stores that we will spend more money on their products than last year. I am a consumer, yes, but that doesn’t mean that after the cost of two laptops dying on me during this semester, as well as a $300 failed rebate […]
Over the river and through the woods, to Grandmother’s house we go. Wait, it was over a creek and a 30-minute drive on an asphalt road to Grandmother’s house. There were trees off the shoulders, and there were the occasional cracks in the road. My point is, for Thanksgiving there wasn’t the huge rush for […]