up front »
Are You Working? Stop It! Right Now
A loyal reader who called me on Dec. 15 encouraged me to complete a task on the day she called, because, she said, “after today I’ll be out until ‘til the first.” My first
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Keep An Eye Peeled
Before long, the entire wall space of the old Rikenjaks building will be covered by works by local artists. That’s an especially big deal when you consider that none of the recent tenants have
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Hawke: Louisiana Actor And Musician
The highly promoted remake of The Magnificent Seven, whose stars include Denzel Washington and Chris Pratt, was shot last year in Baton Rouge. Another of the film’s stars was Ethan Hawke. Hawke must have
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Homeland
Lake Charles poet Jennifer Reeser’s new poem — a sonnet — was just published by the well-known periodical National Review. I had no idea that National Review published poems. But it’s been a few
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Justin Martindale & The Backstabbers
Lake Charles native Justin Martindale began producing and recording his own music when he was 17. His first solo EP, Justin Martindale & The Backstabbers, just dropped. Let me provide a few brief notes
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A Guy Driving Down The Road
In the last couple of weeks, if you got tired of reading about Les Miles’ firing or the race for David Vitter’s seat or a flock of high school football games, you could always
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The Round About
I moved to Lake Charles on July 1, 1999 — just in time to witness the closing of the great used record store Zypien’s. In the 15 years since, Lake Charles has had little
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What’s Wrong With The American Symphony?
What’s wrong with the American symphony? I think we can find the answers in this season’s schedule for the Symphony of Southeast Texas in Beaumont. The season begins on Sept. 17 with a performance
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Geek Championship
I’m a couple of decades too old to know what the word on the street is. But I have an army of young fans who keep me completely up to date on developments as
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10 Cloverfield Lane
By complete serendipity, which is a fancy word for chance or coincidence, I found another film that — like True Detective — mentions Lake Charles quite often (although, as with True Detective, I’m not
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