They started as buddies. According to reports, their first meeting was at a Handsome Furs show in Portland back in 2007. Britt Daniel is the guy from indie rock band Spoon while Dan Boeckner was at the helm with his now ex-wife Alexei Perry in the electronic rock duo, as well as part of another Montreal based rock band, Wolf Parade. But things were winding down for Dan. And when Britt heard the news, his first reaction was, We need to start a rock n roll band!
And cue Divine Fits. Together with Sam Brown (drums) and Alex Fischel (synths), Britt and Dan formed the perfect rock n roll outfit that sounds like the best of all their bands being blended in together. My Love Is Real, the opener to their debut titled A Thing Called Divine Fits, kicks in with a huge dose of Dan, bringing to mind the electro clash attack reminiscent of Handsome Furs. A
Growing up halfway between Buffalo and Niagara Falls in Grand Island, N.Y., Thom Hatch played baseball and hockey and also enjoyed rambling through the woods and fishing.
It was what Hatch calls a Huckleberry Finn life.
“We only have two seasons there — winter and July — so a lot of time was spent indoors.”
Hatch spent much of that time reading, and he believes that’s what led to his passion for writing.
“Eventually I started writing, and it is what I love to do,” the award-winning author and historian said. “I wanted to tell stories like Steinbeck and Hemingway.”
A Marine Corps Vietnam veteran, Hatch worked as a newspaper columnist and even did a turn as a radio announcer and DJ.
But it wasn’t until settling near Colorado Springs that Hatch’s lifelong dream of writing books became a reality.
“Nobody wants to read comedy from Steven King,” Hatch was told by his literary agent. He took the advice to hea
Anna Di Pierno’s little charmer of a restaurant has been around for about seven years, operating under the name Pasta Blitz. If you go looking for it, though, look for Il Basilico.
Di Pierno has taken a deliberate approach to the name change, but the transition is almost complete. The neon sign above the restaurant, located in a Timonium strip mall, still carries the old name, but virtually everything inside is now emblazoned with the Il Basilico logo.
The menu has been changing gradually, too. The main part still consists of Italian-American favorites — lots of them — things like veal Parmigiana, homemade lasagna Bolognese and chicken cacciatore. But Di Pierno has steadily been introducing fare that you don’t see everyday. Sel
T. Murphy’s Sports Bar & Grill, which opened about seven weeks ago, was hopping last Friday night. There were only two empty tables in the place when we arrived with two of our kids. We were quickly seated in a booth by a friendly hostess, but it took a while for our server to acknowledge us.
That gave us plenty of time to peruse the menu and look around at the decor, which is most definitely sporty with a huge emphasis on the Red Sox. White pendant lamps were
painted to look like baseballs and the bannisters above our booth were wooden bats. Silver baseball bats provided the lighting over the bar and a huge scoreboard in that room gave the Red Sox a sweet lead against the Yankees.
T. Murphy’s menu has a decidedly Irish/American flavor with the notable exception of the Jameson gravy Poutine fries, which are a “Canadian favorite” according to the menu.
