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‘BRRH’ Season Premiere To Feature Smilo And The Ghost, Dan Vogan

Trinity Guitars will kick off the third season of its monthly radio program, "Back Room Radio Hour," with both a modern and vintage take on music composition.The Jamestown guitar store will present a live taping of the 19th installation of "Back Room Radio Hour" on Thursday, Sept. 8, at 7 p.m. The program will feature the Erie-based folk-rock band Smilo and the Ghost along with area singer-songwriter Dan Vogan.Established earlier this year around Erie folk musician Tyler Smilo, who also performs with his other band Daybreak Radio as well as solo shows, Smilo and the Ghost already has a ...

‘The Media’? There Is No ‘The’ In ‘Media’

Those of us who write commentaries are just as prone to random acts of stupidity as are Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.An example? Arthur Schaper's headline.It reads, in part, "The media are biased."So what Mr. Schaper is saying is that he himself is biased.The problem arises with the phrase, "The media."It does not exist."Media" is a plural noun. The singular form, as we all know, is "medium."This newspaper is one medium for the spreading of news.Another medium is The Progress, our over-the-mountain sister newspaper in Clearfield.Put them together. We have two "media."But the noun is ...

Summer: A Warm Memory

I can't believe that soon it will be September, school will be starting in a few days and the leaves will soon be changing. I was driving around this weekend, looking at the world as it readies for the beginning of fall as summer comes to a close.It seems like it was barely a whisper.Here in the frozen tundra that is Western New York, we cling to the summer months not unlike a child clings to their mother on their very first day of school.I should know, because I've seen children grabbing at their mom's pantleg, wailing until they couldn't breathe on the first day of school.That's how I ...

How Am I Doing So Far?

In all walks of life, we have those moments when we have to make decisions - while plotting our courses, taking care of business, sometimes taking chances, assuming risks, making investments, and more, most of those times with a hope (but without a clue) how those things will turn out for us. Often times, life allows you to plan in some cases. Other times, life forces you to do things, or make decisions on the spur of the moment. Some may call those spur-of-the-moment times or decisions, "gut check" times, or "from the gut" decisions, where you have no choice but to act first without the ...

Those Aren’t My Tomatoes

Well, they looked just like tomato plants - and I knew I put some tomato seeds in my garden.The plants surprised me by being so happy to grow here, leaping up by the proverbial leaps and bounds. I anticipated a great harvest. An abundance of tomatoes and apples too - what a year indeed!Only why, when I went out later for a closer look (keeping an eye at the same time on my one and a half zucchinis), were all these tomatoes hollow? They look more like the Japanese lantern plant than anything I could imagine eating.Then, loading up on ripe tomatoes at a local grocers, I saw my "things" in ...

Harvest Your Peppers

If you did not plant peppers this year I am sorry, but it is too late. Peppers require a very specific climate and grow best when it is warm. The farmer's markets will soon be full of juicy ripe specimens.Last year I watched for peppers. I have several recipes that take peppers and I wanted to put some into the freezer. When I freeze peppers I cut them into pieces so they are ready to add to whatever I choose. I use them in my chili as well as in other soups such as stuffed pepper soup and red pepper soup. I bag them with just the right amount for each recipe, then, double bag those ...