VIP Ladies

On a crisp autumn evening, enjoy a bowl of hot, fragrant soup. And try using a full-bodied beer in a favorite recipe instead of wine for deeper flavors. (Associated Press)STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – All this talk leading up to the Richmond County Craft Beer Fest 2011 this Saturday had me exploring craft beers in the last several weeks. And, frankly, since I don’t necessarily finish a whole bottle in one sitting, some exciting brews have made their way into recipes.

Last week, I added a few splashes of Southern Tier Pumking to butterscotch oatmeal cookies. The pumpkin pie spices in the New York State-made beer rounded out the cinnamon and vanilla in the original formula. Get more info…

A Huffington Post piece by Kirsten West Savali which examines the life and legacy of the legendary Nigerian musician Fela caught my eye. In the article, the author implies that rap music’s misogyny against women can be traced back to Africa as evidenced through watching one of Fela’s performances.

“To watch one of Felas performances is to witness the roots of Hip-Hop music. Misogyny in rap did not materialize in the boroughs of New York or the strip clubs of Atlanta where the magnificence of the feminine form is appreciated, while what lies beneath is ignored; rather, it manifested in part through the ancestral characterization of women as “mattresses” in need of men to elevate their status and provide sexual gratification,” she writes in the article.

Wow! Okay le

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Australian Israeli-born artist Hanna Kay has again chosen Sydney’s Wilson Street Gallery to exhibit her beautiful and thought-provoking artwork in an exhibition titled Circularity.

A realist painter with a unique vision, Kay has exhibited in major art capitals of Europe and the United States, but over the last two decades has made Australia home, with exhibitions around the country.

Her last exhibition in Sydney, titled Waterways, took place in 2009, also at the Wilson Street Gallery.

Living in the upper regions of the beautiful Hunter Valley, Kay draws inspiration from her immediate natural surroundings. Us

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If Id known this was our last morning, Id have rolled over in bed and held her. But of course, if it had been possible to know something like that — if I could have somehow seen into the future — I wouldnt have let go. And then things would have been different.

The Accident, the latest thriller from Linwood Barclay, is an exciting, quick and enjoyable read. The book is told primarily in the first person of Glen Garber, the owner of Garber Contracting, a small home construction company struggling in the current economy in Milford, Connecticut. Gle

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When Keith Rocheleau was studying video editing at Manchester Community College, he made a short crime drama. After graduating, he bought himself a video camera to make a full-length movie, and looked no further than his own previous creation.

“I’m a huge action movie, crime movie fan,” says Rocheleau, 28, of Coventry. “Any kind of action movies, ‘Lethal Weapon,’ Quentin Tarantino, that’s what I like to do.”

He and his friend, Michael Balesano, spent a year reworking the script and then cast the movie, giving Balesano the leading role in “Kings & Nines.”

“We got some actors through ctfilmspace, but all of the main characters were just people I knew who were really into movies, friends, family members,” Rocheleau says.

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