Author Archives: Stephen Futterer

I was living in Chicago when I hit my 40’s. And I was getting tired of haunting the same old bars, doing mostly the same old thing with pretty much the same old crowd. So I started taking guitar lessons at the Old Town School of Folk Music (OTSFM). It was a magical place backContinue reading ““The Five Things””

As I looked more closely at this comic coaster portrayal of the despicable and abhorrent and cowardly and smug and oleaginous and duplicitous and prevaricating — you could literally teach an SAT prep class on pejoratives with him — Ted Cruz (R-Texas), I homed in on the GOP elephant sitting at the bar. Notice thatContinue reading ““The Dregs””

“If you could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint.” Edward Hopper

This is the roundabout story of how I came to discover and love “Baltimore,” one of Randy Newman’s deeper cuts. I, of course, can remember his popular song “Short People” (from the 1977 album “Little Criminals” that also contains “Baltimore”). It was the first major hit for Newman and peaked at No. 2 for threeContinue reading ““Oh, Baltimore… man, it’s hard just to live!””