Seventy-one candles make for an awfully bright birthday cake. When I was sitting in my basement bedroom back in high school, studying Bruce Springsteen lyric sheets like they were holy documents (and, to me, I guess they were), I wasn’t … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Bruce Springsteen, “Ghosts”
Palm Springs (Max Barbakow, 2020). Constructed around the sort of metaphysical comedic premise that allows for careening chaos and popping-candy metaphors for the toil of personal development, Palm Springs is a sprightly diversion. Nyles (Andy Samberg) and Sarah (Cristin Milioti) … Continue reading Then Playing — Palm Springs; Shirley; The Go-Go’s
Sibil Richardson doesn’t dispute the fact that she and her husband, Rob Richardson, committed a crime. She lays it out plainly. The two of them were facing a dire situation with their small business, and their place of desperation led … Continue reading Now Playing — Time
These posts are about the songs that just barely failed to cross the key line of chart success, entering the Billboard Top 40. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 41. Maxine Taupin used to sew patches onto … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Tiny Dancer”
#14 — 20th Century Women (Mike Mills, 2016) It dismays me to know that 20th Century Women is a period piece, roughly as removed in time from the era it depicts as, say, Steven Spielberg’s 1987 World War II drama, … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 10s — Number Fourteen
455. The Tubes, Remote Control (1979) It was a pairing destined to take pop excess to new heights. Across the late nineteen-seventies, the Tubes made a name for themselves by going large and bold with their rock pronouncements, like Elton … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #455 to #453
Buying Myself Back by Emily Ratajkowski Although I haven’t conducted a definitive analysis of the responsive media coverage to Emily Ratajkowski’s piece, written for New York magazine, I’ll wager that most of it focuses on her convincing recounting of sexual … Continue reading Outside Reading — Model Writing edition
Two guys. Drums. A guitar. And a song that is just right, that roars, that grinds, that slinks, that practically flecks sweat with every sonic bend. Sometimes, that’s all you need. This week, the Blue Stones’ “Let It Ride” is … Continue reading This Week’s Model — The Blue Stones, “Let It Ride”
Since great television comedy always begins with the script, this series of posts considers the individual episodes that have claimed the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series over the years. A familiar woman stands before one … Continue reading Golden Words — Fleabag, “Episode 1”
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. I can assure you that college radio programmers required no heavy-handed promotional coercion when They Might Be … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — They Might Be Giants, Lincoln
Coffee for Two 