Articles written by Tom Knapp - Page 2

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About me - Tom Knapp

I'm a newspaper reporter in Lancaster, PA, and run on the online review site Rambles.NET. I'm also the fiddler and bodhranist in an Irish band, Fire in the Glen.

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Entertainment > Movie Reviews Movie reviews: Hoodwinked: 2 of 4
My entire family laughed - heck, we outright guffawed - pretty much straight through all 80 minutes of "Hoodwinked." The concept of this animated film is clever, if not entirely original. The Red Riding Hood story gets reworked into a police procedural, with Red (Anne Hathaway), her Granny (Glenn Close), the wolf (Patrick Wa... More..
Travel > United States Guide to Connecticut's national parks: 1 of 2
For long months at sea, fewer than three dozen men made the cramped quarters of the Charles W. Morgan their home. Now, thousands of people pass over her worn deck and through her rough wood underbelly each week. The Morgan is the one of the crowning glories of Mystic Seaport, a sort of nautical Williamsburg on the Connecticu... More..
Arts & Humanities > Comic Books & Graphic Novels Comic book reviews: Ex Machina, by Brian K. Vaughan and Tony Harris: 1 of 2
In the world of Mitchell Hundred, there are no superheroes - until a freak accident grants him the power to talk to machines and, as the Great Machine, he tackles crime in New York in a semi-successful way. But this book isn't about that. No, Hundred has hung up his mask and run for mayor of New York City, a post he won by a... More..
Travel > Travel Planning & Advice Guide to Maryland's best state parks: 1 of 1
Any forest hike carries with it the unmistakable aroma of green and growing things. More unusual, particularly in an inland area like my home in Lancaster County, Pa., is the scent of water and the tang of salt in the air. Those odors combine for a breathy outdoors experience in Maryland's Elk Neck State Park, just a short j... More..
Entertainment > Movie Reviews A review of the best documentaries on the environment of all time: 1 of 1
From the very first scene of "Ocean World," featuring an elusive blue whale - larger than any dinosaur, faster than some boats and surprisingly hard to capture on video - I was riveted to the screen. This is, without a doubt, some of the most fascinating footage I have ever seen. "Ocean World" is part of the greater package ... More..
Travel > United States John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum, PA: 1 of 1
The last place you might expect to find a rare wildlife habitat is Philadelphia. But the Tinicum marshlands, located inside city limits near the Philadelphia International Airport, is a treasure trove of plants and wildlife not found anywhere else in Pennsylvania. Although surrounded by the major metropolitan landscape, it i... More..
Entertainment > Album Reviews Album reviews: Live, by Natalie MacMaster: 1 of 1
It can be hard to pick favorites. When the subject is fiddlers, the field is packed with so many talented performers, the task might seem insurmountable. Unless you know Natalie. There are a lot of reasons why Natalie MacMaster ranks among the very best of the world's fiddlers. A lot of those reasons can be heard on "Live," ... More..
Entertainment > Movie Reviews Movie reviews: T-Rex: Back to the Cretaceous: 1 of 1
Time travel can be a little disorienting, especially when induced by vapors that leak from a fossilized dinosaur egg. Just ask Ally Hayden (Liz Stauber), a young paleontologist wannabe trying to justify her theories about the egg-laying and nurturing habits of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. An accident in her father's museum laborat... More..
Entertainment > Movie Reviews Movie reviews: The Quiet Man: 1 of 1
There are places in County Galway and County Mayo that are very proud of their affiliation with the 1952 classic, "The Quiet Man." I've passed through those Irish settings often enough to be curious about the film, which starred John Wayne and Maureen O'Hara and earned director John Ford an Oscar. My father's enthusiastic de... More..
Travel > Travel Planning & Advice Guide to Pennsylvania's best state parks: 1 of 1
The serpentine barrens at Nottingham Park don't look too exciting at first glance. Trees are stunted and scrubby. Soil is shallow and rocky. Wildflowers, at first, glance don't seem unusual. But a walk into the barrens - located in southwestern Chester County, Pa., near the Maryland border - is like stepping into another par... More..