Natasha Calis Reaching for the SkyMed by Jay S. Jacobs Imagine this. You’re a hot, rising young professional who has made a splash in your job in your big city hometown in British Columbia. Then you are offered an exciting, but daunting opportunity – to move to the wilds of Northern Manitoba and take on an arguably harder, but potentially very rewarding gig. The problem is that the whole atmosphere is different than where you are from, and you are being thrown together with p

Ronstadt Generations Ronstadt Generations Rooted In Family By Mark Mussari “Though leaves are many,” the Irish Poet William Butler Yeats once observed, “the root is one.” Sit down to talk with the members of Ronstadt Generations — Michael J. Ronstadt and his sons Michael G. and Petie — and you’ll feel the strength of their roots in Tucson, Arizona. In the late 1980s, Linda Ronstadt — the family’s most celebrated member and Michael J.’s older sister — explored the family’s Mex

Steve Lukather of Toto Still Holding the Line 35 Years In by Jay S. Jacobs There is nothing novel about a veteran band reuniting for one last bask in their past glories. However, in their 35th anniversary tour, 70s and 80s hitmakers Toto are getting back together for all the right reasons. Original bassist Mike Porcaro was diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's disease in 2007. Medical expenses piled up quickly. Therefore, to help an old friend, original band members Steve Lukather, Dav

Q102 Jingle Ball at the Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, PA December 5, 2012 OneRepublic, The Wanted, Karmin, Bridgit Mendler, Hot Chelle Rae, Ed Sheeran, Cher Lloyd and Olly Murs Backstage at the 2012 Q102 Jingle Ball – Rockin’ in Philly By Jackie Speiss and Deborah Wagner When Q102’s Jingle Ball holiday concert rocked Philadelphia the other night, some of music’s big stars hit the stage in front of nearly nineteen thousand screaming fans. The star-studded lineup brought B

Amy Adams stars in “Miss Pettigrew Lives For a Day.” Amy Adams Miss Adams Lives Out Her Dreams by Jay S. Jacobs It is way too obvious to say that Amy Adams is having an enchanted year – and yet at the same time it is absolutely, inescapably accurate. Since her first appearance on film in the 1999 beauty pageant comedy Drop Dead Gorgeous with Kirstie Alley, Adams has worked pretty steadily in film, often doing well in films what were not quite up to her talents, like The Ex, T

Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Harry Shearer and Parker Posey Consider This by Jay S. Jacobs Working on the outskirts of the Hollywood movie community, actor-writer-director Christopher Guest has put together the most consistently funny troupe in films. Specializing in improvisational movies – many which are hilarious turns on documentaries – Guest has made some of the great comedies of the last twenty-five years. It all started when he and his partners Ha

Five for FIGHTING It's not EASY by Jay S. JACOBS Remember when popular music could actually say something? A tune was a mirror that we held up to our world. The lyrics were humorous or tragic or whimsical or heartbreakingly sincere. Songs spoke of love, war, relationships, politics, lust, and death. They would climb the heights or plunge the depths. John Ondrasik, the lead singer and songwriter of Five for Fighting, remembers. In his own small way, he’s trying to contin