I thought that I would have more time over the holidays to correspond with everyone, but the Indignant Children have been more indignant than usual. So, I never had the chance to wish you a Happy Christmas (my apologies) , but I do have the opportunity to wish you all a Happy New Year. But […]

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Over the next 3 weeks or so, we will be bombarded by various “Top 10 Lists” from critics as reputable as Roger Ebert to options as dubious as those of Mickey Mouse. Films, movies, music; almost everything that happened in 2010 is going to be ranked until we enter 2011. So, what’s one more…. For […]

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There’s always someone who disagrees with the popular consensus, and I don’t mind being that person from time to time. That said, I don’t get all of the critical praise being heaped on Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan.” As I wrote after this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, I didn’t think much of the film. In […]

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This week, Consumer Reports released its satisfaction survey of wireless carriers, and in no shock to me, AT&T ranked dead last among U.S. wireless carriers. The nation’s second largest wireless network received the worst possible rating in eight of the nine categories the magazine studied, including overall value, voice service, data service, phone service, staff […]

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In less than a week, we lost two fine athletes and broadcasters that I loved to listen to. First, we lost local Chicago favorite Ron Santo. Santo was a Cub for all but 117 games in his career, but is better known as the radio voice of the team. In that role, he was hilarious, […]

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I don’t watch very much television, and certainly no network nighttime programming. (My television viewing consists of sports when I can wrestle the remote away from the kids. I have seen more of Dora The Explorer and Pixar movies than anyone my age should.) As such, I avoided the “Desperate Housewives” phenomenon from a couple […]

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I am a fan of Elvis Costello and of T-Bone Burnett. I have just about every release Mr. Costello has done including his orchestral material; and I have a good amount of Mr. Burnett’s output as well. As a longtime fan, I know that Costello is not a bandwagon jumper; he has worked with Burnett […]

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