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This summer marked the opening season of the Israel Baseball League. It opened to some controversy, because the sport’s pretty American; in Israel, they play “football”, of course, and some basketball. But baseball? Could the society support a new sport that was largely unfamiliar? Well, depending on who you ask, the season was either a…

To read a Timothy Freke and Peter Gandy book is to tease your intellect with the idea that all the literal religious history and dogma you have learned, believed and followed may be…well, how do I say this politely…does “a pile of mythological hooey” sound too harsh? Their latest work, The Gospel of the Second…

When I ask Laura Linney if getting the green light for a movie set extensively in nursing homes was easy, she leans forward and lets out a loud, disbelieving “God no!” She’s meeting with journalists at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Boston, and she follows with a qualifier. “It’s the dreaded topic,” the actress says.…

The phrase “cult of celebrity” didn’t come out of nowhere. It’s not uncommon for people to worship celebrities they way they worship deities. One such celebrity is megastar actor Harrison Ford, who has starred in films like “American Graffiti,” “Air Force One,” and the “Indiana Jones” trilogy. But it’s Ford’s most iconic role, Han Solo…

Ah, the holidays, time for family feasts, parties, and rock-radio countdowns of the greatest songs of all time. At Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s, classic-rock stations traditionally turn to these listener-driven stunts (“You picked ’em, we’re playing ‘em”) to salvage some ratings oomph while their audience is distracted by football and family lore. More traditionally…

While adults on TV seem to be romancing each other with nary a kiss, high schoolers on the other hand, are hopping into bed left and right on the CW’s new smash hit “Gossip Girl.” Oh, and doing burlesque night club strip teases. And having sex in limos. And having more in the back room…

There has been speculation in the last year or two that Will Smith and his wife, Jada Pinkett-Smith, have become involved with Scientology via his friendship with Tom Cruise. Smith denied those rumors last year, saying that his deceased grandmother, a devout Baptist, would “get up out of her casket” if he became a Scientologist.…

Bob Dylan is, for my money, the poet of our generation, although Allen Ginsberg is a close second. And both figure in the new film “I’m Not There” about his life, his music, and most of all his protean self. Universally acknowledged as the pre-eminent poet/lyricist and songwriter of his time, he was prematurely elevated…

Most obvious is the overwhelming sense of awe that comes from Sigur Ros' music. "The world is charged with the grandeur of God," Gerard Manley Hopkins once wrote, and compositions like "I Gaer," are charged with that same grandeur. Starting with a modest glockenspiel melody, the song suddenly cracks open like a raging electrical storm,…

To grasp what I am about to say and not think I am totally bonkers, you need to first understand: I have not have a day off in, oh I don’t know, four months maybe? I mean, not a single day off. Not even on the weekends. Physically, emotionally, and especially, spiritually, I feel as…
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