Just like a doll, I am one foot tall, but dolls can’t see anyway
Twenty-sixth in a a series. (Due credit) Continue reading Just like a doll, I am one foot tall, but dolls can’t see anyway
Author: Dan Seeger
Bloody your hands on a cactus tree, wipe it on your dress and send it to me
I’d like to take this opportunity to remind everyone that the “Awful Library Books” Website is the digital gift that keeps on giving. I hope that picture was submitted to the Pulitzer committee that year, and at least one of … Continue reading Bloody your hands on a cactus tree, wipe it on your dress and send it to me
College Countdown: Winter 1991, 5-1
And now…on with the countdown… 5. Pixies, “Head On” My true confession for today is that, despite the cultural imperative associated with involvement in college radio during a span of time when the eighties gave way to the nineties, I was never all that excited by The Pixies. They were the cool band of the era, the one you could cite to prove that you had genuine taste and proper passion for the music played on college radio. I played them plenty, and I like several songs, but they didn’t really click for me. I like them far more now … Continue reading College Countdown: Winter 1991, 5-1
Top Fifty Films of the 90s — Number Nineteen
#19 — Saving Private Ryan (Steven Spielberg, 1998) During the first part of his career, Steven Spielberg made the sort of movies he could have dreamed up as a kid. Like may good artist finding his way, he was making … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 90s — Number Nineteen
One for Friday: Debbie Harry and Kermit the Frog, “The Rainbow Connection”
I greatly appreciate the way that this series of tubes that we call the Internet has completely changed our access to art, especially music. There was a time when getting exposed to something new often meant plowing through the architecture dances of music reviews in various publications and trying to imagine what the album sounded like from the collection of sonic descriptors. Unless the material was embraced by radio or got exposure on some television showcase, the only way to actually hear it involved plunking down hard-earned dollars, something that was in short supply in my youth. Now, even those … Continue reading One for Friday: Debbie Harry and Kermit the Frog, “The Rainbow Connection”
A thumbnail sketch, a jeweler’s stone, a mean idea to call my own
Revenge is a dish best served cold. And on the sidewalk. Almost fifty years after the master of suspense dealt the avian community a P.R. blow, they finally retaliate. (Due credit: this was brought to my attention by someone else.) Continue reading A thumbnail sketch, a jeweler’s stone, a mean idea to call my own
Bier, Brooks, Galkin, Jarmusch, Karlson
Kevorkian (Matthew Galkin, 2010). This documentary is about the Michigan physician who gained notoriety and, in some quarters, infamy by advocating for the right of terminally ill patients to end their lives on their own terms and providing the mechanized means to do so in the most humane fashion possible. The relative lack of voices arguing against the very premise of Kevorkian’s actions makes it fairly clear where Galkin’s sympathies lie, but the film is no hagiography. He gives a full airing to the combativeness, unpleasantness and self-defeating egotism of the man, leaving a strong impression that Kevorkian may be … Continue reading Bier, Brooks, Galkin, Jarmusch, Karlson
You’ll get those plain hot potatoes to satisfy your appetite
Because some days all you need is to turn up the volume… Continue reading You’ll get those plain hot potatoes to satisfy your appetite
Mighty Marvel Checklist HyperboleCheck: Captain America #136
Back when the Marvel Comics Group could accurately be described as the House of Ideas, some of their finest writing could be found every month in the checklist of new titles. They were promoted with the most bodaciously breathless boasts … Continue reading Mighty Marvel Checklist HyperboleCheck: Captain America #136
College Countdown: Winter 1991, 10-6
And now…on with the countdown… 10. Matthew Sweet, “Girlfriend” A sensational single can change everything, lifting an artist from complete obscurity (even within the obscurity-embracing culture of college radio) to critical acclaim, healthy airplay, and even the less prestigious showcases in late night television. The whole Girlfriend album is terrific, but that title cut is the sort of grabber that artists spend their entire careers fruitlessly longing for. In Sweet’s original pass at this song, it was entitled “Good Friend,” but everyone he played it for thought he was saying “girlfriend” so he went ahead and made the minor but … Continue reading College Countdown: Winter 1991, 10-6
