Missing The Alright Maybes

After finally seeing a couple performances by The Alright Maybes, I have not seen them doing any shows of late. I hope this isn't permanent.

The Alright Maybes are fronted by Angie Reinhart, sister of Haley Reinhart, one of my very favorite singers. Angie's fiance and a couple others make up the rest of the band. The last time I saw them, They had a fill-in for one of the members. I did my due diligence, but couldn't get the musician's name (which explains the picture below).

Coming from a musical family, Angie's mom and dad often join either daughter on stage, as well as performing with others. Angie sounds very similar to Haley at times but different enough to have her own sound. She also leans a bit towards edgier rock music than Haley, although both can cover a wide range of music.

I hope to see Angie and The Alright Maybes perform this year. They have too much talent not to be on stage somewhere.

Angie Reinhart, an unnamed musician and me in Highwood, IL-April 2025.

Back at Cosmic Underground

My friend Chuck and I were finally able to coordinate our schedules with Cosmic Underground to see a performance. I recapped the experience at Cosmic Underground on Global Traveler.

Although not by profession, Chuck is a magician. He has done more than 2,700 in-room shows at hospitals, among other performances. I am especially grateful for his hospital visits, but that's for another time.

I was happy Chuck could make the show, because I wanted his take on the experience. Owners Kayla Drescher (who I previously interviewed and who has made an appearance on Penn and Teller Fool Us) and Harrison Lampert combine magic, mentalism and comedy into a night of pure entertainment.

After the show, Chuck admitted her knew all of their secrets, but more importantly, he was impressed by their skills. Their sleight-of-hand and misdirection were masterful.

I also must mention Harrison's ability to name ever cereal mascot. Proving his skill, he rattled off about a dozen, then challenged the audience to stump him. Nobody did, although we threw out another dozen cereals.

I really hope Cosmic Underground succeeds. Kayla and Harrison are so positive. I look forward to a return visit.

For more info, go to cosmicundergroundtheater.com. Check here for more of my Chicago area pop culture bits.

Kayla Drescher, Chuck, Harrison Lampert and me in Chicago, IL-December 2025.

Talking Travel with Sara Richard

Happy New Year. I will start the year with one of my favorite people, artists and interviews. 

I have been an admirer of artist Sara Richard for many years. From the moment I met her around 15 years ago, I was immediately fascinated by her illustrations. She is amazingly talented. Over the years, I also learned what a cool person she is. I am proud to call her a friend.

While all of that is great, it isn;t the reason I interviewed her on Talking Travel for Global Traveler. I have met Sara in several places, including Chicago, New York, Columbus, Detroit and maybe a couple others. That is a part of the reason for the interview, but her recent travels are really the main reason.

Sara's work pulled her to Shaghai, where she made two trips and spent several days. Her passions brought her to Gettysburg, where she looked for the supernatural, while absorbing the history. All together, it made for a fascinating and fun interview.

Of course, I was happy to expose her talent to the GT viewers. I am always happy to spread the word on talented folks and just as happy to deliver talented folks to my viewers. The perfect combo is when that talented person is a friend, like Sara.

Watch our interview at Talking Travel with Sara Richard. While you are there, please subscribe to the GT YouTube channel.

Friend Encounters: McKinley the Princess Moose and Nancy

Friend Encounters is a weekly series featuring friends meeting celebrities.

My sister Nancy is back with another great mascot. The things she does for her brother...

McKinley Moose joined the Princess Cruises family in 2019 to celebrate 50 years of sailing to Alaska. He is reported to be a friend to Stanley the Bear, the first Princess mascot. There's no mascot jealousy here. Like I say about mascots, the more the merrier. 

I found some confusing info. One source listed him as Morris. There really needs to be a mascot database. There was the ill-fated Mascot Hall of Fame, but that closed after an unsuccessful run.

What really matters though is my sisters go out of their way to indulge me in this silliness. What have I done to them> They love me and I am so lucky to have both of them and all the mascots they find. 

McKinley the Princess Moose, Nancy and her friend in Pacific Ocean-August 2025.

Celebrity Jersey Cards #775 Stephen Stills & Johnny Rotten

Celebrity Jersey Cards is a weekly series featuring celebrities wearing sports jerseys.

Born in Dallas, Texas, musician Stephen Stills is best known for his work with Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills & Nash. Stills was the first person inducted twice on the same night into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The story goes that Stills auditioned for the Monkees, although his interest was questionable. That part ended up going to Peter Tork, whom Stills recommended. Stills has been known to wear jerseys on stage, which explains his Philadelphia Flyers jersey that landed him on a Celebrity Jersey Card.

Born on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, Johnny Lydon rose to fame as Johnny Rotten with the Sex Pistols. As wild as his image might be, Lydon is actually quite stable, having been married for 44 years until his wife's death in 2023. Also, in 2000 they became guardians of her daughter's teenage sons and her third child in 2010. A young Lydon earned his Celebrity Jersey Card while wearing a Minnesota North Stars sweater.

Cards That Never Were: Po James Topps 1973

Cards That Never Were is a recurring series in which I create virtual trading cards for players missed in various sets. It is a concept I borrow from far too many to list, but I appreciate all of their efforts.

Running back Po James was selected by the Philadelphia Eagles in the 4th round of the 1972 NFL Draft. He played 49 games over four seasons with the Eagles, gaining 1,215 yards for a 3.7 yards per carry with four TDs. For his efforts, Topps gave James cards in sets 1974-76. That left a 1973 rookie card.

Once again, as I intended to fix this omission, I saw Lynn from the Custom Baseball Cards group on Facebook. Lynn is the most productive member of the group and all of his thousands of creations are amazing. I always choose to highlight his creations, rather than try to duplicate the masterpiece and fall short.

Missa Kate Retires

When a "Loser Retires" match between Missa Kate and Steve Boz was announced, I had no idea who would win. Of course, I know, retiring in wrestling very rarely sticks.

I have previously written several times about my appreciation of Missa Kate. A veteran of the Chicago indy scene, Missa is "Chicago's Favorite Sweetheart" for many reasons. Her twist kick is the best I have seen. She works great as a good guy or bad guy, but I lean towards her nasty side. I think she is such a natural.

Anyway, the match was brutal. They pounded each other. Missa took and gave a beating. Unfortunately, Missa took a loss. The crowd erupted in a "Thank You Missa" chant. With tears in her eyes, she exited the ring. This is the drama of wrestling. This is storytelling at its best.

Then reality hit hard the next morning. Missa posted on social media about her retirement. This is legit. She was selling her gear and stepping away for good. More appreciation from fans was posted over the next several days.

It's a sad day on the local wrestling scene. Missa lone was enough to get me to a show. She is that good.

The picture below is from Missa's last entrance in wrestling. I made the cut! Had she been wrestling as a heel, she would have snubbed me, like a true old school bad guy.

Today, I join the others in saying thank you, Missa! You are one of a kind and will be missed. Good luck and best wishes always.

Missa Kate, Tony and me in Franklin Park, IL-December 2025.

Shiny Hardware: PWHL Trophy and Jonathan

Next to mascots, trophies are one of my favorite objects. Today, I feature two relatively new trophies and an old friend.

The Women's Professional Hockey League has existed for two seasons and the Minnesota Frost won both championships. Those are the two trophies behind my pal Jonathan. The PWHL started with four teams, but now has eight. There are four teams each in Canada and the United States. I am hoping for an expansion to Chicago. 

As for Cimags, he's been around a lot longer than the PWHL, although I only met him about 10 years ago at a Chicago Bandits game. He is an avid sports fan and autograph collector. He probably has more than 1,000 signatures, obviously many being of women sports stars, such as the Bandits and Frost. While I a, not a grapher, like Cimags, I would have liked to meet the Frost players and again, hope to eventually meet Chicago players.

Go to TheWPHL.com for more info on the league. The season started in November and runs through April 25, 2026.

For more on Cimags, check the Cimags YouTube channel. He has fun videos about graphing, Pokemon and other pop culture stuff.

Cimags and the PWHL trophies in Minneapolis, MN-October 2025.

Talking Travel with Richard Newton

As you can tell, I am a sports fan. My usual interests are pretty basic though. I usualy don't seek out unfamiliar sports. Luckily for me, Richard Newton does just that.

Newton has written many sports articles for Global Traveler. While I had to wait for each issue to see a new sport, you no longer have to wait. Newton just published Global Games, a collection of more than 90 of his sports columns from GT.

I interviewed Newton on Talking Travel to discuss his book and his world travels. He also mentioned his older book, Burton & Taylor in Africa and an upcoming project.

Watch the interview at Talking Travel with Richard Newton. Please subscribe to the GT YouTube channel, too!

Cartman at Wizard World/Fan Expo

I freely admit I have a fascination with mascots and characters of all sorts. When I met Cartman at Wizard World several years ago, I had to get a picture with him.

I realize he isn't a mascot. He wasn't really a character either. He was someone cosplaying as Eric Cartman from South Park. It wasn't even a particularly great cosplay, as it was more of a cardboard cutout, then a costume. Still, I was assigned with getting fun character pictures and this worked for me.

More recently, Wizard World was purchased by Fan Expo, but it retained all the pop culture greatness. There is still a lot of cosplay, although many characters are out of my range of knowledge. I'm old and not hip to new video game characters or even some television characters. They do look good though and they are entertaining.

For more info on Fan Expo, go to fanexpohq.com. Check back here for my recurring coverage.

Cartman and me in Rosemont, IL-August 2013.