One-liners and nonsequiturs will fly at the June 13-17 Viareo Great American Comedy Festival in Norfolk, Neb., where the late comic great Johnny Carson grew up. This annual celebration of the funny side is equal parts competition, workshop and roast. Its home base is the Johnny Carson Theatre at Norfolk Senior High, where the legendary […]
Posted inMovies
Do You Hear What I Hear?
Those who fawn over indie “It Girl” darlings had best have a “trust fall” partner walk behind them while exiting Sound of My Voice because writer/actress Brit Marling is downright “humina-humina” swoon-worthy. It’s not just that her role in the film is predicated on the fact that you will automatically mildly obsess over her, it’s […]
Posted inNews
Let’s Talk About Sex
An in-depth story about sex education ran in 1975 with a cartoon showing two sign-carrying protesters proclaiming, “Sex Education isn’t necessary” and “Sex isn’t necessary.” At the Nebraska University Medical Center, the human sexuality course was only three years old, and at the University of Nebraska-Omaha nothing was offered at the graduate level, though an […]
Posted inMusic
Behind the Scenes with Pablo, Ashley, and Sean
Pablo Francisco, Ashley Fils-Aime, and Sean Savoy were in Omaha this past weekend at The Funny Bone performing shows May 17th through May 20th. Those three guys have been traveling together for a while now and feed off each other’s energy quite well. Pablo is always full of energy with his many impersonations and actions […]
Posted inNews
Restoring Bi-partisanship
A recent telephone conversation with former U.S. Senator Bob Kerrey evoked images of an old educational film on how government works. If you are of a certain age you may recall the cartoon’s narrator, an animated version of the United States Constitution standing on the Capitol steps, neatly summing things up just before the credits […]
Posted inMusic
LAZERfest 2012 with Backstage Entertainment
It was a very busy weekend May 11th through May 13th as Backstage Entertainment covered two different radio festivals in Iowa. River Riot in Pacific Junction was on Friday, May 11th and then LAZERfest in Boone was on Sunday, May 13th. Like River Riot, LAZERfest was at a different venue then last year. This year […]
Posted inNews
The Circle of 300
First off, congratulations to Hear Nebraska, a nonprofit music-focused organization (on whose board of directors I am a member) that raised more than $10,000 last week as part of the Give To Lincoln Day effort. Over the course of 24 hours, Hear Nebraska gathered all its social media might and managed to attract 300 donors […]
Posted inMusic
Man Alone
The spotty connection struggling to connect Mark Sultan’s Gmail chat application to my outdated Blackberry phone is no match for a quick exchange of emails, answering a slew of questions about a rare garage rock icon who never lost his soul. First, the few nuggets of a short phone conversation with Sultan that soon fizzled […]
Posted inMusic
Good Together
Put down the needle on the Heartless Bastards’ latest album, Arrow, and it’s easy to feel the band is flowing together. That comes from the steadiness that singer Erika Wennerstrom has found since leaving central Ohio for Austin, Tex. Since the summer of 2008, the band’s lineup has been Wennerstrom, bassist Jesse Ebaugh, drummer Dave […]
Posted inFood
Taita, New Restaurant In Benson; Omaha Heritage Festival
Have you ever been curious about Peruvian food? You can put your curiosity to rest by checking out Taita Restaurant in Benson. Mostly serving seafood with Peruvian flare, Taita will have an official grand opening Friday, May 25 and is located in the historic Benson Bakery Building at 6109 Maple Street. For more information, call […]