Outside Reading — Return to Oz edition
Frank Oz on life as Fozzie Bear, Miss Piggy and Yoda: ‘I’d love to do the Muppets again but Disney doesn’t want me by Hadley Freeman It’s a shame that The Guardian editors chose to headline this articles with its … Continue reading Outside Reading — Return to Oz edition
This Week’s Model — Johnny Marr, “Spirit, Power and Soul”
For those who are driven into recurring bouts of disappointment and misery because onetime titan of melancholy pop Morrissey now devotes his energy to finding novel ways to demonstrate he’s a wanker, I would like to remind you that Johnny … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Johnny Marr, “Spirit, Power and Soul”
My Misspent Youth — Master of Kung Fu by Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy
I read a lot of comic books as a kid. This series of posts is about the comics I read, and, occasionally, the comics that I should have read. The eagerness Marvel Comics creators displayed in glomming onto cultural trends … Continue reading My Misspent Youth — Master of Kung Fu by Doug Moench and Paul Gulacy
The Unwatchables — Reminiscence
I feel genuine sympathy for screenwriters tasked with — or even who task themselves with — providing expositional dialogue in a film with a densely complicated science-fiction premise. While there are some ready-made tactics, such as building the narrative around … Continue reading The Unwatchables — Reminiscence
Then Playing — Lucy in the Sky; Married Before Breakfast; Bill & Ted Face the Music
Lucy in the Sky (Noah Hawley, 2019). I think Noah Hawley has presided over some dandy television in recent years, and it makes sense that he’d bring his squirrely urges for narrative and format tinkering to his feature directorial debut. … Continue reading Then Playing — Lucy in the Sky; Married Before Breakfast; Bill & Ted Face the Music
The Long Haul — Edward Asner in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Lou Grant
These posts are about great acting performances sustained across the full run of a television series. Even more than the slightly more famous line that follows it in the pilot episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, “You know what? … Continue reading The Long Haul — Edward Asner in The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Lou Grant
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #308 to #306
308. Utopia, Adventures in Utopia (1979) Utopia was regarded as the side project Todd Rundgren started to give him and some like-minded cohorts a chance to make highly experimental music, separate from the commercial expectations tied to Rundgren’s solo outings. … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #308 to #306
Outside Reading — Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray edition
Even Billy Joel Mocked ‘We Didn’t Start the Fire.’ I Loved It. by Lindsay Zoladz The Number Ones: Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start The Fire” by Tom Breihan This was quite a week for new writing about Billy Joel’s last … Continue reading Outside Reading — Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray edition
This Week’s Model — Amber Mark, “Foreign Things”
If the likes of Haim can create elegant throwbacks to nineteen-seventies pop that somehow sound modern and fresh, then surely there’s a vast tract of fertile ground in reviving and reinventing the R&B groove of the same area. That’s what … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Amber Mark, “Foreign Things”
My Misspent Youth — Ghost Rider #20 by Marv Wolfman and John Byrne
I read a lot of comic books as a kid. This series of posts is about the comics I read, and, occasionally, the comics that I should have read. When last we left out heroes, all hell was breaking loose. … Continue reading My Misspent Youth — Ghost Rider #20 by Marv Wolfman and John Byrne
Coffee for Two 