Nancy Ruhling's Astoria Characters

Somewhere sinister, in a secret lab, Dr. Cube, a mad scientist intent on ruling the universe, is making a malevolent monster mob that can crush cities with a single stomp.When the bad doctor, who wears a box-like mask to hide his hideous face, unleashes his formidable force, the planet kneels before the likes of Kung Fu Chicken Noodle (a factory worker who’s a soup can) and Dusto Bunny (a hare-sage who needs a body Swiffer).Will the earth be pulverized by these…

Continue Reading →

What’s your title?It’s not meant to be a funny question, but it makes Michael Perrotta of Sculpture House Casting laugh.“We’re a family business,” he says. “We don’t have titles. I’ve done everything from sweeping the floor to doing the patina on a bronze. Nothing is above or below anyone here.”Michael, who handles the business aspects of the foundry, is sitting at an art-scarred antique oak desk.It belongs…

Continue Reading →

The first time Steve Warren stepped in front of a radio-station microphone, he was wearing a bow tie.“I was in third grade and sang ,” says Steve, a tall man with an easy-going, ear-pleasing voice. “An organist in a suit was playing the music live. They gave me a wristwatch.”The timepiece, which Steve wishes he had preserved as a souvenir, turned out to a prescient present.Steve, the host of Envision Radio Network’s The Country Oldies Show,…

Continue Reading →

Anthony Cappetto is standing on the sidewalk on 30th Avenue.This is not how he’s generally known for making contact with concrete.Anthony is an internationally acclaimed street painter, and when he’s working on one of his illusionary 3-D murals, he’s sitting or lying on the ground using colored chalk to find the art in the asphalt.It’s the kind of creative endeavor where you get your hands dirty. And where your art is always wiped out.“I…

Continue Reading →

When you’ve joked around all night, it’s hard to be awake, much less funny, at 8 a.m.Comic Ben Rosenfeld is swigging bottled water and swiping the sleep from his eyes, which he confesses aren’t quite ready to open.Whose bright idea was it to do this interview at such an awful hour?Busted! It was Ben who set the time.He was joking. Well sort of. He also suggested noon, so he didn’t really think 8 would be the chosen option.“I’m…

Continue Reading →