I’m a Scientist Who Spoke Up About Climate Change. My Employer Fired Me. by Rose Abramoff Writing for The New York Times, Rose Abramoff recounts her experience engaging in wholly understandable — if deliberately disruptive — activism informed by her … Continue reading Outside Reading — Hostile Climate edition
You know what’s a long time between albums? Twenty-four years. Nearly a quarter of a century has passed since the last Everything but the Girl album, Temperamental, was released, in 1999. Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt formally announced the dissolution … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Everything but the Girl, “Nothing Left to Lose”
These posts are about the songs that fell just short of crossing the key line of chart success, entering the Billboard Top 40. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 41. Sarah McLachlan was a cultural force in … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Fallen”
#55 — Jean Hagen as Lina Lamont in Singin’ in the Rain (Gene Kelly and Stanley Donen, 1952) When Adolph Green and Betty Comden wrote the script for Singin’ in the Rain, an MGM musical conceived as little more than a vehicle … Continue reading Greatish Performances #55
Decision to Leave (Park Chan-wook, 2022). Working from a script he co-wrote with Jeong Seo-kyeong, Park Chan-Wook meticulous crafts a sly modern noir. Jang Hae-jun (Park Hae-il) is a police detective with a keen dedication to his work and a … Continue reading Then Playing — Decision to Leave; The Wonder; Fun with Dick and Jane
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. Although I’d prefer to … Continue reading Laughing Matters — The Simpsons, “Deep Deep Trouble”
95. Echo & the Bunnymen, Ocean Rain (1984) Echo & the Bunnymen benefited from a change in scenery when they recorded their fourth studio album, Ocean Rain. After setting up an unofficial home base of Rockfield Studios, located in the … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #95 to #93
What Growing Up on a Farm Taught Me About Humility by Sarah Smarsh This typically powerful piece by Sarah Smarsh details a portion of her experience growing up on a family farm in rural Kansas. She effectively maps out the … Continue reading Outside Reading — In the Heart of the Heart Country edition
What can I type? I simply like the idea of starting the new year with a cool groove. Luckily, Debby Friday is ready to oblige with the track “SO HARD TO TELL,” which is intoxicating in it slippery swerving and … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Debby Friday, “SO HARD TO TELL”
All the Women in My Brain and Other Concerns by Betty Gilpin Nonfiction, 2022 My mom played Lincoln’s sister-in-law at Lincoln Center, a fact I presented to to my fellow second graders as a popularity jetpack. I was met with … Continue reading Book Report — All the Women in My Brain and Other Concerns; Dinosaur Beach
