Entertainment Columnists for Stafford County Sun

HOLLIFIELD: Taking time to tickle the old ivories

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 09:58:01 EDT

When I read that Lang Lang would auction off his red Steinway grand piano to raise money for an earthquake relief fund, my first thought was this: How the heck did a panda learn to play piano?

COUNTRY CONNECTION: Kenny Chesney the rock icon — really

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 09:54:00 EDT

Yes, those big bold letters up there are as confusing to me as they are to you. But it’s real!

ASK EMILY: Some crushes just aren’t meant to be

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 09:50:00 EDT

Dear Emily: I had a crush on this guy, “Ben,” and we went out on one date. He kissed me at the end of the date, and I thought it went well, but he never called me again. After a week went by I found out my friend “Tina” was seeing Ben and keeping it a secret from everyone.

HOLLIFIELD: Don’t mess with my hot dogs & tube tops

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 13:01:01 EDT

The key to my happiness was missing.

ASK EMILY: Soon-to-be freshman fears loneliness

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:58:00 EDT

Dear Emily: I am getting ready to be a freshman in college this fall and I’m completely nervous. I’ve never been good about making friends and I’m scared that I’ll be totally lost and on my own. How will I meet people?

COUNTY CONNECTION: So, who is Michael Peterson?

Thu, 17 Jul 2008 12:48:00 EDT

Your friends and neighbors in Thunderland have quite a show lined up for you, just like we did last summer.

Pack-rat’s house gets a makeover

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 10:40:00 EDT

While shopping for a home almost 15 years ago, long before houses were “staged” to sell, I negotiated my way through many a living room piled high with old magazines and wall-to-wall knickknacks.

HOLLIFIELD: Pen my column (again)

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:46:00 EDT

Back by popular demand — and, yes, I consider one demand to be wildly popular — it’s the Write Scott’s Column While He Is On Vacation or Performing His Court-Ordered Community Service Contest.

ASK EMILY: Reader says It’s not classy to ask for gifts

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:43:00 EDT

Wedding season is here. What is your opinion on gift registries? I heard a comedian the other day talk about how they are ridiculous. People should not be able to pick out their own gifts and dictate to others which presents should be bought for them, as well as where they should be bought.

COUNTRY CONNECTION: Celebrity babies fascinate public

Thu, 10 Jul 2008 15:38:00 EDT

Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban, the latest happy couple to warm our hearts and not be obnoxious about their love, have welcomed a bundle of joy into the universe in the form of Sunday Rose, a six-pound, seven-ounce human being, all fingers and toes accounted for.

HOLLIFIELD: Feel the power

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:24:00 EDT

Kermit Love, a costume designer who helped create Sesame Street’s iconic Big Bird character, has died at the age of 91. We never met. (I’m speaking of Kermit. Big Bird and I both appeared in an off-Broadway production of “Road House: The Musical” back in the ‘80s. Ah, good times ... Wait, that wasn’t me.)

ASK EMILY: Teenager itching for contacts, independence

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:18:00 EDT

Dear Emily: I am 16 years old and have worn glasses practically all of my life. I hate wearing them, and some people at school do make fun of me for wearing them. I told this to my parents and begged them for contacts, but they keep saying I am not old enough for contacts.

COUNTRY CONNECTION: Tim McGraw - The White Knight

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:08:01 EDT

I’ll admit, Tim McGraw’s really inspired me. Like thousands of others through the power of YouTube, I watched McGraw pull a fan out of the crowd at a recent concert in Washington State, where he spotted the fan allegedly assaulting a woman, and cocked his fist before letting security handle the rest.

HOLLIFIELD: Pump up the volume and pay the price

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:42:00 EDT

In 1971, British rockers T. Rex, lead by singer Marc Bolan, encouraged listeners in their second U.K. No. 1 song to “get it on, bang a gong, get it on.”

COUNTRY CONNECTION: Summer pleasures abound

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 23:28:00 EDT

Saturday was a chance for us here at Thunder 104.5 to put our money where our mouths are.

HOLLIFIELD: Shouldn’t have waived nail gun coverage

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 12:02:00 EDT

Chances are, I will be shot in the head with a nail gun

Advice columnist ready to tackle problems

Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:49:00 EDT

The Stafford County Sun’s advice columnist EMILY, is looking for advice to give. But, she needs some problems to address first.

HOLLIFIELD: Hey kids — just say no to mooning

Wed, 11 Jun 2008 13:41:00 EDT

The following is a public service announcement.

COUNTRY CONNECTION: It’s OK — You can stand under my umbrella

Thu, 05 Jun 2008 23:57:01 EDT

I try not to revel in the misfortune of others. It’s unseemly, for one thing; for another, karma has a funny way of biting you in the tail.

COUNTRY CONNECTION: Even if it’s you — know the enemy

Wed, 14 May 2008 16:32:00 EDT

A good friend of mine always said, “We’ve all got our runnin’s.” Everybody has something they don’t want to admit is a problem, and that’s how it becomes a problem. Some of them are more innocuous than others, of course, but other problems can be debilitating.

HOLLIFIELD: Primaries overshadow important squirrel news

Wed, 14 May 2008 16:29:00 EDT

I want my news back.

HOLLIFIELD: Granny Jo: It’s all about the fatback

Wed, 07 May 2008 17:28:00 EDT

The key to a long life? Eat plenty of fatback. That’s what Josie Myers Flowers — or Granny Jo — told me. I was fortunate to receive that life-altering bit of advice at her 100th birthday party at the Friedberg Moravian Church in Winston-Salem, or as my daughter referred to it before we arrived, the Free Bird Moravian Church, a possible indication that we need to spend more time in a house of worship and less tuning in to Lynyrd Skynyrd’s “Gold and Platinum.”

LIFE’S SIMPLE PLEASURES: Gorak, meet Stephen — he’s smart

Thu, 01 May 2008 17:29:00 EDT

Stephen Hawking has always been among my favorite astrophysicists.

COUNTRY CONNECTION: American Idol worship: Why I don’t take part

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:47:00 EDT

When people don’t participate in cultural norms, we tend to get this you-must-be-from-Mars look in our eyes.

POP CULTURE: Some time alone with Grand Theft Auto IV

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 18:45:00 EDT

Next week I am going to get tuberculosis, be called to jury duty and be kidnapped in an elaborate plot to avoid going to work for, oh, the next three months.

COUNTRY CONNECTION: Everybody Has a Second Job

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:13:00 EDT

So I go home after another night in the studio, just a few hours removed from being interviewed by this very paper – thanks for dropping by, Uriah! - and I turn on my television, crack open a beer and set about cooking something edible without setting the smoke detector off. (Guess which one of these I failed at.) During commercials, and before I turned my apartment into a Hamburger Helper flavored Cheech & Chong movie, I saw the question that will forever haunt my mind.

HOLLIFIELD: Tax rebate tips from a ‘financialism’ expert

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 16:48:01 EDT

I wish I had a nickel for every question like this: Scott, as a non-certified financial planner, can you tell me whether I should use my upcoming tax rebate to pay down enormous, crippling credit card debt or should I put it toward a Panasonic 65-inch flat-panel HDTV so I can sit on the couch, turn off my brain and forget all about my enormous, crippling credit card debt?

What a concert’s worth

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 14:10:00 EDT

And the accompanying art of justifying the ticket price

Yearning for TV’s ‘The Office’

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:35:00 EDT

Next week my old friends Michael, Jim, Dwight, Ryan, Toby, Pam, Angela, Meredith, Jan, Phyllis and all the rest will stop over for a reunion of sorts as it has been a solid six months since I’ve seen any of them.

COUNTRY CONNECTION: Chesney celebrates milestone

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 12:26:01 EDT

Having a mid-life crisis? Feeling like you haven’t done much with the time you’ve been given on this Earth? Well, paying attention to Kenny Chesney won’t help. If anything, it’ll probably cause you to go even grayer from the injustice of it all.

COUNRTY CONNECTION: Charlie Daniels: 50 years later

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:03:00 EDT

When people tell you to do what you love, they don't necessarily mean to act on impulse. All those kids who ended up running naked through public areas after drinking his or her fair share of party liquor missed the point.

PARENTING: Playground etiquette plays part in child’s social scene

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:03:00 EDT

It was a show of inner strength, of self-esteem - not necessarily something you would expect to find at a place called Buzzy's Play Park.

POP CULTURE: New movie ‘21’ chronicles card-counting story

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 12:03:00 EDT

It is just after midnight at a Las Vegas casino when you place a $10,000 bet on a single hand of blackjack meaning that you are A) incredibly rich or B) insane.

PARENTING: Rethink politics as parenting tool

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:03:01 EDT

Perhaps I wrote too soon. In the two weeks since I encouraged parents to use the presidential election as an educational tool, politics has gotten particularly nasty.

COUNTRY CONNECTION: A song for spring

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 13:03:00 EDT

The trouble with spring is that nobody seems to be able to write a good country song about it. Think about the other seasons.

KENT: There’s country in my metal

Wed, 12 Mar 2008 13:03:00 EDT

If music were the stock market, the country scene would be buying up the 1980s like they were Google.

COUNTRY CONNECTION: Willie Nelson has done it all

Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:03:01 EDT

So what do you do when you've done it all- Say you've made it to the ripe old age of 75. (First off, congratulations!)

Country Connection: Atkins has done it again

Thu, 28 Feb 2008 10:02:00 EDT

He's done it again. Rodney Atkins releases a single. Rodney Atkins goes to number one on the charts.