When I'm not working, I enjoy assorted recreational activities, including coaching my son's Little League baseball team, and watching him play LZ Flames football. I am also a lifelong booster of the White Sox and Bears, and like any passionate fan I enjoy lengthy discussions about what I would do to ensure more championships.

  I love to cook, especially grilling--all year, all the time! There's nothing better than eating steaks off the grill in the dead of winter--we do it every New Year's Eve.  

I have strong opinions about culture and politics, the latter on both a local and national level. One thing I've learned about the practice of politics over the years: no matter what party or on what stage, the same pathology is bound to be repeated ad infinitum.

As a film reviewer, I get to see a lot of films for free, and though I have to watch a lot of bad films that I would otherwise never pay to see, at least I'm getting paid to sit through them. Fortunately, I also get to see some exceptional films as well.

I love jazz and wish more people would listen to it, as it's America's greatest contribution to the arts. Louis Amstrong, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, Thelonious Monk, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane--these are some of my personal heroes