The Fray as photographed by Danny Clinch.

Originally published in The Patriot-News on Aug. 16, 2012.

A teen struggles with drugs, a battle erupts between brothers, a man debates his faith — these are just some of the stories told by the songs of The Fray, a piano-driven rock group known for its emotionally raw lyrics.

The group rose to fame in 2005 their single “Over My Head (Cable Car),” their ascent continued with the song “How to Save a Life,” which reached number one on the Billboard Adult Contemporary Chart and number three on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2007.

Since then its music has appeared on TV shows including “NCIS” and “Grey’s Anatomy.”

And now, the band is coming to Hershey. Singer, songwriter and pianist Isaac Slade, rhythm guitarist Joe King, drummer Ben Wysocki and lead guitarist Ben Welsh are coming down chocolate way to perform at the boy band driven Summer Mixtape Festival at Herhseypark Stadium on Aug. 17-18.

Slade spared a few minutes while waiting to catch a flight to chat about the festival, the band’s music and the importance of honesty.

What’s it like being on the same line-up as New Kids on the Block, Backstreet Boys, 98 Degrees at the Summer Mixtape Festival?

“This is news to me. [laughter] We played with New Kids at some enormous event in LA a while back. We had trailers next to [Donnie Wahlberg] and he was trying to sing and do his dance moves outside by himself in the parking lot. I wanted to film it so badly. He’s still got it.”

You talk about honesty a lot when talking about your music. How important is it for an artist to be honest?

“I think honesty is everything. You make a movie or write a book or write a script for a TV show or write a song that doesn’t tell the truth, especially given the onslaught of culture in these days, people just know. They can tell. It’s almost like a taste test…. it looks like the real thing until you take a bite of it and you just know right away…. I think the stuff that lasts the longest and the stuff that resonates the deepest and strongest all have honesty and truth built into the DNA.”

Isn’t that scary at all? Being completely honest with millions of people you don’t even know?

“I used to be really scared by it honestly. But there’s one comment somebody made to me. He’s like and old school singer and I asked him ‘How do you handle that fear of reading your journal in front of a bunch of people?’ He said the only time he’s nervous is if his song doesn’t cut to the bones, if the song isn’t giving stuff away. That’s when people check out and get bored. You have to be real otherwise the song is completely pointless.

“My job is not to get up and look good. My job is to get up and be real. Show them my scars and maybe even bleed in front of them.

“I think people want to know that their heroes and icons are real.”

Read more on PennLive.com

One of the photographs captured during the filming of “ScottChurch’s Drag.” Photo by ScottChurch.

Originally published in The Patriot-News on Nov. 8, 2012.

Mitchell L. Ernst of Lebanon is a performer at heart.

He’s a professional actor — but the character he is best known for lives off the theater stage.

Her name is Jade DeVere and she is fierce, fabulous and oh-so feminine.

Ernst is a drag queen and one of the subjects of the documentary “ScottChurch’s Drag” premiering Friday for a one-time showing at the Allen Theatre in Annville.

The film began as a series of humorous pieces of art for famed erotic photographer Scott Church, who invited filmmaker Michael Donati of Palmyra to tag along on the endeavor. His goal was to showcase drag queens in ordinary places — bowling alleys, grocery stores, gas stations.

The first subject was a straight man who was married with children and did drag as a hobby.

“We had this guy in full drag at a gas station filling up a motorbike,” Donati said. “Scott and I were like, this is great. [The film will] be fun; it’ll be silly.”

The next interview changed all that.

It was of a young Lancaster man. Dressing up in drag gave him confidence and an outlet for expression and creativity, despite it being a taboo activity.

That’s when Donati and Church realized that they had hit on something more meaningful than a list of endless drag queen gags.

“Documentaries will do this — just change direction,” Donati said. “We ended up with something we didn’t plan on, but it’s wonderful.”

Michael Tschop of Harrisburg and his alter ego, Felicia O’Toole, were among those interviewed for the film.

“It’s kind of weird. It’s like having a whole other person,” Tschop said about doing drag. “[Felicia] definitely gives me an amazing outlet to just explore different sides of me.”

Tschop says that normally he’s shy. But as Felicia, he craves an audience.

“All those inhibitions are gone because I’m not Mike,” he said.

For Tschop, drag is about more than making people laugh. “It’s about personal growth too,” he said.

It gives him an opportunity to explore different facets of his personality, to try on someone else’s shoes — and to entertain all the while.

“Drag is a lot of different things to a lot of different people,” Ernst said.

At first glance, Ernst is not the stereotypical drag queen. His voice is low; there is no lisp. He likes beer, bowling and watching sports.

But at night (and sometimes during the day), he puts on his makeup mask and makes crowds laugh.

“There’s no rules,” he said. “I’m doing what I want to do and if the audience loves it, awesome. If the audience doesn’t love it, oh well.”

Read more on PennLive.com.

John, Alvin, Levi, Jolin – the subjects of “Amish Mafia.” Photo from the Discovery Channel.

Amish mafia.

The two words together seem like an oxymoron.

But, according to a new Discovery Channel show, they are not the oddest of pairings.

“Amish Mafia” explores the world of Lebanon Levi and his gang of three men, Jolin, John and Alvin. Together, the four act as “protectors” of the Amish community in Lancaster.

A graphic at the beginning of the episode states that the Amish church denies the group exists, but the camera crew appears to tell a different story through interviews and reenactments.

Throughout the first episode, the mafia members drink, drive cars and gamble on cow pies. They blackmail bishops, threaten people and shoot up cars.

“Levi is the cops. He’s the courthouse. He’s the bank and he’s the insurance company,” says Esther, John’s sister, during the series’ first episode, which is slated to premiere at 9 p.m. Dec. 12. A sneak peek of the show will air at 10:30 Dec. 11.

The existence of an Amish mafia is news to Amish experts Donald Kraybill andDavid Weaver-Zercher, professors at Elizabethtown College and Messiah College, respectively.

“When I first saw the trailer [for the show], I thought maybe it was a ‘Saturday Night Live’ skit on reality television because it was so far fetched,” Weaver-Zercher said.

“My sense is this Amish mafia is about as real as the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company in ‘The Office.’ ”

Read more on PennLive.com.

NKOTBSB onstage at Hersheypark Stadium in 2011. Photo by JULIA HATMAKER, The Patriot-News.

When the Summer Mixtape Festival was announced on April 16, the news was met with screams and squeals.

“I flipped out,” said Tabatha Pelletier of East Pennsboro Twp. “I started yelling and ran upstairs telling everyone that I had to go to this concert. I was like a little child.”

Held in Hersheypark Stadium Friday and Saturday, the festival features a selection of the who’s who of pop worlds, past and present. For Pelletier, the lineup was a dream come true. Her favorite groups, Backstreet Boys, New Kids on the Block, 98 Degrees and The Wanted were together for one weekend, and practically next door.

“I was not expecting Hershey to put on something this crazy,” she said. “We usually have good concerts, but I think this is really awesome.”

She isn’t the only one. New Kids on the Block fans Abbey Fisher of York County and Amy Sharpe of Palmyra were shocked.

“I couldn’t believe that they picked Hershey of all places,” Fisher said.

Sharpe agreed. “It was like, ‘that’s ridiculous,’” she said. A big New Kids on the Block fan, she heard the news via their fan club. “It was like God put them in my backyard,” she said.

“Chocolate and hot guys — it’s the perfect event,” Tomlinson said. “Everyone should be there, it’s going to be amazing.”

From the looks of it, people are heeding Tomlinson’s words. Fans are coming from across the United States and the Atlantic Ocean. A call on Twitter for Mixtape attendees revealed people from London and Germany, as well as California and Texas.

What’s drawing them? Partly the lineup, which includes, aside from the aforementioned boy bands, Kelly Clarkson, LL Cool J, The Fray and Carly Rae Jepsen of “Call Me Maybe” fame. There’s also the exclusivity of it — it’s the only North American concert for NKOTBSB (that’s the New Kids on the Block, Backstreet Boy super-group) and the first reunion performance for 98 Degrees.

The reaction to the concert has been so positive that the two groups of VIP tickets, priced at $750 and $500, have sold out. The VIP tickets had such perks as after-parties with the bands, meet-and-greets and up-close and personal seats to the shows.

One of those tickets went to Amy Sharpe of Palmyra.

“A lot of people are just like, ‘That’s an insane amount of money,’” she said. “But I told them that I lucked out; this year I was in a place where I had the ability to pay for this, and I worked my butt off to pay for it.

“And … it is a lot of money,” she said. “But I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

Pelletier also has VIP tickets, which made her “broke for months.”

She says a lot of people asked her why she would spend so much money. Her reply was always the same.

“This is something that, personally, to me, is worth it,” she said. “Everyone has their one huge thing for summer. Well, this is my one huge thing. I felt like this would be worth it for the experience.”

For Tammy Caccavo of Quakertown, a massive New Kids on the Block fan, the VIP splurge was a way to celebrate a big event — she and her husband’s 10-year wedding anniversary.

“I said, ‘Listen, it’s our 10th wedding anniversary; this is for us. Let’s just go big or go home,’” Caccavo said.

The festival is going to be more for Caccavo than her husband.

“I wouldn’t say he’s a fan [of New Kids on the Block],” she said. “But he’s my best friend. He’ll do anything to make me happy.”

The main appeal for him, she said, is seeing her transform into her teenager self. “He loves that,” she said. “He just eats it up.”

Caccavo is not the only one who turns into a screaming mess when a boy band takes the stage. Pelletier remembers crying during last year’s NKOTBSB concert when Backstreet Boy Nick Carter walked by. “

I lost it like a little girl,” she said. “My sister just looked at me like, ‘Really?’”

Sharon Doran of Lebanon had a similar reaction to seeing Donnie Wahlberg of New Kids on the Block perform.

“I’m as big of a fan today as I was when I was 13,” the 37-year-old said. “Except now I don’t have my mom screaming at me to turn the stereo down.”

Read more on PennLive.com. 

The line outside of J.C. Penney on Friday morning. A mini Sephora store opened within J.C. Penney on Friday. Photo by JULIA HATMAKER, The Patriot-News.

Originally published June 15, 2012 on PennLive.com.

For a trio of devoted makeup fans, camping out in a parking lot starting at midnight Friday was a price worth paying to be among the first in line for the grand opening of Sephora in Swatara Twp.

Yadira Chavez, Brittany Fenser and Katie Chavez of Swatara Twp. stationed themselves in Yadira Chavez’s car as midnight struck, parked in the lot outside of J.C. Penney at High Pointe Commons, where the Sephora store would be. They watched as the gates to the stores were shut around 2 a.m.

Five hours later, they watched as those same gates reopened. The girls piled out of the car and took up seats on the sidewalk outside of the entrance, the first group in what became a long line of about 100 people stretching around J.C. Penney corner.

Why the devotion?

“I mean, it’s Sephora,” Katie Chavez said.

For cosmetic gurus, the name Sephora has the same ring Saks Fifth Avenue has for clothing lovers. Founded in France during 1970, Sephora was the open-sell beauty store, meaning customers were free to peruse the store independently, rather than be guided by staff in brand booths. Customers are also encouraged to try and touch all the makeup, nail polish and fragrance items before they buy.

Currently the leading perfume and cosmetics store chain in France, Sephora is located in more than 29 different countries around the world. The store’s products include Urban Decay, Smashbox and NARS makeup lines, Philosophy, Murad and Ole Henriksen skin care items and Marc Jacobs, Dior and Gucci perfumes. It is currently owned by Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy, one of the world’s leading luxury items group.

Until Friday, the closest Sephora to Harrisburg was located in Park City Mall in Lancaster. Jen House of Derry Twp., a Sephora girl to the core, was looking forward to saving money on gas.

“We’re excited,” she said, her sister Lillian House nodding in agreement. “It’s a big deal not having to drive out to Lancaster.”

Some midstate locals, such as Carolyn Spawn of Susquehanna Twp., would drive even further, to King of Prussia and Maryland, to get their Sephora fix. Others, such as Karlene Anderson of Harrisburg, would peruse Sephora’s website and dream of a store opening nearby.

“It’s one thing to actually see the stuff online, but when you try it on your skin— because you have different skin tones, especially African Americans— it’s completely different,” she said. “So I don’t like ordering stuff online, I like going and let them put it on and see what’s the final result.”

Read the full story at PennLive.com.

Julia Hatmaker at the world premiere of “The Dark Knight Rises” in New York City. Photo by Laura Hatmaker.

Originally published in The Patriot-News on July 20, 2012.

Earlier this week, I was transported to Gotham City.

Luck had brought me to the comic book metropolis. My parents, siblings and I were extras during the “The Dark Knight Rises” filming in Pittsburgh last year (look for our blurs in the stadium scene). As a reward for our hard work of waiting, screaming and more waiting, there were raffles for prizes. My sister Laura won the grand prize — two tickets to the film’s world premiere and after-party in New York City. Her husband, being a wonderful human being, graciously turned down his ticket so I could have it.

On Monday night, Laura and I found ourselves on the red carpet. Or rather, the black carpet. Or rather, by the black carpet.

We, the regular people, don’t walk the carpet. Instead, we pick up our tickets at will call through a side alleyway entrance to the theater. Once inside, with tickets in hand, we could observe the carpet activities from a window. Marion Cotillard posed, Anne Hathaway glided and Christian Bale smiled for the camera. Even from our vantage point it was still, mind you, very cool.

“The Dark Knight Rises” had two screenings on the premiere evening, both in the same theater. One was an IMAX extravaganza for the who’s who of the movie world. The other, though nice, was a regular screening and was relatively celebrity-free. That was the one I found myself in.

The screening was supposed to begin at 7 p.m., so my sister and I made sure to grab our seats a quarter before the hour. We had plum seats, dead center. While other Batman fans continued to pile in, we munched on our free popcorn and drank our free soda.

By 7:20 p.m., people were still coming in. An usher explained that the film couldn’t start until everyone had left the black carpet. Director Christopher Nolan and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt were the cause for the delay. About 7:45 p.m., the screening finally began but a new problem had arisen.

With all the free soda we drank, those of us who had been patiently waiting and channeling our inner extra now had to excuse ourselves and answer nature’s call. Throughout the screening, people would get up, shuffle to the aisle and mutter their “excuse me” before shuffling back down and into their seat.

I crossed my legs instead as I watched water gush from sewer streams, people splash through tunnels and bodies fall through frozen lakes during the screening. It wasn’t easy, but I made it through the 2 hour, 44 minute film, including the credits.

As we left the theater (and its restrooms), Laura and I hopped on a Greyhound Bus waiting outside, with a destination of “Gotham City.” Gotham, it turns out, is the New York Public Library, where a red carpet awaited our arrival.

This time, we got to walk it.

We went up the stairs and into the marble laden lobby of the library. An orchestra played Beethoven on the staircase. Cater waiters walked by with sushi and Champagne. And, in case you missed a server, there were two bars, one on the first level the other on the second. The third level was roped off. Buffets were on either end of the library and, it should be noted, there was not a book in sight.

The main action happened in a hallway behind the lobby, where the crowds were forced to funnel between sofas and couches and could meet-and-greet Morgan Freeman and Joseph Gordon-Levitt on one side. On the other side were Nolan and Anne Hathaway. The middle ground was where the noncelebs moved, occasionally being permitted to talk to the stars by body guards.

To read the complete article visit PennLive.com.

Burglaries have been a hot topic this summer among law enforcement agencies and midstate residents. News of brazen thefts has increased fears.

There are ways to deter burglars from breaking into your home. Here’s what authorities on security have to say:

• Keep outdoor lights on. “The more lit your house, the more of a deterrent it is to break in,” said Jason Carst of Knight Security Systems Inc. in Lower Paxton Twp. Motion-sensor lights are a bonus, said Officer Chad Miller of Lower Paxton Twp. Police Department. “They keep the electric bill down, too,” he said.
• Don’t advertise your absence. If your family is going to be away, the safest thing is not to share the good news until you’re back. That goes for your teens and children, too.
• Have a house sitter. Consider getting a house sitter anytime you’re going to an event that has been publicized, including funerals and weddings.
• Confront situations. Lt. Robert Fegan of Harrisburg City Police Department recalled one case where a burglar broke into a home through a skylight. “The whole thing was watched by a neighbor who didn’t want to get involved,” he said. “People should be more assertive and confront situations that don’t make sense or call the police.”
• Trim foliage. You want to make sure there is no place for a crook to hide when trying to get into your home. Make sure bushes are cleared from windows and doors, giving maximum visibility.
• Board basement windows. Break-ins that happen via basement windows worry Bill Myers, a designing technician at Zeplin’s Security Group in Camp Hill, the most. “If someone breaks in through a basement window, they’re not leaving that way,” he said. If you encounter an intruder who has gotten in this way, they are more likely to turn violent. “You’re now dealing with a cornered animal, and you don’t know what they’re going to do.”
• Dispose of big-purchase packaging discreetly. Just got a new gigantic flat screen TV? Congratulations! Don’t throw the box out onto the curb, though. Having a big-purchase item’s packaging out is like posting a sign that says “Rob me, I have cool stuff.” If you must leave it out, cut apart the box so that it isn’t easily identifiable.
• Check your locks. Locks, like most things, deteriorate with age. Test your locks to make sure they’re still strong and working properly.
• Lock your doors. This goes for more than just the front door. Those with attached garages should make sure the doors leading into the home from the garage are locked, too. Also, check all the windows, even ones you have never used.
• Install a security system. “It provides peace of mind,” Myers said. “Nothing will ever stop somebody from getting in. The idea is to pick them up as quickly as possible.” A security system can be as simple as video surveillance to as in-depth as a full home system with remote cellular activation.
• Catalog your valuables and include serial numbers and photographs. If your home is burglarized, documentation can help police locate your items. “We recover a lot of stolen property that we don’t know who it belongs to,” Fegan said. Having a catalogue will ensure that the cops know what is yours. 

Read the complete article, including what burglars are thinking, on PennLive.com

Patricia B. Cameron, of Camp Hill, has memories of living in Hawaii when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Her father, a naval officer, was at sea when the attack occurred. DAN GLEITER, The Patriot-News

Originally published in The Patriot-News on Dec. 7, 2011.

Patricia Behrens woke up to the sound of explosions.

It was about 7 a.m. on Dec. 7, 1941, in Hawaii.

“Oh, shucks,” Behrens said she thought. “They’re practicing at Fort DeRussy.”

The U.S. military reservation had a habit of waking residents up with its drills.

“Why do they do it Sunday mornings?” Behrens said. Wide awake, she left her bedroom and walked to where her mother stood, by the door of their home.

Her mother turned to her and uttered words that would change Behrens’ life. “I hate to tell you, but the Japanese are attacking Pearl Harbor.”

A night like any other

Behrens, now Patricia Cameron, 86, and a resident of Camp Hill, was 16 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. She was a senior at Punahou School in Honolulu and lived in a suburb in the Monoa Valley with her mother. They had moved to Hawaii to be closer to her father, the executive officer on the USS Concord stationed in Pearl Harbor.

“In Hawaii we had been anticipating a war,” she said. “But we always thought it would be in the Philippines.”

But war was always a far off thought. Cameron was in an idyllic land, having the time of her life. “I was just barely old enough to go to Navy parties,” she said with a smile. “So I was having a nice time.”

The night of Dec. 6 was a night like any other. Cameron even had plans for the next day. She was meeting up with a serviceman who was stationed at Pearl Harbor.

Cameron has a clear memory of sitting in her bedroom reading George Bernard Shaw’s “Plays Unpleasant” that night before falling asleep.

Everything was normal. The morning would be anything but.

“The next day there was a war,” she said. “Just like that.”

She never finished the book. And it would be 10 days before she heard whether her Navy friend was even alive.

What’s of value?

As Cameron stood with her mother, a neighbor’s door opened. A man ran out, put on his Navy uniform, hopped into his car and sped off. Soon Navy officers poured into the street from their homes and ran toward Pearl Harbor.

Cameron’s own father was off the coast of South America that day.

So it was just Cameron, her mother and their Japanese maid in the home when the news came that Japanese paratroopers were thought to have landed in the hills behind their house.

Cameron was told to prepare for evacuation, her task to pack one suitcase full of what she needed. “I looked around my room — I put in clean underwear and my brother’s naval academy class pin,” she said. She then closed her suitcase’s lid. “What’s of value? The people you love and your faith. That’s all.”

Blackout

A blackout policy was implemented, so when the sun set the entire community was plunged into darkness.

Cameron’s family had a radio, which had a small monitor that lit up when turned on. It was roughly the size of the space between her outstretched thumb and pointer finger. They were listening to it one night in the dark, trying to get news of the outside world and piece together what was happening when there was a knock at the door.

The knocker was the air warden. “You are showing a light,” he said.

From then on the radio was covered in a blanket when turned on, its low voices and sounds murmuring in the dark.

We’re fine, daddy.

A few days after the attack Cameron’s father was able to get a call through to Hawaii. But just as the town was kept in blackness at night, so the outside world was kept in the dark on information about Pearl Harbor.

When the phone rang it was an official’s voice which first came through to Cameron. “In this phone call, you may not mention the damage you have seen,” they instructed. “You may say nothing about the weather, nothing about the people in the town.”

When Cameron finally was able to speak to her father he kept asking for information. “I kept saying ‘We’re fine, daddy. We’re fine,’” she said. “Because that was all I could say.”

Take the blood

Within the first three days, Queens Hospital put a call out for blood donations. Cameron and her mother immediately went to donate. But there was a problem, donors were supposed to be 17 years old. Cameron was only 16.

Cameron’s mother grabbed her arm and handed it to the nurses. “My mother said ‘She’s a nice healthy girl, you take the blood,’” Cameron recalled. “My mother just said ‘Take it, take it.’”

Stumbling over debris

Before the attacks had even begun, Cameron and her mother had purchased tickets to California for Christmas. Her father was going to be stationed in San Francisco for the holiday and they were going to join him.

Those plans had definitely not changed in light of the attack.

Cameron and her mother had to go to the Pearl Harbor to pick up the paperwork allowing them to leave.

“We were stumbling over debris,” she recalled. “I saw the ships. I saw the burned buildings.”

Previously, Cameron had associated Pearl Harbor with tennis matches, swimming pools and parties. “It was where I went to have a good time,” she said. “And I saw it in ruins.”

She paused, before saying in a voice sad and a little shocked. “Everybody thought it would happen in the Philippines.”

Christmas Eve in life jackets

On Dec. 20, 1941, Cameron was on the first convoy that left Hawaii for California. The ship’s passengers were triple the usual number, the numbers inflated by people fleeing the Philippines and the 100 worst burn cases from Pearl Harbor.

The journey was one of trepidation. “There was no guarantee we would make it safely to California because that had not yet been accomplished,” Cameron said.

As the ship neared California, Japanese submarines were spotted off the coast of Los Angeles.

The passengers spent Christmas Eve in life jackets.

On Christmas morning 1941, they sailed under the Golden Gate Bridge and stepped foot on California soil.

Remember Pearl Harbor

Cameron and her family never went back to Hawaii.

In 1942, Cameron was in Philadelphia, studying at the Friends School when she received a letter from Punahou, her Hawaiian school, stating she could still have a Punahou diploma.

Cameron received two high school diplomas from schools 6,000 miles apart.

A Punahou yearbook was sent over, covered in messages from her old classmates. Emblazoned on the top of the autograph pages in big, bold capital letters read “REMEMBER PEARL HARBOR … AND ME.”

Brian Littrell, member of the Backstreet Boys and heartthrob at large, is making his way to Hershey. The same man whose faced grinned from posters on bedroom walls and covers of teen magazines has joined up with his band mates and New Kids on the Block for a concert tour that makes every boy-band fan’s dream come true. Their next destination? Hersheypark Stadium Saturday.

Even if the name Backstreet Boys sounds foreign, chances are you know their music. The group shot to fame in the late 90s with hits like “Quit Playing Games With My Heart,” and “I Want It That Way.” Six of the group’s albums have been in the Billboard 200 Top 10. It has recorded numerous hit songs and has been nominated for seven Grammy Awards.

When BSB’s first U.S. album debuted in 1997, Littrell’s photo made elementary students squeal. Now, 14 years later, those same kids are adults — and many have kept on screaming.

The band has done a fair bit of growing as well. Their music has changed from standard boy band pop to acoustic rock to dance and they lost a member, Kevin Richardson. Littrell has shed his nickname “B-Rock,” in favor of his first name. “I’ve kinda out grown that phase,” he says.

“I got that title growing up as a Backstreet Boy, being a young man,” he says. “That’s not really my title now. I’m a grown man, husband, father.”

He could also add to that lyricist and song writer, as many BSB fans know. Littrell co-wrote the hit “Larger than Life,” in addition to “The One” and “The Answer to Our Life,” among others.

“I hear melodies in my head and I write about what I feel,” he says. “It’s a way for me to tell the fans, tell the public, what’s going on in my head and what’s going on at that time.

His favorite song he’s written, however, cannot be found on any Backstreet Boy album. That honor goes to the title song from his 2006 solo record, “Welcome Home.”

“I wrote that song in Norway, I was on tour with the Backstreet Boys and I was really missing my family: my wife and my son,” he says. “So I laid down on my bed and I wrote a song.”

Family is important to Littrell, and closely intertwined with his music. It was on the set of the music video for “As Long As You Love Me” that he met his wife, Leighanne Wallace. Littrell still remembers the date that he set eyes on her: June 15, 1997. The song, needless to say, is one of his favorites.

Another on his top ten list is the monster hit, “I Want It That Way.” Earning three Grammy nominations and staying on the Billboard Pop chart for 26 weeks it may be the band’s most popular song. “Everybody’s favorite was ‘I Want It That Way,’” he says.

The chart topping success of the Backstreet Boys has continued into the 2000s and beyond. Since the group’s self-titled U.S. Debut album in 1997 they have made five more albums, all of which have been in the top ten of the Billboard 200.

What is the key to their success? According to Littrell, it is all about the music.

“People probably don’t want to read that as a particular answer,” he says. “But I really believe that in my heart.”

“With Backstreet Boys music we’ve found our place in a lot of people’s hearts and minds across the globe,” he says.

It has not been all smooth sailing for Littrell, who had to overcome several obstacles on his road to fame.

Read the complete article on PennLive.com.

The Hatmaker horde (with a couple of my brother’s friends) on the set of “The Dark Knight Rises.” I am the “U.”

Originally published in The Patriot-News on Sunday, Aug. 14, 2011.

To say I am a Batman fan is an understatement. Growing up, I had the costume, the action figures, the sleeping bag and the toys. I used to parade around my house, leaping down stairs singing “Na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-na-BATMAN” in full bat costume. My first prayer was for a Batman towel set to complete my collection (I’m not proud of that).

So when my brother, Ben, told me that the latest Batman film by Christopher Nolan, “The Dark Knight Rises” was looking for extras in Pittsburgh, it didn’t take me long to clear my calendar and round up my entire family (father, mother, brother, older sister and her husband) to join me.

What awaited us was explosive.

The location was Heinz Field in Pittsburgh. The scene was a football match between the Gotham City Rogues and the Rapid City Monuments. The experience was unforgettable.

Dressed up in our black-and-yellow gear (the Rogues’ colors) complete with winter coats, scarves, hats and T-shirts each emblazoned with a letter that spelt GO ROGUES, the Hatmaker horde was ready to go bright and early Saturday morning.

We had to be at a shuttle stop at 7:30 a.m. in order to catch a school bus taking the extras to Heinz Field. Once there it was a shuffling game. Shuffle through this line, fill out paperwork, shuffle to the next line, shuffle to the stands, shuffle to the seats.

We were placed in the middle of the sidelines with a perfect view of the camera crews, actors and Steelers players (as the Rogues’ team) below. The left of the field looked like a disaster zone, the goal post had fallen, cones were in disarray, and a huge part had been lifted from the ground.

That’s when I knew, really knew, that this was going to be awesome.

It was also painful.

About an hour after we sat down, the heavens broke and rain pelted us for a good 30 minutes.

Christopher Nolan, the director of the film, was a champ though. While the football players fled for shelter, Nolan stayed cool, put on his raincoat (although he didn’t bother with the hood) and continued to work on getting the right camera angles and directing the crew.

We extras simply huddled under umbrellas, trying desperately to stay a little bit dry.

When it stopped raining, the sun came to dry us off. Which was nice, until it wasn’t.

The scene was meant to be winter, but the weather was decidedly summer. Which meant every moment between takes people were shrugging off layers of clothing, using their umbrellas as parasol and desperately trying to find a way to stay cool.

Extra should really be short for “extra-long wait,” because that was the majority of what we did.

We had arrived at the stadium at 7:45 a.m., we left the filming at 7 p.m. In between was approximately five hours of cumulative wait time as they rehearsed shots, set up cameras or rigged the stadium with explosives.

When we were in action our tasks varied from singing to the national anthem, cheering on Hines Ward during kick-off, and attempting to flee the stadium after 60 explosions went off.

The futile attempts to run away were definitely my favorite moments. Evil villain Bane (played by Tom Hardy) infiltrated the stadium with his military-style thugs, who keep the crowd at bay with guns.

Despite the fact that we knew the guns were fake and that we shared jokes with the actors during break times, when the director yelled “Action!” they suddenly became terrifying. So we screamed, we ran, we crouched down or tried to climb fences.

Read the complete article on PennLive.com

Skillz Hurachi (right).

Originally published in The Patriot-News on May 19, 2012.

Many people called Terrance Manning “Skillz,” and his growing success in different fields show that he deserved the nickname.

Known as Skillz Hurachi, the Steelton rapper had opened for nationally known superstars Drake, Lil’ Wayne and Soulja Boy as a member of the rap trio VSOP/XO. He was slated to perform his first solo concert Friday at the Seabash restaurant in Harrisburg.

A tattoo artist, his work was about to be featured on UrbanInk.com, one of the top African American tattoo sites in the country. He also produced custom T-shirts.

Today, he planned to celebrate his 26th birthday at a bash filled with friends.

But Manning died Friday, leaving stunned friends and family mourning. Scores of friends and loved ones posted condolences on Facebook.

The Dauphin County coroner’s office confirmed Manning’s death Friday, but did not give details about his death. He was found in his home Friday morning, according to Brown.

“He did everything to the best of his ability,” said Jamar Brown, his best friend. “That’s why his name was Skillz.”

“His talent is unmeasurable, it really is,” Brown said, with his voice breaking. “It’s like he had no ceiling to his talent.”

Brown, a rapper known as Nino Marron, gave Manning the second part of his nickname — Hurachi. “It’s a pair of sneakers that are just sly and flashy,” he said, which was fitting for a man described as the life of the party.

Together with Zach Klaus, they became the VSOP/XO rap trio, performing at Kipona and opening for nationally acclaimed acts. No matter how successful they were, Manning never let them rest on their laurels, Brown said.

“Everything that we did, he pushed us to go further,” he said. “We did so much together and had so much to accomplish in life.”

Read the full article on Skillz on PennLive.com

Psychic John Edward.

Originally published in The Patriot-News on August 18, 2011. 

Quantum physics enthusiast and former health care administrator, John Edward is more than just a proclaimed psychic. He is a teacher, a messenger and according to some, a fraud.

Edward, 41, is coming to a sold-out performance Friday at Harrisburg’s Whitaker Center. with a price of $125 per ticket the feat is commendable.

Here, Edward tackles the issue of cynics, the accusations of being a fraud and his own story of how he went from a phlebotomy specialist to a psychic extraordinaire.

You’ve said the one person you want to connect to most is Albert Einstein. Any luck?

“No, I would have to have someone in his family. There has to be a lightning line. I don’t think he’d come through in a way that I’d want to have a conversation with him, either. He would come through in a way that was personal them.”

What would you talk about?

“I would like to talk to him when he was alive about what he thought of the potentiality of the afterlife and then I’d like to talk with him once he had passed on. I think that would be a fascinating chat. But you know, you’re talking to the person who likes to read books about quantum physics.”

Ahh, but no one understands quantum physics.

“It’s all debatable thought. It’s stuff that’s all hypothesis on what there are theories on. It’s really fascinating stuff.”

What would you be if you weren’t a professional medium?

“I would probably be a teacher. I think I would like to teach health care, medical stuff. I like to teach but I also like the clinical part of health care. It’d have to be a mixture of both.”

What made you leave the health care field?

“It was the convergence of both of my worlds, the psychic world got a bit too overwhelming for me.”

How did you become this worldwide psychic phenomenon?

“That’s the funny part. I started doing this work when I was 15 years old, and in a very quick time made a name for myself in a small circle of people…

Just by nature of having to keep up with the demand of people who want to see me, I thought well, I can do groups where I can teach people. Well this was getting bigger and someone suggested ‘you could do a book.’

It was literally like walking up the next step. It was always to find the next vehicle or medium to teach what I’ve already been doing.

When the book was coming out, the people from the book company said I had to promote it on television. I was like, ‘I don’t really want to do TV.’ I didn’t want to be edited.

So I was like, ‘Let me call the TV shows myself and talk with the producers.’ From there I started creating relationships from people who were on TV. And just by that I became friendly with the producers and then I had dinner with them and they said ‘Would like you to do a television show?’ And within a year ‘Crossing Over’ was on air. It was a 15 year overnight success.”

When you were 15, a psychic confirmed your gift, right?

“Yes, Lydia Clair. It was kind of surreal because I thought she was completely full of [expletive] to be honest.

One by one people were going to have readings with her. And I was completely pulling apart for all of them what it was she was saying in the ways which I thought I could.

In reality it was amazing things she was telling people.

And finally my cousin went and said ‘You have to go,’ and I said ‘No, I’m not giving money to someone to tell me a story.’

She said she’d pay so I sat down with [Clair] and she completely changed my life.”

Did she become your mentor then?

“She did not, which is the really weird part. I remember very clearly asking her ‘So you’re going to train me, right?’ and she was like ‘No, you’re going to find my own way.’ And I was like ‘Wha? Aren’t you supposed to be my Jedi Knight? My Yoda?’

But I found my way and I have to say I think that was part of my journey.

For me that was what my journey was, it was all about discovery. That’s what I teach people. People think ‘Here’s this guy John Edwards who just talks with dead people.’ The reality is I’m a teacher, I teach about metaphysics, talk about energy, empowerment and how metaphysical tools can be instrumental in life.”

How do you react to the skeptics? The critics? You’ve been called some nasty things.

“Depends on the criticisms. I was taught early on to be respectful to other people. I don’t attack people. If someone’s an agnostic or atheist I don’t try to attack them, yell at them or go on the Internet and write nasty things about them. I respect them on where they are in their journey.

I always find the people who are so critical on the subject matter don’t give any respect back. They try to define what you’re doing when they don’t even understand it. That just screams to me ignorance and ignorance leads to intolerance and that’s when dangerous things happen.”

What about the people who accuse you of cold reading?

“That’s the same thing. I think that is somebody who is trying to explain what’s happening, and they won’t. They make statements that are completely ludicrous.

There was someone years ago who took it upon herself to expose me as a fraud. She started following me around, going to the shows.

This woman wrote me such an amazing letter that I actually called her. She said ‘I armed myself with all the tools, and I really did investigate you. And I came to all your events, I came away there more scared about what the skeptics are putting out there than what you are putting out there.’

I’m paraphrasing of course. What she wrote was so eloquent.

I called her and said ‘Thank you for saying that.’

And said ‘You personally don’t do what they say you do.’

Unfortunately maybe there are people who do that.

It’s just an argumentative and attack base. I don’t like eating fish. You could serve it up, you can tell me it’s not going to taste fishy I just don’t like it. But I’m never going to tell you it doesn’t exist.

I think I would just prefer that they just said that ‘It’s not for me.’ I’m totally okay for that. It’s when they take it on the next level and tell the people who do that ‘You’re all … ignorant for being gullible,’ that I have a problem with.”

What do you say to people who say you’re a fraud?

“It brings out the coward in people. I’m constantly asked about ‘Crossing Over.’ I finally just said to one person, ‘Nobody filled out anything. Nobody filled out a damn thing on Crossing Over other than a release form, and there were two of them.’

In the first season of doing the show the producers had people come in, write questions they could ask me. And it happened that they put them in a big bag, a grab bag, and I would pull out the questions and go ‘Oh Suzy, you asked this…’ That blew up to people saying that we were fishing for information. But that’s not factual and it’s not true.

Stuff like that I’ll explain because it’s not correct. I also feel responsibility to people who worked on the show. That would mean all of these people were in on that big charade. It’s just not real.”

Read the full article on PennLive.com

Photo by Julia Hatmaker, edited on Instagram.

Originally published in the official guide to Launch Music Conference 2012. 

Not every band can say its music has been played in space.

But, then again, Rusted Root is not your average band.

Formed in the early 90s, Rusted Root has built a name for itself on its unique blend of the world and rock genres. Its music has been played during television shows and movies, including “Ice Age,” “Ally McBeal,” and “Twister.” In 2003 the band’s song “Send Me on My Way” was chosen as wake-up music for the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity by NASA engineers.

This year marks the release of a new album and a 20th anniversary for the group.

“Honestly, I feel real blessed to be making a living 20 years later from this band I started in college,” said Liz Berlin, percussionist and vocals for Rusted Root.

Berlin had always been involved in music, having grown up with two classical singers for parents. She started the guitar at 16. Her love of percussion would come later, when she was attended a class at the University of Pittsburgh on African drumming.

It was around that time that she and Michael Glabicki decided to join their musical forces together and form a band.

The result was Rusted Root, which released its first album, “Cruel Sun,” in 1992.

Success would come after years of hard work and juggling of time, work and school for all the band members.

“Some people would work and I went to school,” Berlin said. “We’d do that all day and then we’d start practice at 8 p.m. and go until 5 in the morning.”

Most of those hours were devoted to writing music.

“We worked really hard on just developing the initial group of songs,” Berlin explained. After developing a handful that met their expectations, Rusted Root began playing anywhere that would take them.

That ‘will play anywhere’ status landed them in some unusual locations, like a biker bar in the southern part of America.

“It was this little bar filled with these hardcore motorcycle riders, and we were like ‘Oh my God, what are we doing [performing] in front of these people?’” Berlin recalled. “We got on stage and circled up our energy and did what we did hardcore. By the middle of the show they were really into it.”

That, in Berlin’s mind, is how you build up a fan base. “Just be the best you can be in what you’re doing, regardless of how intimidated you might be by the circumstances,” she said.

Being gutsy isn’t enough though, according to her. She advises all those striving to “make it” in the music scene to first build up a solid catalogue of songs.

“Create music that will appeal to people and will have the kind of power to create the kind of career you have envisioned for yourself,” she said. “You have to make sure you’re creating something special.”

Once a strong song list is made, Berlin advises booking gigs as much as possible as well as delving into the online scene. “Put a lot of energy into your social media,” she said. “Try to create an awareness of yourself and your music.”

Rusted Root is already leveraging their social media presence through the “Fortunate Freaks Unite: We are Rusted Root!” fundraising campaign. Modeled after Kickstarter, the band is asking fans to help with the production, recording and marketing costs of a new album on its website (www.rustedroot.com). In return, those who donate will receive various rewards such as copies of the album, concert tickets and private performances.

“It’s definitely made it possible for us to make this record,” Berlin said of the campaign.

The album is nameless at the moment, with a hypothetical October release date. But those at Launch Music Conference can catch a sneak peek at the Rusted Root performance on April 26.

“We have about half a set right now that’s all new stuff,” Berlin said. “It’s a really cool mixture too, it’ll go from old to new to old to new seamlessly and the energy will stay right there.”

While performing the new songs, the band will be keeping an eye out for fan responses. The making of a Rusted Root album is a collaborative process that includes not just the band members, but the fans too.

“A lot of the way that we prepare for recording an album is developing the songs on the road and playing them for the crowd,” Berlin explained. “It becomes collaborative with the audience because of the way the audience reacts and participates. [The fans] totally contribute. If they don’t like it, it doesn’t feel good and if it doesn’t feel good it doesn’t go on the album.”

A consistent crowd pleaser is “Food and Creative Love,” from the band’s major label debut, “When I Woke” (1994). It is also Berlin’s favorite from the band’s repertoire.

“It starts off like a slow reggae thing and then it speeds up and goes into this really rocking – it’s just awesome,” she said. “And the chorus is like ‘All I want is food and creative love,’ it’s just such a great line I think. The whole band is singing in harmony at that point in the chorus. The energy in it is always huge; the crowd is always singing and dancing to it.”

That crowd interaction and relationship is a key part of Rusted Root. Without their fans, they would not be reaching their 20th anniversary, Berlin said.

“It’s really because the fans are really, really loyal and they stick with us to the point that we can go to a city like Lancaster, or any number of cities in the country, and draw a great crowd and have a good experience,” she said.

And that is what keeps Rusted Root going.

Photo by Christine Baker, The Patriot-News.

Originally published in The Patriot-News on April 19, 2012.

A gunshot interrupts the ting, bass, ting of a rap song’s percussion.

Screams sound and characters scatter. One guy slumps forward.

The image is stark and horrifying.

“Gunshot Blast” by Harrisburg rapper J. Bair goes against the grain of the stereotypical modern rap music scene, which tends to glorify guns and gang violence. It decries violence, emphasizing the human consequences.

The music video, which premiered March 17 on YouTube, has been featured on its “Hip Hop Update” channel and is nearing 3,000 views. What has people talking is its message: an unforgiving slam on the prevalence of guns in the community.

And it couldn’t come at a better time.

The week the video went online, a Steelton cabdriver was shot and killed in Harrisburg. On April 12, a man died after being shot on Derry Street. This year, Harrisburg has already seen five homicides and was named the 20th-most-dangerous city in America by NeighborhoodScout.com.

“The city right now is in a frenzy,” said Rob Roman of Harrisburg, who does multimedia work for J. Bair. “It takes strong people to actually try to do something productive and avoid being involved in the nonsense that goes on.”

“Hopefully, there are youth who will pay attention to the message,” Roman said. “And hopefully, there are other people, like us, who can help spread the message.”

J. Bair is the stage name of Jason Bair, a hip-hop artist who does a lot of his writing at Midtown Scholar Bookstore. When he talks, his words are thoughtful and deep.

“Gunshot Blast,” was years in the making. The idea struck Bair in June 2009, when the city witnessed several shootings over a two-week period. The idea for an anti-violence song haunted Bair, who would jot down lyrics only to edit them later.

“It just kept coming up,” he said. “And [violence] wasn’t being addressed. That was something that was disappointing to me as an artist, you know? It’s glorified more than anything. So I felt like somebody should speak on the issue.”

Bair calls his style blue-collar hip-hop or everyman music. “I think it’s relatable to the everyday average person going through trials and tribulations in life. I really want to touch on areas that are underserved,” he said.

Feedback on “Gunshot” has been overwhelmingly positive.

“This is what we need in Harrisburg,” wrote YouTube user cdvkiller.

Bair said he feels encouraged by responses like that and by speaking about an issue that’s so relevant.

Before his mother died in 2008, she challenged him to make “music of quality.” His uncle continually echoes his mother’s words, telling Bair to “give people food for the heart.”

“I think as artists in this generation, we don’t touch on social issues enough,” Bair said. “Not enough as we did when we did when hip-hop started, you know? That genre has lost its way on affecting social issues. But as artists, we need to get back on topics that have importance, have meaning.”

Read the full article on PennLive.com.

If the way to a man’s heart is truly through his stomach, this latest Valentine’s Day phenomenon scores a direct hit.

Instructions for creating bouquets of “roses” made from rolled-up strips of cooked bacon are popping up by the dozen online. They’re riding America’s current burning romance with bacon, a trend that’s turning up on gourmet restaurant menus and at fast food franchises, alike.

Earlier this month, California burger chain Jack in the Box released its 1,081-calorie bacon milkshake. Chocolate-covered bacon has been making the rounds at state festivals and Renaissance fairs for years.

But none of these may be as romantic as bacon roses.

When Valentine’s Day rolled around last year, Kevin Kittle knew the typical candy and flowers wouldn’t suffice.

The Phoenix, Ariz., man and his girlfriend shared a mutual love of the meat once found mainly on breakfast plates. He made his first bacon bouquet.

“As I got in the car to take them to her, I was quite proud of myself,” he said. “But as I was driving over there, the reality of the situation began to set in. We were newly dating. I liked this girl. It was Valentine’s Day. And I was bringing her pork.”

She loved the gift. “She still cheeses up when someone mentions them,” Kittle said.

Mel Fisher, owner of Lebanon Valley Meats in Harrisburg also is a fan, although he won’t be making even as much as a crispy corsage for his wife this year.

“I would just give her roses. She gets all the bacon she wants already,” he said.

Celebrities like “Star Trek” actor George Takei have shared the bacon gospel on Facebook and Twitter.

“Go ahead, eat your feelings. #BaconThingsRight,” Takei wrote on his Facebook wall above a photo of the roses captioned “Bacon Roses: She wants romance, you want a snack. Problem solved.”

Read the full article on PennLive.com.

The hip-hop artists and producers behind I Am Harrisburg are, from left, Pacino, Zach, Jaymes, All Steezy, Bobbo and Supa Dupa Sultan. Photo by Julia Hatmaker, The Patriot-News

Originally published in The Patriot-News on March 23, 2012.

Harrisburg might be making headlines for violence and debt, but there’s more to it than that.

That’s the message behind “I Am Harrisburg,” a hip-hop song written for the people of the city to rally behind.

Written by local rappers and producers All Steezy, Jaymes, Zach, Pacino, Bobbo and Supa Dupa Sultan, “I Am Harrisburg” is meant to be an anthem for the city.

“I just hope it brings people together,” said All Steezy, the man behind the song’s hook and chorus. “We don’t have to be against each other.”

He cited the song’s creation as an example. “We all came from different places, we all came from different groups, and we all came together to make this song.”

The song was written last May but its music video was posted this month.

When it made the video and the song, the group had no idea that the month it posted it would be known for violent crimes nor that Harrisburg would be named the 20th most dangerous city in the United States by NeighborhoodScout.com.

Just as the media was flooded with reports of shootings, stabbings and robberies, YouTube lit up with a song about the positive side of Harrisburg.

“It was perfect timing,” Pacino said.

The video features Harrisburg locales like Market Street, Sea Bash and the Capitol, while the lyrics mention Mayor Linda Thompson, LeSean McCoy and Middleswarth chips. Even former Mayor Stephen R. Reed gets a mention.

Filmed like a block party, the music video features people of different ethnicities sporting “I Am Harrisburg” T-shirts and dancing.

“We just wanted to put together a campaign and involve the city as a whole, not just one ethnicity or one class or one set of people,” said Supa Dupa, who shot and edited the video.

The video, which has more than 48,000 hits on YouTube, has received mixed comments. Some have blasted the city and the rappers, like YouTube user Badboynic1010 who wrote: “You have to be an idiot to rep? Harrisburg. Im NEVER forgetting where I came from and I know that where I’m going is not going to be staying in Harrisburg. The city has gone to … and you got idiots repping it like its worth something.”

Others have applauded the group for showcasing Harrisburg, such as YouTube user geminijlw, who wrote: “What a wonderful video, proud of all who made it, support it, and those that can only show their discrimination, go to … no place else for you to go, because those in the video will take up the room you might have. Discrimination is ugly, this video is beautiful. Thanks to all of you who went [out] of your way to do something for Harrisburg. Love it, love it, it is beautiful.”

Some are indifferent to the song, like the Hershey Harrisburg Regional Visitors Bureau.

“It isn’t on our radar,” said Rick Dunlap, director of public relations and communications for the bureau. “We have no opinion on it.”

The people behind “I Am Harrisburg” sincerely stand by the city, praising it for its diversity, small size and neighborhood feel.

Supa Dupa, in particular, loves the city at 2 a.m., when the clubs have shut down, but several eateries are still open and the crowd floods into the street.

“It kind of turns into a mini-South Beach,” he said. “There was a time when they would shine just a big light out there. You’d just see everybody walking out streets. Everybody was out there, black, white, all races.”

But at the same time, the rappers are cognizant to the city’s problem. And they see a solution: unity.

“When a city comes together, it’s unstoppable,” Zach said.

Read the full story on PennLive.com.

Mud-covered chairs sit in the parking lot of the Hoss’s Steak and Sea House in Hummelstown. The restaurant was covered with more than 6 feet of water when it was flooded during Tropical Storm Lee. Photo by Julia Hatmaker, The Patriot-News

Originally published in The Patriot-News on September 12, 2011.

Shawn Peterson of South Hanover Township hardly slept Thursday night. He spent much of it standing on a hill, watching as the water of the Swatara Creek engulfed the first floor of his home.

“I was sitting on the hill just thinking, ‘Oh, God,’” he said.

Peterson had lived there for 11 years. The worst flooding he had experienced in that time was easily taken care of by pumps in his basement, the water only reaching the top of the little hill his home sat on.

This time, everything on the first floor and basement was ruined.

Peterson had managed to move most of his more important belongings to the second floor, which was untouched. But the pile outside his home showed that not everything was moved. There sat a treadmill, TV, refrigerator and microwave.

“We salvaged what we could, but it was all covered in mud,” he said.

Going through his home was tough. He hasn’t let his 15-year-old son see it yet. Peterson pointed out mementos, pieces that triggered a memory. In one room was the soggy and ruined wooden floor, the very oak floor he and his dad had put in two years go.

While the water might have receded, it is forever ingrained in Peterson’s memory.

“Now I have to worry every time it rains,” he said.

His home was not the only building under the creek because of the flood. The Hoss’s Steak and Sea House in Hummelstown was covered with more than 6 feet of water. The building has been gutted, and everything will have to go. Rows of chairs, tables, canned food and appliances sat outside the restaurant, covered in mud.

“We’re not sure what we’re going to do,” said Rob Billet, district manager for Hoss’s, who was supervising the cleanup.

“The Swatara has come out in the parking lot before, but never to the restaurant,” he said.

“It’s pretty devastating,” he said. “We’ve been here a long time.”

The restaurant employs 60 people, Billet said. He is unsure whether the restaurant will reopen. If not, those waiters, cooks, hosts and managers would find themselves out of work.

For more on the flood damage in Hummelstown and Middletown read the full article on PennLive.com

Photo by Dan Gleiter, The Patriot-News

Originally published in The Patriot-News on April 7, 2012.

It’s Friday afternoon and Frankie Muniz has locked himself in with his drum kit.

Since arriving in Harrisburg on Thursday morning, Muniz has been living and breathing the music of Kingsfoil, the York band in which he plays drums.

Muniz rose to fame in 2000 as Malcolm in the hit TV series “Malcolm in the Middle.” He also played the title character in the “Agent Cody Banks” movies. After “Malcolm” ended in 2006, Muniz took a break from Hollywood and moved to Phoenix, Ariz., to be a race car driver. Two years ago, he left competitive racing to be a drummer for You Hang Up, an unsigned band in his southwestern home.

Now, at age 26, Muniz has come to the midstate to pursue his drumming dream.

He looks much the same as his “Malcolm” days, although the hair is a little wispier and the clean-shaven face has been replaced with a rock star’s facial hair. But it’s his strikingly blue eyes that immediately catch one’s attention.

Even though Muniz had just finished an intensive 48-hour drive the day before, he was alert and excited. His words were almost always accompanied by a grin and expansive arm movements.

Part of that excitement is fueled by his need to get as much accomplished as possible. With his first concert as Kingsfoil drummer just six days away in Dewey Beach, Del., Muniz is on a steep learning curve when it comes learning the band’s songs.

All he needs for the first concert, though, is to be able to play 10 songs.

“Right now I feel 100 percent confident with six of them, so there’s four I have to work out,” he said. “I’m going to do it. I’m dedicated and I want to do very well. So I will be in this drum room all day everyday until we got that show.”

It could be a feat for Muniz, who had never taken a drum lesson before joining Kingsfoil, even though he had been playing since he was 12.

For more on Frankie Muniz and Kingsfoil, read the full article on PennLive.com

Me and my pumpkin. Photo by Megan Lavey-Heaton, The Patriot-News.

Originally published in The Patriot-News on January 12, 2012.

I never thought a pumpkin could inspire such joy in me.

But, then again, I had never seen a 735-pound pumpkin before.

Since I moved to central Pennsylvania in 2011, I had been hearing about the Farm show. If I had a nickel for every time I heard someone say “You have to go to the Farm Show,” I would be a… well, I would have a lot of nickels. Let’s just leave it at that.

It should be noted that before I read the stories on the Farm Show last week I was convinced it was a place you just went to get milkshakes.

That is definitely not the case, as I found out on Monday morning. Yes, the milkshakes were amazing— but the Farm Show is so much more than a single cup filled with dairy goodness.

It’s an art exhibition, a vegetable freak show and a bustling boutique.

The first thing I noticed inside was the smell.

It’s a unique odor, a mixture of hay, dung and doughnuts, and it pervades the entire arena. One smell was stronger than the others, depending on where I was. I did my best to avoid the dung heavy bits.

I scouted around the arena, ran into some friends and dragged them along on my journey. They were there to witness my squeals of joy, my pumpkin-themed rants and my duckling-inspired geek outs.

The Farm Show, I found out, is full of the cutest things. Ducklings? Check. Bunnies with uber floppy ears? Check (double check because you could pet them, too). Baby chicks being born? Oh, yeah. Even the monster-size cows were precious. I’m sure my pitch went up several octaves out of sheer adorable exposure during the Farm Show.

And throughout each of these exhibits there are magnificent bits of conversation to over hear. Best thing I heard was while I was watching the chicks hatch. A gentleman behind me said “It’s amazing how they go from breakfast to dinner in five minutes.”

Someone should start an “Overheard at the Farm Show” Tumblr. I would totally follow it.

For more of my Farm Show adventures including my square dancing mishap, read the full article on PennLive.com

Photo by Dan Gleiter, The Patriot-News.

Originally published in The Patriot-News on June 28, 2011.

Traffic lights never looked so seductive as when the Linglestown roundabout – which sends traffic in a circle to connected roads — was put in place. The new road system has sparked a lot of discussion, with people wondering what this newfangled road thing is and how in the world does one navigate in it?

The news about the roundabout drove PennLiver user qfest to write: “Watched a video a few weeks ago on how to manage the roundabouts. Wish PennDOT, Patriot News, TV stations would air something as well. The public just needs to be educated.”

So are roundabouts driving you mad? Feel you’re just running around in circles? Here’s a how-to – roundabout style.

APPROACHING A ROUNDABOUT

1. Read the signs: More than just the yield one, roundabout signs can give important clues on how to use the roundabout and will display the different exits and which turn they are on. The one in Linglestown is a single-lane roundabout, but there are also two-lane ones, which come with handy signs telling exactly which lane is best for each person.

2. Yield: The pedestrians wanting to cross and the cars in the roundabout have the right of way. So until there is an opening, the car outside the roundabout has to wait. Patience is a virtue.

3. Enter the roundabout: See that opening? Signal in and take it by turning right.

For instructions on how to drive in or exit from roundabouts read the full story on PennLive.com

Kevin Beresford, president of the UK Roundabout Appreciation Society, thinks Americans should embrace roundabouts. Submitted by Kevin Beresford for use by The Patriot-News.

Background: In the last week of June 2011 a roundabout was installed on Linglestown Road. For weeks after it was the topic of many discussions in the community, with most spewing hatred for the roadway. During this time, I stumbled on a Roundabout Appreciate Society and this story.

Originally published in The Patriot-News on July 5, 2011.

For all those roundabout haters out there, Kevin Beresford has a message: “Get a bloody grip!”

Beresford is the president of the UK Roundabout Appreciation Society, so he is a tad biased when it comes to circular traffic. He speaks poetry about the road system. “Above all the things normally associated with the road net work, there is nothing more expressive then the one-way-gyratory,” he said.

A native of the town Redditch in northern England, Beresford fell in love with roundabouts in 2003 while trying to come up with a totally unique calendar for the printing company he ran. The result was the “Roundabouts of Redditch” calendar, which sold worldwide.

“At first I found it all a bit of a joke, but in time I came to love those magical circles,” he said. “And, I’m sure with time, so will the American people.”

The resistance of US residents to roundabouts puzzles Beresford. “I’ve always thought Americans to be open, brave and positive about new innovations,” he said, before pointing out that the first ever roundabout was actually in New York City. Back in 1903, William Phelps Eno installed Columbus Circle in the Big Apple, but the idea never took flight.

“Why, oh why didn’t you persevere with it,” Beresford said. “Oh well, its your loss. Stick to your boring un-safe, un-green, scary intersections.”

Read the full story on PennLive.com

Photo by Jenny Kane, The Patriot-News

Originally published in The Patriot-News on Aug. 4, 2011.

This summer it’s all about dresses. A great way to keep cool and look cute at the same time, the summer dress this year is bright, breathable and bold.

Taylor Eisenberger, fashionista and owner of Taylored for You Bridal Boutique in Mechanicsburg and Paula Trimpey, Associate Professor of Theater and Fashion at Albright College, weigh in on the trend and share what dress is best for you, based on your body’s shape, bust size and height.

If you still are unsure about which dress to buy, follow Eisenberger’s advice: “When in doubt go shopping with your best friend and get a second opinion. Go with your gut instinct, if you feel good in it you’re going to look good in it.”

The dress trends

• Bold prints: Tribal, geometric or tropical prints and patterns are vogue. Go big, bold and just a touch funky.
• Bright colors: Summer is the time to celebrate the sunshine, so embrace shades like fire-engine red, golden-yellow and cerulean blue.
• Flowy fabric: There is no set fabric for the season, but the style is flowy and soft, rather than the stiff or rigid looks popular in the winter
• Ruching: This sewing technique adds a bit of ruffle detail to any dress. It causes a draping effect which flatters most figures.
• Maxi: These slimming dresses look good on just about anyone, as the eye automatically is drawn down the length of the body, adding more height.
• Trench dress: These shorter dresses take the look of a trench coat and turn it into a fitted dress with an a-line skirt, complete with a belt around the middle.

The perfect dress for you

Pear shaped - For those that are smaller at the top and wider at the bottom be on the hunt for dresses with these looks:

• Bodice: Go for a detailed neckline or more of a halter shaped look.
• Skirt: Choose one that hits at the knee or longer which “will float around your figure, definite it and also create interest,” according to Trimpey.
• Belted: Show off the smallest part of your figure with a belt around the waist.
• Colors: Avoid solid white, “It just makes you look like a puffalump,” Trimpey said. Instead go for an interesting print in multiple colors.

To find the ideal gown for other body shapes and sizes, read the full story on PennLive.com