What exactly Alicia Keys is now free from isn't clear, despite the portentousness of the album's title and its spoken intro. What her freedom has allowed her to do, presumably, is to securely strap on the pop straitjacket she wore a bit more loosely on 2007's "As I Am." ...more

December 17, 2009

CARDINALS ...31 SEAHAWKS ...20 The Arizona fans finally saw a semblance of the team they saw win the NFC championship last season. Rookie Beanie Wells had second-half touchdown runs of 10 and 13 yards and the Cardinals rallied from an early two-touchdown deficit to beat the Seahawks, just Arizona's second home win in five tries. Kurt Warner completed 29 of 38 for 340 yards and two TD passes for the Cardinals, who stayed two games up on San Francisco in the NFC West. In the process, Warner became the 29th player in NFL history to throw 200 touchdown passes. He had his 51st 300-yard passing game, tying Dan Fouts for fourth on the NFL career list. ...more

November 16, 2009

While the declaration of a nation was inked in parchment, it was the blood of the common man that ensured its delivery. ...more

November 11, 2009

Last week we were sitting in our home office getting ye olde office work done when a Gmail instant-message popped up. ...more

November 8, 2009

Thinking you're building toward something helps, but how many Lightning players - or employees, in general - believe that's happening, writes Martin Fennelly. ...more

February 23, 2009

If ever there was a day to cut out of work early and get home before the sun goes down, today's the day. When the sun drops, so will the temperature, and covering plants is a whole lot easier without mittens on your hands. ...more

February 4, 2009

Dear Jeff Garcia, Get well. Soon. Get well by Sunday, please. That's when San Diego comes to Ray-Jay to face the Buccaneers, and Tampa Bay simply has to win. The Bucs are the sixth seed in the NFC playoff picture and continue to control their destiny. If they win their final two games, they're in as no worse than the second wild card. ...more

December 15, 2008

"Fresh Kills," by Bill Loehfelm (Putnam, $25) How do you handle the death of a parent you do not miss? Where do you turn? More importantly, how do you care for a grieving sibling? ...more

September 14, 2008

County Cash Cow Mortally Wounded ...more

August 26, 2008

In my earlier life, the Reader's Digest frequently gave me emotional indigestion with its periodic threats of global warming, planetary freezing, famines, pestilences, epidemics, international calamities and a plethora of other scourges, most of which came to no greater semblance of fruition than the promises exchanged in a shipboard romance. ...more

June 8, 2008