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. As a kid in … Continue reading Laughing Matters — Bloom County on Return of the Jedi
Back when I first started penning movie reviews — not just as a personal hobby, but to foist upon Central Wisconsin radio listeners — I made an effort to approach each cinematic offering purely as its own entity, doing the … Continue reading Now Playing — Solo: A Star Wars Story
A Quiet Place (John Krasinski, 2018). Writer-director John Krasinski’s horror film about sonically-attuned, carnivorous creatures is a splendid analogy for the anxieties of child-rearing. It’s also wildly implausible within the confines of its own fictional world, largely because the threats … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — A Quiet Place; All Fall Down; New Wave: Dare to Be Different
920. Robert Plant, Pictures at Eleven (1982) Realistically, there might not have been much time left for Led Zeppelin, even before tragedy arrived in the form of drummer John Bonham’s demise. Although the band released albums at a steady clip … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #920 to #917
This italicized portion usually contains some modern pontificating on the earlier writing presented in this weekly feature. In this instance, though, I have no annotations. This review was written for my former online home. David Cronenberg’s last film was called … Continue reading From the Archive — Eastern Promises
In my first year at the college radio station, practically everything felt like a discovery. It was as if I had been plopped down inside a magical mine of modern music and anywhere I swung my pickaxe was likely to … Continue reading One for Friday — The Wonder Stuff, “Give, Give, Give Me More, More, More”
Sometimes in pop culture there are clear end points, and — effective or not — they can provide insights to a whole series, oeuvre, or discography. In a beautiful convergence of historical fact and playful narrative irony, the FX series … Continue reading Last Call — The Americans
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. Big breaks arrive in a variety of … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Groovy Train”
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. I stood outside Brewery Ommegang in a steady rain and it was perfect. … Continue reading Beers I Have Known — Brewery Ommegang Neon Rainbows
I’m going to largely refrain from words today. There are other stories that should take precedence. My nonsense can wait until tomorrow. Continue reading Programming Note
Coffee for Two 