The night they invented champagne, it’s plain as it can be they thought of you and me
Someday soon, I will get better at having some actual writing, with words and punctuation and junk, presented anew in this space every day. I’m afraid that tonight I have to once again concede defeat, this time because I spent so much time with this lovely young lady: Look for the results at Spectrum Culture on Friday. (Image above pilfered from elsewhere.) Continue reading The night they invented champagne, it’s plain as it can be they thought of you and me
Top 40 Smash Taps: “Okay”
These posts are about the songs that can accurately claim to crossed the key line of chart success, becoming Top 40 hits on Billboard, but just barely. Every song featured in this series peaked at number 40. Though she had a Top 10 hit with “Don’t Mess with My Man” in 2002 (which seems to be part of the “Don’t Mess with” series), I’m betting that Nivea is better known for her personal life than her music career. That comes with the territory when there’s a marriage to and divorce from Terius “The-Dream” Nash and two separate engagements to Lil … Continue reading Top 40 Smash Taps: “Okay”
My Writers: Simon Callow
When I first saw Simon Callow’s biography on Orson Welles on the Borders new releases shelf, I was skeptical about my need to read it. At the time, I’d recently completed Frank Brady’s Citizen Welles. While I have a deep, … Continue reading My Writers: Simon Callow
College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1996, 14 and 13
14. Golden Smog, Down by the Old Mainstream Golden Smog has a longer history than their best-known recorded history suggests. First formed in 1989 by a batch of Minneapolis musicians with pretty good day jobs (like the Replacements and Soul … Continue reading College Countdown: 90FM’s Top 90 of 1996, 14 and 13
Spectrum Check
We’re winding down to the end of the year at Spectrum Culture, so there’s a lot going into prep for that. I’m spending so much time trying trying to assemble my various lists–mostly extensive listening and re-listening to the most interesting music of the year–that keeping up with the new stuff week to week becomes kind of dizzying. For example, I have to keep reminding myself that I’ve got a late contender for the Best Albums list in the latest from White Denim. This also represents one of the few times (maybe the first time) that I’ve returned to a … Continue reading Spectrum Check
One for Friday: Wild Flag, “See No Evil”
I guess we can’t have nice things. I remember the very moment I found out about Wild Flag. I was in my community’s finest record store, indulging in my usual practice of compulsively checking the Sleater-Kinney section, even though my collection was basically complete (I’m still lacking the self-titled debut in case anyone is looking for a holiday gift-giving idea). As I forlornly muttered about the demise of the band and my own inability to ever see them play live, the gentleman behind the counter gently directed me to a flyer on the front door of the shop. Sure enough, … Continue reading One for Friday: Wild Flag, “See No Evil”
Top Ten Films of the 60s — Number Four
#4 — Bonnie and Clyde (Arthur Penn, 1967) “We rob banks.” It’s a beautiful line of dialogue: so simple, so direct and yet so revealing. When delivered by Faye Dunaway as Bonnie Parker, there’s a disarming pride to it, a … Continue reading Top Ten Films of the 60s — Number Four
Beers I Have Known: Smuttynose Winter Ale
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. Thanks to the best bar in town, I’ve been reminded of how much … Continue reading Beers I Have Known: Smuttynose Winter Ale
My Misspent Youth: Marvel Team-Up #48 by Bill Mantlo and Sal 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. Though I didn’t benefit from the sort of bonanza some comics-fixated … Continue reading My Misspent Youth: Marvel Team-Up #48 by Bill Mantlo and Sal Buscema
Katzin, Kurosawa, Muschietti, Walsh, Wise
Colorado Territory (Raoul Walsh, 1949). This Raoul Walsh western both locks in on the form and offers a sort of sour, woozy commentary on its many tropes. Joel McRae plays a notorious outlaw who’s sprung from jail and gets himself enmeshed in the fabled “one last job,” a train heist that will net him and his conniving compatriots enough money to allow them to retire for good. Along the way, he also becomes enamored with a lady bandit, the wonderfully named Colorado Carson (Virginia Mayo). Walsh had used the exact same source material to make a film noir crime picture … Continue reading Katzin, Kurosawa, Muschietti, Walsh, Wise
