Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Let’s Chill”
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. The music video for the second single … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Let’s Chill”
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #916 to #913
916. Babys, Union Jacks (1980) Union Jacks, the fourth album by the U.K. rock band the Babys, was the first one they recorded fully without founding member Michael Corby. The guitarist/keyboard player was ousted during the recording process for the … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #916 to #913
From the Archive — My Writers: Anthony Bourdain
I occasionally write remembrances of famed individuals after they die, if the performer or writer of figure of some other note held a certain significance for me. Anthony Bourdain qualifies, mightily, and yet I’ve struggled with the idea of alchemizing … Continue reading From the Archive — My Writers: Anthony Bourdain
One for Friday — Let’s Active, “Every Dog Has His Day”
Thirty years ago, in the summer of 1988, Let’s Active released the album Every Dog Has His Day. It was the third full-length from the band, following a debut EP. Every one of those releases was a major hit on … Continue reading One for Friday — Let’s Active, “Every Dog Has His Day”
Greatish Performances #37
#37 — Kelly Marie Tran as Rose Tico in Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Rian Johnson, 2017) It’s tough being a newcomer to a lengthy tale eight parts deep in the telling, with each prior installment adding convolutions to the … Continue reading Greatish Performances #37
Laughing Matters — Bloom County on Return of the Jedi
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
Now Playing — Solo: A Star Wars Story
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
Playing Catch-Up — A Quiet Place; All Fall Down; New Wave: Dare to Be Different
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
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #920 to #917
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
From the Archive — Eastern Promises
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
Coffee for Two 