Hard Rock Café features iconic guitars but also shows human side of stars

By Tom Siebert

I recently visited the Hard Rock Café in downtown Chicago and viewed guitars used by Chuck Berry, Eric Clapton, Bo Didley, Dire Straits, Jimi Hendrix, and Pete Townshend (a smashed acoustic). But the most poignant piece of memorabilia was a shoulder bag worn by John Lennon, which showed that he was just a regular guy with stuff to carry around.

"The Shack' tackles tough questions about evil, good, and God

By Tom Siebert

Don’t let the controversy over “The Shack” deter you from seeing this important film. Granted, it is not biblically correct. But neither was “The Chronicles of Narnia” nor “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” in which Pharaoh was portrayed as an Elvis lookalike. “The Shack” answers the age-old question of why bad things happen to good people better than any sermon that I have ever heard. God, or “Papa,” is played brilliantly by Octavia Spencer, who evokes more feelings with her eyes than any actor since Steve McQueen.