By the time I was paying attention, the Middle Earth adventures of J.R.R. Tolkien had fully crossed over into the province of nerd culture. It was exclusively for fans of sci-fi and fantasy, including those budding poindexters who sat alone reading it on the back of the bus carrying them to middle school (that would be me). By now, over a billion dollars in box office has shifted the material into the greater public consciousness and broader respectability, even if referencing a certain overt devotion to the fictional worlds Tolkien created remains a handy way to, say, establish a television … Continue reading One for Friday: Gandalf, “Can You Travel in the Dark Alone”

I once had a clear sense of the proper life cycle of a musician. It started with a band, typically lasting a handful of albums, until just enough success was achieved that one or more of the members could move on to solo careers. And that was pretty much the whole story. Led Zeppelin didn’t get back together. The Who Didn’t get back together. The Band or Creedence Clearwater Revival? They didn’t get back together, even if their former members had only the most intermittent solo careers. Sure, the oldies revival in the nineteen-eighties meant there were a bunch of … Continue reading One for Friday: Bill Janovitz, “Shoulder”