Posted January 02, 2013in On The Tube, Recent Posts
Shirley MacLaine gives the Brits a run for their money in ‘Downton Abbey’ “Downton Abbey,” Masterpiece Classic’s period soap opera, returns amid post-World War I turmoil (Sunday, 8 p.m., PBS). Money troubles and personal crises abound in the grand country estate, requiring a stiff upper lip from both the aristocrats
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Posted January 02, 2013in Joe's Neighborhood, Recent Posts
OK, it is the dark and dreary days of January with the bulk of winter ahead of us. I know what you’re thinking. Yup, I overheard your conversation. You’re beginning again to lay out your crazy theory of Des Moines as a rest stop, aren’t you? You know what I
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Posted December 26, 2012in Book Review, Recent Posts
Courtesy of Beaverdale Books Review by Harriet Leitch Random House Nov. 13, 2012 $35 800 pp. Another biography of Thomas Jefferson! Jon Meacham has written an authoritative, detailed biography of Jefferson, illuminating the politics and concerns of that time and the abilities of Mr. Jefferson to bend his personal ideals
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Posted December 26, 2012in Recent Posts, Sound Notes
By the time everyone reads this — no doubt from the comfort of your new smoking jacket or Trans Am, or whatever people give one another as gifts nowadays — the city will have probably dug itself out from underneath Thundersnowpocalypse 2013. The storm wreaked havoc on the previous week’s
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Posted December 26, 2012in Recent Posts, Sound Check
Various Artists ‘JDR Winter Mixtape’ Jeffery Drag Records Nashville-based Jeffery Drag has fairly quickly established itself as one of the finer establishments for all the various flavors of punk music on the market today. As a nice, little primer into its stable of talent, JDR has put together its “Winter
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Posted December 26, 2012in Joe's Neighborhood, Recent Posts
He was an old man when I lived with him years ago. But I suspect this was his pattern even as a young farmer. Up early in the kitchen. Mandatory dress of union suit, ironed pants and dangling suspenders. Two white bowls placed on the table. No one washed. No
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Posted December 26, 2012in On The Tube, Recent Posts
Joan Rivers rips into 2012’s celebrity style in ‘Fashion Police’ Joan Rivers weighs in with a year-end fashion roundup on “Fashion Police” (Friday, 9 p.m., E!). Along with Giuliana Rancic, Kelly Osbourne and George Kotsiopoulos, Rivers will call out the best and worst of celebrity frocks, naming the “Fash-Hole” who’s
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Posted December 19, 2012in Recent Posts, Sound Notes
Ravi Shankar — the finest sitar player of his generation, inspiration to everyone from The Beatles to Philip Glass and father to Norah Jones — passed away last week. It’s been a tough December for fans of non-top-40 niche musicians, with the passing of progressive jazz legend Dave Brubeck on
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Posted December 19, 2012in Recent Posts, Sound Check
Razorwire Halo ‘Robotboy’ Independent One thing you need to give Razorwire Halo credit for is its level of commitment: There’s not a huge commercial clamor for electro-goth rock anymore, but that doesn’t stop the Kansas City four-piece from doing it to the hilt and doing it fairly well. The concern
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Posted December 19, 2012in On The Tube, Recent Posts
‘Project Nim’ tells a true tale of science gone wrong “Project Nim” (Thursday, 8 p.m., HBO) tells the story of a chimpanzee who was raised like a child in a misbegotten 1970s science experiment, then cruelly sent back into captivity. James Marsh’s absorbing documentary interviews the academics from Columbia University
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