BARBARA'S TCHATZKAHS

I hadn't lived in NYC a full year when Mark David Chapman ended the life of one of my Upper West Side neighbors - John Lennon. This year I celebrated living in NYC 30 years... more than 1/2 my adult life. This year, Lennon is gone 29 years. My Favorite Lennon Song: by Kyle Anderson Today is the anniversary of the murder of rock legend John Lennon, who was killed outside his apartment building just before 11 p.m. via five gun shots. The killer, Mark David Chapman, had been stalking Lennon for months and even had contact with him earlier in the day (Lennon signed a copy of Double Fantasy for the guy who would take his life only hours later). Chapman's motives remain unclear to this day (the film Chapter 27, starring 30 Seconds to Mars frontman Jared Leto as Chapman, didn't offer many suggestions), but he remains incarcerated in a state prison in New York and has been denied parole five times, often because of campaigns lead by Lennon's widow Yoko Ono. Lennon's legacy ...

by Katie Buckland As a former domestic violence prosecutor, I am gratified and relieved by the jury's decision in the Phil Spector murder case in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Spector, 69, a former music producer, was convicted Monday after his second trial of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Lana Clarkson almost six years ago. The jury system is at best an imprecise arbiter of justice. It is undoubtedly true, as one juror in the first trial in 2007, remarked, that Spector bought himself some forensic evidence by introducing bogus scientific evidence about the pattern of the blood splatter and position of the gun that tricked two jurors into thinking Clarkson had killed herself. According to comments after the first trial, one of the jurors found it relevant that the county coroner's office did not produce a "psychological autopsy" of Lana Clarkson. What exactly is a "psychological autopsy"? And are Americans really so addicted to cr...

Using Music to Lift Depression’s Veil by Alan Zale Many people find that music lifts their spirits. Now new research shows that music therapy — either listening to or creating music with a specially trained therapist — can be a useful treatment for depression. The finding that music therapy offers a real clinical benefit to depression sufferers comes from a review by the Cochrane Collaboration, a not-for-profit group that reviews health care issues. Although there aren’t many credible studies of music therapy for depression, the reviewers found five randomized trials that studied the effects of music therapy. Some studies looked at the effects of providing music therapy to patients who were receiving drug treatment for depression. Others compared music therapy to traditional talk therapy. In four out of five of the trials, music therapy worked better at easing depression symptoms than therapies that did not employ music, the researchers found. “The current studies indicate that music t...

AT THE TIME SHARE by the LeeVees My mother says she likes it up here But she'd rather be down there Where? At the timeshare Down in Boca Or was it Boynton? Or Daytona? It doesn't matter just as long as It's in Florida ( Oh David? ) Yes Mom? ( We had the most wonderful wonderful band at the clubhouse Thursday night .) Who was that, Ma? ( Tony Orlando and Dawn, but Dawn was sick, so they had a special guest - a multi-instrumentalist - to play the keyboards. He had all sorts of wonderful buttons on the top. He was the big to-do! ) My mother says it won't be long Before she lives there all year round Where? In Miami With Saul and Shecky Playing pinochle and gin rummy Or was it bridge or maybe bingo? It doesn't matter just as long as It's in Florida (OK, play it for your mother!) Everybody! At the timeshare Down in Boca Or was it Boynton? Or Daytona? Maybe Naples Perhaps Captiva Or Tallahassee (But there's no Jews there!) It doesn't matter just as long as It...