One for Friday — Patti Smith, “People Have the Power”
Twenty-four hours from the moment I am typing these words out, students will be marching. They are marching in anger. They are marching because of their unyielding conviction. They are marching because they are engaged. They are marching because they … Continue reading One for Friday — Patti Smith, “People Have the Power”
Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Something’s Always Wrong”
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. Toad the Wet Sprocket had the right … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Near Misses — “Something’s Always Wrong”
The Art of the Sell — Airplane! movie poster
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. Months ago, I used this space to expound upon the glories of the most famed movie poster … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — Airplane! movie poster
The New Releases Shelf — What a Time to Be Alive
Find the mid-nineteen-nineties version of me and ask him to indulge in a little pop culture forecasting. Specifically, get him to name the titans of alternative rock who’ll be still be around twenty years later, dishing out new music just … Continue reading The New Releases Shelf — What a Time to Be Alive
Laughing Matters — Mr. Show, “Druggachusettes”
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. My weariness overtook me … Continue reading Laughing Matters — Mr. Show, “Druggachusettes”
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #964 to #961
964. Sid & Nancy soundtrack (1986) I haven’t done the research to confirm my theory, but I believe Gary Oldman is the first and only winner of the Academy Award in the best actor in a leading role category who … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #964 to #961
From the Archive — Five for Friday, Guinness for Strength edition
Well, we should come up with something appropriate to the day, shouldn’t we? Once again, I raid my former online home, specifically traipsing through the two hundred installments of weekly exercises in crowdsourced music lists. Below is the prompt I … Continue reading From the Archive — Five for Friday, Guinness for Strength edition
One for Friday — Jonathan Richman, “You Can Have a Cell Phone That’s OK But Not Me”
Ages ago, I was engaged in one of those late night, multiple-beer-fueled, freewheeling conversations that only seem to happen in one’s collegiate years, when the constant exchange of ideas and theories is the coin of the realm. Since it was … Continue reading One for Friday — Jonathan Richman, “You Can Have a Cell Phone That’s OK But Not Me”
My Misspent Youth — Raiders of the Lost Ark by Walt Simonson and John Buscema
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. Raiders of the Lost Ark was released into theaters less than … Continue reading My Misspent Youth — Raiders of the Lost Ark by Walt Simonson and John Buscema
Playing Catch-Up — Clouds of Sils Maria; 13 Rue Madeleine; Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Clouds of Sils Maria (Olivier Assayas, 2014). In this wryly funny and wise rumination on aging and celebrity, the grand Juliette Binoche plays Maria, a movie star who is coaxed into a production of the play that made her a star, … Continue reading Playing Catch-Up — Clouds of Sils Maria; 13 Rue Madeleine; Mr. Smith Goes to Washington
Coffee for Two 