REST IN PEACE: SYDNEY POLLACK Sydney Pollack, 73; Oscar-winning director and producer (L.A. TIMES) By Dennis McLellanLos Angeles Times Staff Writer6:08 PM PDT, May 26, 2008 Sydney Pollack, the Academy Award-winning director of “Out of Africa” who achieved acclaim making popular, mainstream movies with A-list stars, including “The Way We Were” and “Tootsie,” died Monday. He was 73.Pollack, who also was a producer and actor, died of cancer at his home in Pacific Palisades, according to Leslee Dart, his publicist... Read more

Memorial Day: Bring ‘Em Home Springsteen sings Pete Seger’s “Bring Them Home” Thank you. Thank you for your service, for your courage, honor, bravery, fortitude and love of freedom, family, and a higher calling. Thank you for all you’ve done for us, all that you’ve freely given to make our lives what they are. Thank you fathers and grandfathers, mothers and grandmothers, uncles and brothers, aunts and sisters and daughters, grandchildren, neighbors, friends, lovers. Thank you for your sacrifice. Thank... Read more

Best. Sunday. Ever. Aidan and his Bubbe Aidan and his Bubbe, pt. 2 Aidan and his Daddy Go Cubbies! Read more

War, through the eyes of a healer/soldier In the Perspectives section of today’s Sunday Chicago Tribune, there is a very special piece written by a man for whom I have the utmost respect and admiration: Crime Boy’s eldest son, U.S. Army Captain Dan Possley. Please take some time this Memorial Day weekend to read this powerful piece. And remember to thank our men and women in the military for their extraordinary service. — GG WAR, ROUND BY ROUND (CHICAGO TRIBUNE)... Read more

Happy Birthday, Bobby Legendary troubadour and, most recently, Pulitzer Prize-winner (will he be at the luncheon Thursday at Columbia?! A girl can dream… ) Bob Dylan, turns 67 years young today. God bless you, brother man. Disillusioned words like bullets barkAs human gods aim for their markMade everything from toy guns that sparkTo flesh-colored Christs that glow in the darkIt’s easy to see without looking too farThat not muchIs really sacred. While preachers preach of evil fatesTeachers teach that knowledge... Read more

Yeah … no. Just stop talking, mkay? Clinton: “Why would I drop out? … Bobby Kennedy was assassinated in June.” Hillary Clinton’s argument for staying in the race took a disturbing turn today. While meeting with the editorial board of South Dakota’s Sioux Falls Argus-Leader, she raised the specter of assassination while discussing why she would stay in the race: “My husband did not wrap up the nomination in 1992 until he won the California primary somewhere in the middle... Read more

Apropos of nothing: Chickens don’t clap! Has anyone in this family ever even seen a chicken? Read more

GODSTUFF PRAYER, HUH! GOOD GOD, Y’ALL. TELL ME WHAT IT’S GOOD FOR? “Do your prayers get answered?” That was the first line of a note waiting for me Thursday morning when I logged on to my e-mail account. It was a response from a friend who had told me, a day earlier, how he was anxious about an impending, crucial business meeting I told my friend I’d be praying for him. He thanked me, but insisted he didn’t want to... Read more

JESUS SAVES. Pilots run out of fuel, pray, land near Jesus sign WELLINGTON, New Zealand — It seemed like an almost literal answer to their prayers. When two New Zealand pilots ran out of fuel in a microlight airplane they offered prayers and were able to make an emergency landing in a field — coming to rest right next to a sign reading, “Jesus is Lord.“ FOR THE REST OF THE STORY (AP) CLICK HERE Read more

First review for SIN BOLDLY is out! Phew. from PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY Sin Boldly: A Field Guide for GraceCathleen Falsani. Zondervan, $19.99 (224p) ISBN 978-0-310-27947-1 Ranging from Chicago to Kenya, New Orleans to Ireland, Big Sky to Graceland, Falsani dons her investigative cap and scouts for grace. This religion columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times is a charming guide to places and people who reveal “grace when and where it happens.” Eschewing technical theological definitions, Falsani opts instead to tell how she... Read more