Metroland

Time for one more Christmas cartoon

2011-12-24T22:55:00-05:00

Time for another Christmas cartoon

2011-12-24T14:46:00-05:00

Time for a Christmas cartoon

2011-12-24T10:37:00-05:00

My bad, Jamie Dimon is CEO of JPMorgan Chase . . .

2011-12-24T06:04:00-05:00

OOPS. I had my megabanks mixed up in a previous Tweet. Jamie Dimon is not CEO of Citibank. To set things right, here's Matt Taibbi with a post on the antics of JPMorgan Chase. Essentially, Jamie Dimon handed Birmingham, Alabama...

Christmas Past: Pet Photos With Santa, 1990

2011-12-17T11:52:34-05:00

B.A. Nilsson, who regularly reviews restaurants, plays, concerts and writes about food for Metroland, has a blog! It's called Words and Music, so do yourself a favor and bookmark it. In the spirit of the season, when looking back is...

Holiday Gift Guide: Under the Radar Music by David Greenberger

2011-12-13T11:46:26-05:00

While music is a constant in people’s lives, the album era is all but gone and shuffle play has become the intermingled soundtrack to all manner of other activities. Great albums are still being made (or, in some cases, reissued),...

Holiday Gift Guide: Children's Books by Kathryn Geurin

2011-12-13T11:45:00-05:00

Books are magical in general, sure, but there is a special sort of magic packed in the pages of children’s books, where art and poetry and prose swirl together in the unfettered imagination of youth, where the line between fantasy...

Holiday Gift Guide: Classical Music by B.A. Nilsson

2011-12-13T09:45:00-05:00

If you followed my suggestion last year and purchased the 103-CD Jascha Heifetz box set, your investment is now appreciating. The set is out of print and its price is climbing. All the more reason to consider the forthcoming Arthur...

Holiday Gift Guide: Literature & Nonfiction by Josh Potter

2011-12-13T09:29:44-05:00

When you’re not dealing in gas cards and chocolate-covered pretzels, holiday gift giving requires an intimate understanding of the passions and interests that constitute your loved ones. Because of this, shopping for books can quickly become a fool’s errand in...

Holiday Gift Guide: Kids Stuff by Kathryn Geurin

2011-12-13T09:29:17-05:00

We tend to have a knee jerk opposition to electronic toys in our house, favoring puppets and kazoos over Let’s Rock Elmo. But we are perfectly willing to acquiesce that good electronic toys can engage kiddos in open-ended play, and...

Holiday Gift Guide: Jazz by Josh Potter

2011-12-13T09:28:55-05:00

Jazz has always been a genre for collectors, and as many of its perennial heroes age, we haven’t yet witnessed a wholesale shift away from the physical product. This is good news for both those who like to stack their...

Holiday Gift Guide: Indie/Pop Music by Josh Potter

2011-12-13T09:28:39-05:00

Simmer down, Fox News. If anyone’s waging a war on Christmas, it’s Spotify. Ever since the Swedish music-streaming service set up shop on American soil earlier this year and started offering its degenerate, pagan, gay agenda of bottomless free music...

Holiday Gift Guide: Folk, Blues, Bluegrass, and Celtic Music by Glenn Weiser

2011-12-13T09:28:07-05:00

As the number of CDs on retail racks dwindles as inexorably as the daylight hours at this time of year, it’s ever more difficult to find the right gift disc for the roots-music fan. That’s why I’ve been prowling around...

Holiday Gift Guide: Cookbooks by B.A. Nilsson

2011-12-13T07:51:34-05:00

Sure, I like to curl up with a good cookbook. That’s why I enjoy ones that balance the recipes with narrative. The narrative in Shaw Rabadi’s Savor the Spices of Life (Food for Thought) starts out like a spy thriller...

Holiday Gift Guide: Music Books by David Greenberger

2011-12-13T07:49:19-05:00

From a few ounces to half a dozen pounds, the season is rich with books for any of your music-loving friends and family. First, let’s look at the new offerings on the perennials front. George Harrison: Living in the Material...

Holiday Gift Guide: Christmas Music by Shawn Stone

2011-12-13T07:46:55-05:00

Ho ho ho! What new holiday music does Santa have in his bag? At the top of the list there’s the duo She & Him with the appropriately titled A Very She & Him Christmas (Merge). Zooey Deschanel’s blank-sounding, 3...

Holiday Gift Guide: Video by Shawn Stone

2011-12-13T07:40:35-05:00

This is the year DVD died. Major studios are deleting catalog DVD titles by the hundreds—just check the bargain bin at your favorite music-and-moves retailer—and recent films are, more and more, available only as Blu-ray/DVD “combo packs.” So, let’s have...

Holiday Gift Guide: Cool Gadgets by Rick Marshall

2011-12-13T07:33:04-05:00

Buying gifts for the tech-savvy people on your list can be a daunting task if you’re not up on the latest trends in the digital world, but that doesn’t mean you’re destined to disappoint your favorite gadget geek. There are...

Message from the Occupation #OccupyAlbany

2011-10-23T09:56:22-04:00

It didn't look like anyone/anything was stirring at the Occupy Albany camp in Academy Park when I rolled by on the No. 13 bus (New Scotland Avenue) at about 5 minutes past 8 o'clock this morning, but Occupy Albany issued...

A few thoughts about the West Side Story revival at Proctors . . .

2011-08-19T16:24:24-04:00

The touring company production of West Side Story that’s currently at Proctors is wonderful entertainment, and I recommend it with few reservations: the performers are dynamic, the choreography is legendary, the music is beautifully played and it’s great theater. Go...