Cooking With Wine or Booze? : Three Cautionary Truths by Michael Orr The explosion of cooking shows (and networks) and Tasty Kitchenware ads on Facebook has caused people to get out of their comfort zone with their culinary endeavors. For the most part that is a very good thing. But there are missing nuggets of Read more
December 4, 1927 Duke Ellington Opens at Cotton Club Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington was born April 29, 1899 in Washington, D.C. and moved to the Big Apple in his early twenties. Duke Ellington was an American jazz legend. Composer, jazz orchestra leader and pianist, his career spanned more than sixty years. But his big break Read more
Language in Opera Singing by Cathleen McGowan As an opera singer, people comment that I must know a lot of languages. I wish I did, but currently I speak and understand two languages fluently: English and not-English. Not-English is a hybrid of the languages I’ve studied and is nearly incomprehensible outside of my own brain. Read more
Holiday Dinner Hosting: Top 5 Tips for Avoiding Stress By Lucy E.M. Black I freely admit to being a glutton for punishment. I love to cook for a crowd. I love hosting dinner for friends and family, especially for important occasions and holidays. I recognize that this puts me in the category of being somewhat Read more
INTRODUCING “THE DOUBLYS” – THE LITERARY OSCARS A modest proposal by Jude Joseph Lovell Hollywood recently rolled out its red carpets yet again in Los Angeles, California, for the 71st Emmy Awards, honoring the best achievements in American television. All the brightest and prettiest people paraded across them, posed for pictures, and made small talk Read more
Histories and Stories of Truth by Lucy E.M. Black For many in our generation, the word history has, for the most part, often seemed rather benign. History was a subject taught in schools with battered textbooks and an endless droning of facts and dates. At the time, it did not occur to us that what Read more
The Old 5 & 10 by Tammy Grey Stepping into Dick’s Old Time 5 and 10 is like stepping back into a nearly forgotten era. This Missouri landmark has called Historic Downtown Branson home for over fifty years now. Richard (Dick) and June Hartley started the business, and they ran it together until Dick’s death Read more
Bruce Springsteen Born to Be You Book review by Jude Joseph Lovell American music legend Bruce Springsteen turns 70 years old on September 23. This prompted me to pick up his 2016 memoir, Born to Run. The book is a magnificent, colorful, unruly story of an epic, valley-to-the-mountaintop life in performance. Reportedly, Springsteen wrote every Read more
Traveling On a Plant-Based Diet by Heather Hunter As one who thrives on a gluten-free vegetarian and vegan diet, traveling often prevents me from being able to stick to my preferred way of eating. But I recently struck gold on a trip to Jamaica, which afforded me an array of rich and colorful plant-based foods Read more
A Hot Summer with Keith Urban by Liz Cruciani If you were to ask me a few years ago if I was a fan of country music, my answer would have been a quick, “No. Not my cup of tea. This rock n roll chick listening to country music? Unheard of!” That all changed one Read more
