Up Front »
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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Snapshots Of The Flood
There are always a good number of brilliant writers around. But even the most brilliant can’t do justice to a full-scale disaster right after it happens. With the Louisiana Flood, as with Hurricane Katrina,
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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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Life And Legends
Local writer Jennifer Reeser has contributed heavily to the new edition of the poetry periodical Life and Legends. Reeser contributes three original poems, as well as two of her translations of formulas used by
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Calcasieu Serialfest
There are three words the Up Fronter loves more than any others: “Mill Creek Entertainment.” Mill Creek is the company that’s released many DVD sets of 50 low-budget films in the horror, sci-fi and
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