I read a lot of comic books as a kid. This series of posts is about the comics I read, and, occasionally, the comics that I should have read. As I’ve noted before in this space, I began my comic … Continue reading My Misspent Youth: Fantastic Four Roast by Fred Hembeck and friends
These posts are about the songs that can accurately claim to crossed the key line of chart success, becoming Top 40 hits on Billboard, but just barely. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 40. Bobby Darin has a remarkable twenty-two singles make it onto the Billboard Top 40, including an especially notable chart-topper. Though Darin was an accomplished songwriter, penning a number of his own hits, he had some of his greatest successes with covers, including “Beyond the Sea,” the English language translation of a French song that become enough of a signature tune that its title … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “Nature Boy”
72. Poundcake, Aloha Via Satellite There is remarkably little information out there on the wild, wild web about the band Poundcake. They seem to fall precisely within that little window of time before every album received an abundance on … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1996, 72 and 71
So while I spend my morning wishing some rain away, I’ll share the pieces I contributed to Spectrum Culture this week. I was present in both the film and movie sections, including a review of the sophomore effort by Little Boots. I’ll admit — as I essentially do right in the text of the review — that I sometimes feel a little out of my depth when writing on more electronica-based releases, but I must admit that I’m fairly pleased with the way in which I described the song “Every Night I Say a Prayer.” On the film side, I … Continue reading Spectrum Check
During my first semester of college, I had a happy Sunday night ritual. After listening to The College Count-Up on 90FM–both before and after I became a member of the on-air staff there–I would head downstairs with a select group of discerning music fans from neighboring dorm rooms. We’d take over the TV room, usually with a ridiculous assortment of snacks and beverages–I recall mixing up jugs of Kool-Aid and consuming unseemly cheese spread on crackers–and watch MTV until after midnight. Our viewing typically started with an episode of The Young Ones, but we were really there for 120 Minutes, … Continue reading One for Friday: Karel Fialka, “Hey, Matthew”
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. Sidestepping the matter of the official definition of craft breweries, I have to … Continue reading Beers I Have Known: New Glarus Brewing Company Wisconsin Belgian Red
When I started this series, I did so with a list of fifteen favorite writers I included in response to a Facebook meme. Since I decided to dutifully track through them, my first dozen-plus entries were predetermined. I’ve now gone … Continue reading My Writers: Dave Eggers
#34 — L’Avventura (Michelangelo Antonioni, 1960) When launching into the list for the nineteen-sixties, I thought about noting how many mainstays of the decade countdowns up to this point would now be absent from the proceedings, including Woody Allen, Steven … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 60s — Number Thirty-Four
Having a streak of cheapskate in me, I’m very selective about which films I see in 3D. Paying the extra dollars for the cavalcade of superhero movies and animated features that have effectively padded their prosperity with dimensional upscaling in … Continue reading You’ve been with the professors and they’ve all liked your looks
74. The Reverend Horton Heat, It’s Martini Time It’s Martini Time is the fourth album billed to the Reverend Horton Heat, which is the name of a band and kinda sorta the name of the band leader. Jim Heath is … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1996, 74 and 73
Coffee for Two 