Identity cuts to the very core of what it means to be human. Without it, we are faceless, stateless, bereft of connections and a sense of belonging, the very connections to people, places and memories that make us who we are gone. Find Me by Laura van den Berg Continue Reading
The Walking Dead – “Last Day on Earth” (S6, E16 review)
*SPOILERS AHEAD … ALONG WITH HUBRIS AND ITS INEVITABLE TWIN HUMILITY … AND MORE ROADBLOCKS THAN PEAK HOUR HAS CARS* It’s good to know that some things never change; even in the zombie apocalypse. For instance, the idea that pride most often comes before a fall, nowhere on Continue Reading
Anything Can Be a Musical: Stephen Colbert and Rachel Bloom prove it in song
When I was a kid, I really didn’t get musicals. Not at all. While they were bright, fun and sing-a-long-ish to a ridiculous degree, full to bursting with love sweet love, prevailing justice and everything working out right – I’m talking the golden age of Hollywood musicals here, not Continue Reading
First Impressions: DC’s Legends of Tomorrow
Usually when you’re headhunted for a new job, you’ll get a call from a high-powered recruitment consultant, have a few meetings (hopefully at wine bar somewhere) and seal the deal with handshakes and a band spanking new contract. If you’re one of the heroes or villains recruited by a Continue Reading
Feelings aren’t for superheroes: New The LEGO Batman Movie trailers
SNAPSHOT In the irreverent spirit of fun that made ‘The LEGO® Movie’ a worldwide phenomenon, the self-described leading man of that ensemble – LEGO Batman – stars in his own big-screen adventure. But there are big changes brewing in Gotham, and if he wants to save the city from Continue Reading
Road to Eurovision 2016: Week 1 – Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Croatia, Cyprus
What is the Eurovision Song Contest? Started way back in 1956 as a way of drawing a fractured Europe back together with the healing power of music, the Eurovision Song Contest, or Concours Eurovision de la Chanson – the contest is telecast in both English and French – is open Continue Reading
Weekend pop art: What a difference one word makes to a movie poster
Movie titles matter. They can suggest action, adventure, laughs, deep emotions, horror, all thanks to a few judiciously-chosen words strung together and placed upon a poster for all the world to see (and these days, thanks to the interwebs, their release is a major event, on par with trailers Continue Reading
Book review: The Gracekeepers by Kirsty Logan
If you’ever wondered what might happen when climate change has run its inevitable course and the seas have risen and the land has not, then look no further than Kirsty Logan’s luminously poetic take on the apocalypse, The Gracekeepers. Taking place in a world flooded to the point where Continue Reading
“And it’s goodbye from him”: Vale Ronnie Corbett, British comic great
One of the enduring rituals of my 1970s childhood was sitting down with my family to watch The Two Ronnies, a program of satirical musical performances and sketches. With my mother and father standing ready to explain any references that flew over my head – I did my best Continue Reading
Now this is music #66: Grandchildren, Daithí & Sinead White, Fellow Creatures, The Wet Secrets, Brave Shores
Life is full of moments when we have to take pause and ask ourselves some tough questions. Who are? Where have we come from? And why do I have an overwhelming craving for jam jelly donuts at 3am? OK may not that last one but the first two questions Continue Reading