Do you have trouble bringing a good joke or humorous idea to the page? Well, just because you’re a funny person doesn’t always mean that you’re a funny writer. A lot can be lost in translation if you don’t know how to build the story beyond the punchline.

Back in the early ’80s when I was in broadcast management, one of my young colleagues at CHEX 980 AM Radio was producing and hosting a weekly public affairs show that offered a mix of local and out-of-town guests.

“I’m going to try and get a big-name guest for next week’s show,” James Careless said.

It’s a strange time to be a Quentin Tarantino fan. His output throughout the last decade has been incoherent and self-indulgent — he seemed to be resting on the lofty laurels he earned by defining cool in the ’90s.

January is not typically known as a great month to go outside. Fair enough. But if you venture outside with a plan to see great music, then it can be wonderful. There is something for everyone this month in Peterborough and The Kawarthas. Check out just a snapshot of what’s happening in January.

Another year, another menagerie of fractured characters and narratives. Yet here, they explore the trappings of identity and the fledgeling notion of individual permanence. From terminal illness to social injustice and intangible boogeymen, 2015 was a rich year for intricate examinations of the thin grasp we often have over our lives and how we really relate to each other.