Franzen’s Hartford Interlude
Jonathan Franzen’s sprawling, long-awaited novel, “Freedom” occurs all over the place, in gentrified St. Paul, Minnesota to the grime of the lower East Side New York City, with forays to…
From 'Flipper' to Saving 'Blood Dolphins'
Ric O’Barry first became attached to dolphins when he was trainer on “Flipper.” Now, years later, he’s infrontof the cameras for a new series that, like “Whale Wars” before it,…
New Challenge for 'Survivorman'
For his last adventure series, “Survivorman,” Les Stroud was literally parachuted into the wild and forced to find a way to survive it. He did, so now he has another…
Steady, Wyclef, Other Musicians Have Become Politicians
Take heart, Wyclef Jean! Haitian law may preclude you from running from president until you’ve lived there for five years. But many other musicians have made the leap to politics.…
Oil Spills into Spike Lee's Documentary
Spike Lee was nearly finished with his already long sequel to his New Orleans tome, “When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts” showing this week on HBO, called…
'Warmer' Ladies for Kids in the Hall
Canada’s premier comedy troupe returns to American TV Friday with their series “The Kids in the Hall: The Devil Comes to Town” on IFC. Like Sonic Youth, they’ve pretty much…
Playlist 8-20-10
Started with some soundtrack stuff, sampled a little more Arcade Fire, some new stuff from S. Carey and Broken Social Scene. Played some My Morning Jacket in anticipation of their…
Reviving WhalerMania
Wish my pals were around last Saturday, to take in a supreme indulgence into boyhood sportstime nostalgia. Anybody who is a fan of another, actual hockey team may not understand…
Get Rhythmic
Always nice when the nationals of anything come to Hartford. But this week it was the U.S. National Gymnastics which had special appeal, especially if you like to watch people…
Playlist 8-13-10
Back after a two week absence, started with some gospel type numbers, then heavily sampled soundtrack albums for a couple of favorite TV series, “Breaking Bad” and “True Blood.” Couldn’t…