My Misspent Youth — Crazy Magazine
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. As if predicting the indie cred craving, college rock fellow I’d … Continue reading My Misspent Youth — Crazy Magazine
Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Closer”
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. Trent Reznor didn’t expect to make hits. … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Closer”
Beers I Have Known — New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Liquid Paradise IPA
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. Because sometimes I’m in the Denver airport for hours and hours longer than … Continue reading Beers I Have Known — New Belgium Voodoo Ranger Liquid Paradise IPA
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #792 to #789
792. Eric Clapton, Backless (1978) Eric Clapton’s career was on steady ground when he made the 1978 album Backless. He’d spent several years with essentially the same backing band, he was working on the second straight album with producer Glyn … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #792 to #789
From the Archive — All in the Family
Developed for U.S. television by Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin, All in the Family debuted on CBS on this date in 1971. I wrote this a few years ago, as part of the Flashback Fridays feature that ran for a time at my former online home. Except for the unfortunate citation of a current resident of State Correctional Institution – Phoenix, I think this all holds up. In the grimness of current presidential politics, reflections on the effect of televised bigotry are perhaps even more pertinent now. In retrospect, I probably shouldn’t have been watching All in the Family when I … Continue reading From the Archive — All in the Family
This Week’s Model — Sharon Van Etten, “Seventeen”
“Seventeen,” the new single from Sharon Van Etten’s album Remind Me Tomorrow, sneaks up. Gradually growing louder in volume at the beginning, the track is all beautiful tension at first, which is Van Etten’s creative comfort zone. It holds promise … Continue reading This Week’s Model — Sharon Van Etten, “Seventeen”
Playing Catch-Up — Andre the Giant; The Wife; Life of the Party
Andre the Giant (Jason Hehir, 2018). A veteran of ESPN’s acclaimed 30 for 30 series of sports documentaries, Jason Hehir brings a studious steadiness to this recounting of the life and career of the professional wrestler born André René Roussimoff. … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — Andre the Giant; The Wife; Life of the Party
The Art of the Sell — Nichols and May for GE Refrigerators
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. It was hardly the dawn of broadcast television in 1958, but the medium was still finding its … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — Nichols and May for GE Refrigerators
Now Playing — If Beale Street Could Talk
James Baldwin published If Beale Street Could Talk, his fifth novel, in 1974. In the new film adaptation, written and directed by Barry Jenkins, the action takes place in the era of the book, but there’s a fierce modernity to … Continue reading Now Playing — If Beale Street Could Talk
Playing Catch-Up — Rampage; What’s Up, Doc?; River of No Return
Rampage (Brad Peyton, 2018). I fully understand the wisdom in calibrating expectations accordingly for a movie adaptation of a 1986 video game that was little more than giant monsters knocking down buildings. Basic coherence isn’t too much to ask for, … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — Rampage; What’s Up, Doc?; River of No Return
Coffee for Two 