May 18 2013 - 9:30pm
My adventures in chick lit continue with a novel by Deb Caletti, "He's Gone" (Bantam trade paperback, 352 pages, $15.00) that will inevitably be compared to Gillian Flynn's bestselling novel "Gone Girl." Read more
May 17 2013 - 9:36pm
Updated 1 day ago
“Friends would show up at fishing and deer camp with cheese, bologna, beef jerky and beer," observed the Michigan radio personality and author. Believing that food helps make for a successful day hunting or fishing, Tim Murphy, would shake his head and ‘say we do better this. I wrote the first book and it just took off." Read more
May 17 2013 - 1:16am
Updated 2 days ago
Back in 2009, director J.J. Abrams did what many thought to be next to impossible. He took the Star Trek franchise, one of the most beloved television shows/movie series of all time, and brought it back to the big screen for its eleventh appearance and somehow managed to make it fresh, original, exciting, and all-out engrossing for fans and non-fans alike.
This was at a time when things were not looking particularly good for the franchise. “Star Trek: Enterprise” had already been cancelled prematurely back in 2005 and the previous feature film, “Star Trek: Nemesis,” had been a rather disappointing finale for Picard and his crew. Now, with everyone’s faith fully restored by Abrams’ previous venture into the Trek universe, he once again takes us where no man has gone before with “Star Trek Into Darkness.” Read more
May 17 2013 - 12:40am
Updated 2 days ago
Come have a Party on the Patio at Heritage Station, Friday, May 17, from 7-11 p.m. and listen to the sounds of Mystic Mountain Blueberry. Read more
May 17 2013 - 12:00am
Updated 2 days ago
Space... the final frontier. A new big screen 3D voyage of the Starship Enterprise lifts off this weekend at most multiplexes.
J.J. Abrams takes “Star Trek Into Darkness” as the young officers of The U.S.S. Enterprise set course for their most epic journey yet. Abrams reunites with the team that created the fun, the humor, and the spirit of 2009’s acclaimed hit reboot of the beloved franchise. Read more
May 16 2013 - 7:25am
Psychology is probably the world’s most popular science. Everyone claims to use it; hence the common expression “to psych someone out,” meaning to play on a person’s basic way of thinking to gain an advantage. Self-help gurus make good livings by getting people to buy their books or sign up for courses with the promise of applying psychology to improve their lives. Read more
May 16 2013 - 1:52am
Updated 3 days ago
Murder and Merriment held its’ Second Annual Awards Banquet, this week at The Greenhouse in Teays Valley.
“What a tremendous year we had”, explained George R. Snider III, who founded the acting troupe that performs interactive murder mysteries. Read more
May 16 2013 - 1:02am
Switching places with diners, cast members of the Murder and Merriment troupe attend their Second Annual Awards Banquet where peers vote for and nominate members for Best Death Scene, Best Detective, Best Actor and Best Actress. Photos are by Renee Davis
Read more
May 16 2013 - 12:00am
Updated 3 days ago
Huntington Artwalkers may want to gaze at comic and fantasy art pieces on display 5-9 p.m. at Empire Books as part of the May Art Walk. Featuring a smorgasbord of art --- from classic photography to crafts and even comic art, the Huntington Artwalk takes place Thursday, in downtown Huntington. The venues span from Fourth Avenue, to Third Avenue and to Pullman Square. Read more
May 15 2013 - 5:53pm
Updated 3 days ago
Have you wanted to be seen on the silver screen? Or, learn about the filmmaking process that occurs behind the scenes and determines the in front of the camera shots?
An independent feature, "Another You," has a need for extras in the age range of 18-25 beginning at 11 a.m. Thursday, May 16 near the Starbucks at Geary Student Union at the University of Charleston. Read more
May 15 2013 - 4:54pm
Updated 4 days ago
For those who missed the earlier announcement, auditions for "Hairspray," which will be presented by HOT (Huntington Outdoor Theatre) every weekend in July at the Ritter Park Amphitheater. Auditions will be Wednesday, May 15, from 6-9 p.m. at Trinity Episcopal Church, 520 11th Street, Huntington, WV. Read more
May 14 2013 - 10:17am
Memorial Day is just ahead and Reader's Digest Association has just published "Stories in Uniform: A Look at the Heroics, Laughs, Sorrows, and Tragedies of Our Soldiers" by the Editors of Readers Digest (Reader's Digest Association, New York, 224 pages, $15.99). If you're old enough, as is the reviewer, you'll be reminded of the high quality of war reporting by such luminaries as Corey Ford, Malcolm McConnell, Lowell Thomas and many more that appeared in the magazine and now in this collection.
Read more
May 11 2013 - 9:26pm
I hate to say I told you so, but when it comes to the new Dodge Dart, I told you so! The completely redesigned replacement for the Dodge Caliber is not selling at all well when compared to competitors Toyota, Honda, Chevy, and especially the popular Ford Focus. Read more
May 11 2013 - 8:20pm
I was attracted to S.J. Brown's "Close Ups & Close Encounters: A View from Behind the Lens" (Acorn Book Services, 112 pages, 60 color photos, available from all the book sources, including Amazon.com, $22.95) because I've been a photographer since my high school years in the early 1950s and photographing animals has been a particular passion.
Read more
May 10 2013 - 2:03pm
Drop whatever book you're reading and pick up a copy of Liz Rosenberg's stunning look at three Long Island families, "The Laws of Gravity" (Amazon Publishing, 288 pages, $24.95, available in eBook and audio book editions from Amazon.com). I learned a lot about cord blood storage and what it's good for, but most of all I delighted in Rosenberg's dissection of the Greene, Wiesenthal and Richter families told in clear-eyed, more often than not very funny prose.
Read more
May 10 2013 - 2:14am
On May 8, 1928 the Grand Dame of Fourth Avenue, the icon often referred to as the $2 million dollar temple of amusement (in 2013 dollars estimate $27 million), opened its doors to Huntington for vaudeville, motion pictures and touring shows. Eighty five years later, the icon celebrates a successful fund raiser to repair the roof, which hopefully will keep the nearly 3,000 seat Thomas Lamb atmospheric movie palace as an operating landmark for another 85 years. Read more
May 9 2013 - 7:22am
Knowing Lawrence S. Wittner's background and current position -- he's executive secretary of the Albany County (NY) Central Federation of Labor AFL-CIO -- it's no surprise that the blue collar workers at fictional UAardvark in Indiana in Wittner's "What's Going On at UAardvark?" (Solidarity Press, 243 pages, available from Amazon.com, $14.95) are among the heroes in the novel.
Read more
May 9 2013 - 1:16am
Updated 1 week ago
NELSONVILLE, Ohio- Stuart's Opera House presents the 9th annual Nelsonville Music Festival on May 30th -June 2nd, 2013 at Robbins Crossing on the campus of Hocking College in Nelsonville, Ohio. Read more
May 8 2013 - 8:51pm
Updated 1 week ago
School of Visual Arts (SVA) proudly announced the winners of its 2013 Dusty Film & Animation Festival and Awards (dusty.sva.edu), at an awards ceremony from New York City's SVA Theatre (and live streamed at http://new.livestream.com/sva/dusty), highlighting the work of more than 150 filmmakers and animators graduating from the BFA Film, Video and Animation Department. Read more
May 7 2013 - 8:58pm
Updated 1 week ago
Huntington City Council has passed an ordinance authorizing the design of the Harris Riverfront Park Skatepark, Next, comes the planning and decision making process. Read more
May 7 2013 - 6:17pm
Who knew? We know MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski is a determined, skilled journalist, who doesn't suffer fools gladly. She doesn't give her co-host, Joe Scarborough on Morning Joe a break either, chiding him about his eating habits. Southern gentleman Scarborough, a former Florida congressman, takes his chiding in good grace.
Read more
May 6 2013 - 1:02am
Updated 1 week ago
Having opened the season with sold out performances of Cabaret, and revolutionizing William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Arts Resources for the Community continues getting ready for its next few shows Read more
May 6 2013 - 1:01am
Updated 1 week ago
Vulnerable superhero Iron Man (played by Robert Downey Jr.), with the team of filmmakers, has brewed a shock and awe adventure. In the third installment of the series, it focuses on maximizing the early Marvel Comic mantra, which continually emphasizes the frailties and humanness of Tony Stark, the alter ego of the man in the power suit. The film also implants empowering references to his intellectual abilities (“You’re a mechanic, make something”.), the powerfulness versus weakness stretches brilliantly and instills multiple “who will survive” moments. Read more
May 4 2013 - 9:15pm
The appearance of books embracing something called the "New Domesticity" has me wondering if this trend -- if indeed it is a trend -- is yet another indicator to me that job growth isn't enough to get people out of their parents' basements and into an apartment of their own -- and a real job.
As I sat down at the computer to write this review, the April employment statistics were being broadcast. U.S. employers added 165,000 workers last month and many more in February and March than previously estimated. The unemployment rate fell to the lowest level in four years, 7.5 percent. If this keeps up, we'll see if the New Domesticity has legs. Read more
May 4 2013 - 12:11am
Updated 2 weeks ago
West Virginia Governor Earl Ray Tomblin and the WV Legislature has provided a check for $300,000 to the Keith Albee Performing Arts Center. The funds will be used for roof repair. Read more
May 3 2013 - 6:04pm
Updated 2 weeks ago
Come on out and get a free Comic! Free Comic Book Day is Saturday, May 4 and at least three area comic fans will participate.
Artists Todd Frazer and James Maddox will sell original art and prints at Purple Earth 1120 4th Ave from noon-6. Read more
May 2 2013 - 11:46pm
Updated 2 weeks ago
Movies on a Mission will occur Saturday, May 4, at the Cinema Theatre, now the home of Redemption Church. Although the movies will be "free", the idea is to raise money for missions and an orphanage in Haiti.
"Wreck it Ralph" will screen in the small theatre, and "The Avengers" will roll in the large auditorium. Doors open at 6:15 p.m. Seating is limited. Concessions will be available for purchase.
Read more
May 2 2013 - 9:54pm
Today, May 1, is Labor Day in much of the world, especially the socialist inclined world. I wouldn't even want to guess what it would be like today in Greece or Spain, two of the EuroZone countries that have suffered the most. I don't love the smell of tear gas in the morning!
Read more
May 2 2013 - 9:22pm
I think I was … um … mumble mumble years old before I realized that not everybody reads every single word describing every single movie that was ever made.
Actually, this realization didn’t dawn on me until yesterday. Sort of like if you love vanilla ice cream, you assume that everybody else must love it, too. Or Agatha Christie mysteries. Or coffee. Read more
May 2 2013 - 8:44pm
Continuing my multi-part review of David Stockman's "The Great Deformation" (PublicAffairs Books, 768 pages, $35.00.
The author quotes economist Paul Samuelson who dubbed FDR's 1935 Social Security Act…a giant Ponzi scheme and is not one of those who mourns the 1999 replacement of the 1933 Glass-Steagall Act by Gramm-Leach-Bliley. In fact, Stockman says the worst aspect of Glass-Steagall -- deposit insurance -- was one of the few parts of Glass-Steagall retained by Gramm-Leach-Bliley. Read more
.jpeg "BOOK REVIEW: 'He's Gone': Complexities of Marriage, Divorce, Infidelities Examined in Debut Adult Novel")
