Programming Note
Today defeated me, so I’m going to let my little corner of the digital world go dormant for a couple days. We will return to daily updates with this Sunday’s College Countdown post. Continue reading Programming Note
Laughing Matters — Jake Johannsen’s first appearance on Late Night with David Letterman
Sometimes comedy illuminates hard truths with a pointed urgency that other means can’t quite achieve. Sometimes comedy is just funny. This series of posts is mostly about the former instances, but the latter is valuable, too. Thirty-five years ago this … Continue reading Laughing Matters — Jake Johannsen’s first appearance on Late Night with David Letterman
Beers I Have Known — Raquette River Brewing Wicked Felina Mexican Lager
This series of posts is dedicated to the many, many six packs, pony kegs and pints that have sauntered into my life at one point or another. After a few long days of driving, it’s nice to settle into the … Continue reading Beers I Have Known — Raquette River Brewing Wicked Felina Mexican Lager
Outside Reading — This Stamp Surrounds Hate and Forces It to Surrender edition
Pete Seeger outlasted the bastards by John Nichols On the occasion of Pete Seeger receiving well-deserved commemoration on a stamp from the U.S. Postal Service, John Nichols writes a celebratory of appraisal of the folk icon’s enduring legacy. Mostly, as … Continue reading Outside Reading — This Stamp Surrounds Hate and Forces It to Surrender edition
Then Playing — Red-Headed Woman; The Sunshine Boys; Very Annie Mary
Red-Headed Woman (Jack Conway, 1932). Of all the pre-Code movies I’ve seen, Red-Headed Woman might be the pre-Codiest. The film’s protagonist, Lil Andrews (Jean Harlow), operates with a level of ruthless amorality that would give the gruffest nineteen-seventies antihero pause … Continue reading Then Playing — Red-Headed Woman; The Sunshine Boys; Very Annie Mary
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #167 to #165
167. Ramones, End of the Century (1980) “This is the best album we’ve done,” Joey Ramone proclaimed of End of the Century on the eve of its release. “It’s so loud that flies were having heart attacks during the playbacks.” … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #167 to #165
Outside Reading — P.S. and By the Way edition
Reality Bit, but She Bit Back. by Jason Zinoman Writing for The New York Times, Jason Zinoman considers the defiantly iconoclastic career of Janeane Garofalo. Although he makes his point in part by conveniently eliding an acting career that’s remained … Continue reading Outside Reading — P.S. and By the Way edition
This Week’s Model — Robyn Hitchcock, “The Shuffle Man”
When Robyn Hitchcock burble blasted his new single, “The Shuffle Man,” in the ionosphere this week, most digital dispatches dutifully noted that it came with the announcement of a new album, the first full-length studio effort from the inner plane … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Robyn Hitchcock, “The Shuffle Man”
Laughing Matters — Jerrod Carmichael, “Rothaniel”
Sometimes comedy illuminates hard truths with a pointed urgency that other means can’t quite achieve. Sometimes comedy is just funny. This series of posts is mostly about the former instances, but the latter is valuable, too. First of all, the … Continue reading Laughing Matters — Jerrod Carmichael, “Rothaniel”
Medium Rotation — Dropout Boogie; Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky
THE BLACK KEYS Dropout Boogie (Nonesuch) — On their eleventh album, Dropout Boogie, the Black Keys are still finding fresh ways to make meaty magic with an endless variety of blues licks, thumping rhythms, and lyrics that howl out about … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Dropout Boogie; Diving Board, Ladder to the Sky
Coffee for Two 