One for Friday: Syd Straw, “CBGB’s”
Syd Straw was an artist I first found in college, taking special solace in her solo debut, Surprise. She wasn’t incredibly prolific, which seemed somehow apt. There was something about Surprise that made it seem like a rapid-fire follow-up simply wouldn’t be appropriate, as if it would lack respect for the specialness of what had been accomplished. Besides, there was a purely selfish benefit to Straw taking about seven years to get around to releasing her sophomore effort, 1996’s War and Peace. By the time it arrived, I was deep into my tenure in commercial radio, growing ever more enchanted … Continue reading One for Friday: Syd Straw, “CBGB’s”
I feel Jesus in the clumsiness of young and awkward lovers
Forty-third in a series… Admittedly, some are less impressive than others. (Source) Continue reading I feel Jesus in the clumsiness of young and awkward lovers
Buñuel, Meehl, Penn, Minnelli, Rohmer
Buck (Cindy Meehl, 2011). Cindy Meehl’s measured, steadfast documentary focuses on Buck Brannaman, a renowned horseman who primarily makes his living traveling around the country and delivering ranch seminars intended to help people develop better relationships with their problem animals. Meehl was actually inspired to make the film after her own positive experience in one of those group training sessions. Her film, understandably then, comes across like the work a true believer, which is both its strength and weakness. It’s an intimate, compelling portrait of a man who’s found his way through significant personal hardship to create a professional life … Continue reading Buñuel, Meehl, Penn, Minnelli, Rohmer
I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me
In 1990, poet and journalist Mark O’Brien wrote a piece entitled “On Seeing a Sex Surrogate.” A damaging bout with polio as a child left O’Brien largely confined to an iron lung and effectively paralyzed from the neck down, but … Continue reading I once had a girl, or should I say, she once had me
Top Fifty Films of the 70s — Number Five
#5 — The Conversation (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974) Through this process, I’ve already confessed to being out of step with the critical consensus on Francis Ford Coppola. While The Godfather showed up in this tally, other likely contenders–including its sequel and Apocalypse Now, which jumped past the mafia epics to become Coppola’s highest ranking film in the most recent Sight & Sound poll–were bypassed. The clearest statement I can give about my overall view of the director’s films is that The Conversation is far and away my favorite film to bear his cinematic signature. It is everything that Coppola’s more … Continue reading Top Fifty Films of the 70s — Number Five
College Countdown: KROQ-FM’s Top 40 Songs of 1987, 22 and 21
22. “We Close Our Eyes” by Oingo Boingo I can’t definitely figure out if “We Close Our Eyes” was officially released as a single by Oingo Boingo in the United States. The song is right in the middle of the band’s 1987 release, Boi-ngo, and I certainly think of it as one of their bigger tracks. Then again, memory about which songs in the nineteen-eighties were or weren’t crossover hits has been colored by years and years of revisionist nostalgic airplay. It seems sure that it was released as a single somewhere, and the programmers at KROQ (undoubtedly abetted by … Continue reading College Countdown: KROQ-FM’s Top 40 Songs of 1987, 22 and 21
Spectrum Check
As is usually the case, a light week for me at Spectrum Culture begets one that is especially busy. First, I contributed a review of a new documentary about men who use flight simulators and online multi-player gaming technology to engage in digitized reenactments of World War II battles. There’s plenty of material there for an interesting, even enlightening film, but it’s too jumbled to bring those ideas cogently together, a problem which is evident from very early on. Thankfully, it was also quite short. On the music side, I reviewed the new release from Black Moth Super Rainbow, which … Continue reading Spectrum Check
One for Friday: The Mountain Goats, “You Were Cool”
I’m currently reeling from illness, which makes me tempted to call in sick on writing this post. But there are some obligations that need to be followed through on. For example, I have a ticket for a concert tonight, an investment I don’t take lately. Even if I felt I could eat the twenty bucks for the privilege of burrowing deeper under the covers of my inviting bed, I don’t want to miss this. Not that it’s some once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. In fact, this will be third time in as many years that I’ve hauled my weary old bones over to … Continue reading One for Friday: The Mountain Goats, “You Were Cool”
My Misspent Youth: The Man of Steel by 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. We are inescapably trapped in the age of the reboot, a … Continue reading My Misspent Youth: The Man of Steel by John Byrne
Beers I Have Known: Rolling Rock
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. I’m fairly certain that the first time I heard of Rolling Rock, the pale lager issued by Pennsylvania’s Latrobe Brewing Company, was in Ed Haynes song “Splash.” Haynes describes encountering a drunk at a Blue Movie concert at San Francisco’s Haight Street Fair. Heavily inebriated on Mickey’s Big Mouth, the drunk winds up vomiting in the midst of the crowd, causing all around to “give him a lot of elbow room.” This causes … Continue reading Beers I Have Known: Rolling Rock
