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“One Night With Janis Joplin” with another cast is previewing on Broadway as we speak. San Jose Rep's bombastic production recreates some of Joplin's best moments delivered by the amazing talent of Kacee Clanton, who channels Joplin with eerie accuracy. Her voice comes across so raw and powerful and is so similar to Joplin's that you are transported to the ’60s when she reigned as queen of rock ‘n’ roll and brought her spot-on interpretations of this type of music. She delivers with no holds barred with one earthshaking song after another.

We arrived in New Zealand in July 2002 – winter in the Southern Hemisphere – and stayed in the Millennium Hotel, a fine lodging overlooking Cathedral Square in Christchurch, the South Island’s largest city. Across the plaza was the huge stone Anglican Cathedral; I remember climbing to the top of its 200-foot tower to get a view of the surrounding city, having no idea what fate had in store for this massive historic edifice.

It seems as though, at least for the moment, the spread of swine

When Pulitzer Prize finalist playwright Jon Robin Baitz put pen to paper (or fingers to PC) to write “Other Desert Cities,” he was either in split personality mode or solving a Rubik’s cube puzzle – or both. His play is about dysfunctional family members with fragile backgrounds. Some have a secret that could break the delicate hold that - at times - keeps the family together.

With the arrival of spring, grocery store shelves begin to show an abundance of seasonal products. Spring fruits and vegetables appear in the produce section, while grilling displays are assembled in the meat section. However, it is the featured section of kosher foods for Passover that peaks my curiosity.

Medicine is a science with more questions than answers. Doctors are always searching for a better way to treat specific diseases. Veterinarians are no different. Veterinary research is responsible for the development of new treatments and preventative vaccines.

Ansel Adams is famous for capturing in his photographic images

With just days left in 2013, I’ve been ruminating on the past year and wondering what the future may hold. Personally, it’s been a tumultuous year and a half and I’m hopeful the winds will begin to shift come 2014.

The Gilroy Rotary volunteers are already at work preparing for the Wine Pavilion at the Garlic Festival. The pavilion, often referred to as the “Wine Tent,” allows festival-goers to sample local wines by the taste or by the glass. Often people will find themselves in the tent enjoying wine and escaping the heat under the cooling misters, but many don’t realize that the Gilroy Rotary has been using the event as a major fundraiser for community projects and outreach for the past 13 years.