by M.C. Antil on January 14, 2019
I have not written about baseball in a while, and this one will not be a full-fledged baseball post as much as it will be a simple kernel for thought for those of you still counting down the days to Spring Training. I stumbled upon it the other day while scrolling through the online publication, […]
by M.C. Antil on January 9, 2019
Among a few of the other many deaths of 2018; a dozen or so lives who touched us one way or another during their time among us. Robin Leach Bouncy, slightly doughy, and often cartoon-like Brit who came along at the right place at exactly the right time; a guy who both exploited and made […]
by M.C. Antil on January 6, 2019
Among the many fine actors whose passing in 2018 we mark with the passing of the year: Philip Bosco In the early days of Hollywood, if not radio, one might argue the most bankable asset of any actor was his voice. At some point, however, especially during the method-driven 50’s, signature voices began to take […]
by M.C. Antil on December 28, 2018
Besides Aretha Franklin, a giant for the ages and a singer for all time, the music world also lost a number of lesser lights this year who, nevertheless, left their mark on our collective soul. Among them: Danny Kirwan He may have spent much of his life a homeless and helpless substance abuser, but prior to […]
by M.C. Antil on December 22, 2018
He and his buddy, a brilliant young picker named James, were two Louisiana teenagers from Shreveport who’d made a few records with their boyhood pal Dale Hawkins before heading west to seek whatever fame and fortune they could muster. I’ll spare you all the machinations, but the important thing to know is that at a […]
by M.C. Antil on December 6, 2018
The following is yet one more in a treasure trove of stories based on a lifetime of Santa Claus calls to kids at Christmas. Just over a decade ago, I opened a Christmas Eve email from a woman in what I’d soon learn was a rough-and-tumble section of Baltimore. She told me she’d recently adopted […]
by M.C. Antil on November 24, 2018
The following is yet one more in a treasure trove of stories based on a lifetime of Santa Claus calls to kids at Christmas. Some 20 years ago, I got an email from a good friend requesting a Santa call. She said she’d been worried about her eleven-year old stepbrother, her father’s only child by […]
by M.C. Antil on November 14, 2018
Every year around this time, the holiday season begins in earnest for me. Because this time each year, my little Santa business kicks into gear. While the phone calls from Santa to kids around the country are often reward in and of themselves, a few residual benefits also reveal themselves over the course of the […]
by M.C. Antil on September 20, 2017
Author’s note: This is a rather long-winded tribute to a recently-fallen idol. So consider this brief caveat, if you will, my geek alert. If you’re a Steely Dan nut, as I; indeed, read on. You may actually enjoy the ride. But if you’ve never been baptised in the cool, healing waters of Walter Becker and […]
by M.C. Antil on September 9, 2017
In the 1970’s, the traditional rhinestone country music the world had come to know and love for decades – a honky tonk/my-girl-left-me-and-stole-my-truck brand of popular music that relied as much on raw emotions and cheatin’ hearts as it did on rhyme, rhythm and twang – had become all but passé. What began replacing it was […]