Posted 6 p.m. Thurs., 01.14.10 - The first half of "The Book of Eli" unfolds in an interesting fashion but it becomes increasingly distant from any sense of reality, even science-fiction reality. "The Lovely Bones" includes well-wrought Hitchcok-style elements of suspense but reveals a limbo no one would want to leave. 

Also reviewed: "A Single Man" 

Posted 10:45 p.m. Thurs., 01.14.10 - "Litigation is not for the faint of heart," prominent St. Louis environmental lawyer Lewis C. Green once wrote. Green is the subject of a new book, "A Force for Nature," that provides blow-by-blow accounts of some of the region's most memorable environmental cases. Patricia Tummons, one of the book's co-authors, discusses Green's environmental legacy. 

Posted 2:43 p.m. Wed., 01.13/10 - One of the founders of the HEARding Cats Collective, Rich O'Donnell, is joining with Matt Henry and Tom Zirkle, aka HaZmaT, for a Jan. 15 concert at Christ Church Cathedral's Schuyler Hall. "We like people to come who like things a little out of the ordinary," says O'Donnell.

Posted 2:53 p.m. Wed., 01.13.10 - The works of Yinka Shonibare, MBE, in "Mother and Father Worked Hard So I Can Play" are plunked down in the St. Louis Art Museum's period rooms: the domestic interiors of 18th and 19th century France, England and the U.S. Are they out of place or exactly right? (Photo by Jason Mandella: Yinka Shonibare MBE, b. United Kingdom, 1962; Skipping Girl, 2009; life-size fiberglass mannequin, Dutch wax printed cotton, mixed media; 50 1/4 x 29 x 43 inches; Courtesy of the artist and James Cohan Gallery, New York)

Posted 5:10 p.m. Tues., 01.12.10 - With music, lectures, opportunities to volunteer and more, the life and legacy of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. will be celebrated throughout the area this month. Some of the opportunities for the public to participate can be found here:

Posted 11:15 a.m. Tues., 01.12.10 - On Monday, Mark McGwire was here to talk about the past. The retired slugger, who is returning to the Cardinals as a hitting coach, 'fessed up to what most fans, sportswriters and members of Congress have long believed: that he used steroids. One local sports historian speculates that baseball purists will continue to have a problem with McGwire, but he doubts that most fans were surprised by McGwire's admission. (Photo from mlb.com )

Updated 9:05 a.m. Tues., 01.12.10 -  McGwire tearfully apologizes for steroid use: He says he took them to heal injuries, but they didn't help him hit home runs.| AP/Sporting News

View from Chicago: McGwire beats Sosa to the punch again. | Chicago Tribune

Earlier, former Beacon columnist Alvin Reid had five questions for McGwire . A couple of them are now answered. Click through for more coverage.

Posted 10:52 a.m. Sun., 01.10.10 - With roughly 25 professional companies producing theater in St. Louis and only about half as many official venues, finding stages on which to perform three to four times a year is like a game of musical chairs: Everyone's scrambling, and inevitably someone gets left out.

Posted 11:02 a.m. Sun., 01.10.10 - St. Louis native Gerald Boyd went from the slums of Mill Creek to become managing editor of The New York Times by way of the University of Missouri and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. His memoir, which is to be released in February, was finished after his death in 2006 by his wife, Robin D. Stone. This is the last of six excerpts featured in the Beacon. Yesterday: Covering a presidential campaign Today: Jayson Blair, and a dream dies.