Category Archives: Beauty

Ms. Maura Plays The Viper Room & Other Musical Highlights!

My daughter, Maura Murphy-Barrosse (aka Ms. Maura) and her musical partner, guitarist Lynz Floren have just released their first single, “I Can’t Complain” – and it’s now available on iTunes and other online music sites. Get it today. Ms. Maura … Continue reading

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A Tuneful 2 Minute Brain Cleanse…

Forget Mitt Romney, the fitful economy and the Presidential election for a moment — and pause a moment to enjoy a young lovely woman and a beautiful song. Here’s my daughter Eva at a high school coffeehouse performing a great … Continue reading

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Ms. Maura Sings the Blues…

The talented and brilliantly bluesy songstress Ms. Maura, backed by her friend and guitarist Lynz Floren, performed at club TRIP in Santa Monica on Friday night, March 9th. I was lucky enough to be there – and here’s a sampler … Continue reading

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A Heavenly Two Minute Brain Cleanse

Looking to take a brief break from the GOP war against modern civilization and women’s rights? Do you envision a government that has better things to do than to poke its head into your bedroom to see whether or not … Continue reading

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One Song: Four Artists

A great song has many lives. Those who write a song give it life – but after that, their song takes on a life of its own: shaped and reimagined through the experience, talents and style of the artists who … Continue reading

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Picture Paris…

Our good friends Brad Hall and Julia Louis-Dreyfus have made a wonderful short film that will make its debut this weekend at The Santa Barbara International Film Festival. “Picture Paris” will be shown on Saturday, January 28th at 7:40 pm … Continue reading

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Don’t Miss Larry’s Concerto!

Don’t miss the broadcast of Larry Schanker’s first piano concerto on radio station WAUS this Sunday, November 20th at 6:00 PM Michigan time. Photo credit: All photos of the Southwest Michigan Symphony Orchestra by Alden J. Ho Photography. I am … Continue reading

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Monk’s Musical Advice…

Our band’s lead guitarist, Riffmaster Peter Van Wagner, a stellar musician in his own right, sent me these two wonderful photos (see below). Pete said, “A buddy of mine sent this to me, so I’m passing it on.” And I’m … Continue reading

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Is this John Lennon’s long lost cousin?

I’ve been in Evanston, Illinois this weekend (or was it Liverpool?), and I ran into a fellow who purports to be John Lennon’s cousin, Lon Lennon. (See photo above.) The guy is the right age. Older than me. Plus, he … Continue reading

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You CAN Go Home Again.

In his 1940 novel, You Can’t Go Home Again, Thomas Wolfe’s protagonist, George Webber, is an author who writes a book about his hometown – and winds up pissing off his old hometown peeps to the point where he gets … Continue reading

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Filed under Beauty, History