Dennis Nyback Films

When I was growing up there were certain songs that were much more than words and music. They seemed be part of the fabric of existence.  They were as much a part of American life as a street or a house or a tree.  Some were instrumentals, melodies I had no idea of the name… Continue reading Carolina in the Morning

On November 19th I took the train from Portland to Olympia.  That night as a guest of the Olympia Film Festival I showed a program of films I had rescued from trash cans.  I had also been asked to introduce the screening of the recently found Alfred Hitchcock related film The White Shadow.  In the… Continue reading Alfred Hitchcock and Me

Scene one: A Portland Neighborhood A male and female fire fighter are looking at a notice on the door of a house.  Smoke is coming out of the bottom and sides of the door. Behind them across the street is a house on fire.  Two children are in a second story window crying out for… Continue reading Screenplay for Portlandia

This evening on the radio I heard an interview with chef Dan Barber.  He was introduced by the host as a chef who could create something with a few common ingredients and make it  taste like nothing ever tasted.  The secret was not the ingredients by themselves, but how they worked in combination.  That made… Continue reading Eating Mindfully

My friend Peter Schilling Jr. writes an always entertaining blog . Once a week he files  a report on Estate Sales.  This is the current installment of his Estate Sale Confidential. It has brought me to the point where I need to confess.  I am alive, but many years ago I held an estate sale to get… Continue reading ESTATE SALE CONFIDENTIAL: The Confession

When I arrived in Chicago in 1976 on a freight train one of the first places I went was the Congress Hotel. I wanted to see the Joseph Urban Room. It was one of the fabulous night clubs of the 1930’s.  I was familiar with it because of recordings of broadcasts from there by Benny… Continue reading Happy Feet, I’ve Got Those Happy Feet

In 2003 I was contacted by a writer in Boston named John Chilson about being interviewed for a magazine he had created. I never saw the printed interview and the web magazine is gone. I corrected a couple of spellings and got rid of odd formatting garbage but did not edit any of the questions… Continue reading An Interview from Many Years Ago

BELLTOWN FILM FESTIVAL THE JEWEL BOX THEATER SEATTLE 1989-1992 The Nicholas Brothers: Hot In Harlem Jazz Stars in Suppressed Films Misc. @ 5  For Clark Humphrey Lite Lit 2: The Remake To Be or Not To Be Bop The Fabulous Nicholas Brothers Silent Comedy Shorts Hard Boiled Babes of the Silent Screen It Came Before… Continue reading List of Film Programs Created (Not Complete)

A song a year for the 20th Century 1901 Good Morning, Carrie w.Cecil Mack m. Chris Smith & Elmer Bowman 1902 In The Good Old Summer Time w. Ren Shields m. George Evans. 1903 Good-bye, Eliza Jane w. Andrew B. Sterling m. Harry Von Tilzer 1904 Give My Regards to Broadway w.m. George M. Cohan… Continue reading A Song for each year of the Twentieth Century

Rapt at Unwrapped Bread Dennis Nyback From The West Side Spirit (New York City) June 10, 2004 While standing in line last week in a grocery store in New York, Inoticed the man in front of me was buying a gallon of water. I askedhim how much it would cost. He said $3.79. I thought… Continue reading Back in 2004 I got paid fifty bucks for this piece of writing