Why’s it takin’ such a long time for me to hear from that boy of mine
I regularly check a website called Pappy’s Golden Age Comics Blogzine. It is always a treat, but special attention needs to be paid to the story posted the other day, a titanic tale called “Mail Rider to the Stars.” First … Continue reading Why’s it takin’ such a long time for me to hear from that boy of mine
Pack up the babies and grab the old ladies and everyone goes
In 1984, a fledgling filmmaker with one feature to his name, an inauspicious low-budget horror sequel, imparted to the world a humble little story a young woman, the time traveler who loved her, and the big, oddly accented robot who … Continue reading Pack up the babies and grab the old ladies and everyone goes
One for Friday: Too Much Joy, “Hey Merlin”
For quite some time, I operated under the theory that every college radio station had their one artist, the band or performer that the whole population of DJs tirelessly championed despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that no one else out there in the big, boundless musicverse understood the greatness contained within their records. I didn’t have a lot of empirical evidence to back this theory up. I’d peruse individual station charts in the back of CMJ and notice the occasional obscure outfit charting in the upper reaches of someone’s list, or have a label rep push some release … Continue reading One for Friday: Too Much Joy, “Hey Merlin”
Damn, it feels good to be a gangsta
Thanks to Videogum for continuing to call attention to beautiful nonsense like the above. Posted simultaneously to “Jelly-Town!” Continue reading Damn, it feels good to be a gangsta
I dreamed i was in a hollywood movie and that I was the star of the movie, this really blew my mind
Somebody Up There Likes Me (Robert Wise, 1956). By all accounts, this is the film that made Paul Newman a star. The most intriguing thing about that is that his performance here has little of the charismatic verve that drove later work in films like Hud or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It’s a thick, meaty character piece as Newman plays boxer Rocky Graziano as his pummels his way from backstreet destitution to the heavyweight championship of the world. Newman brings integrity to his character’s brutishness, subsuming his natural sparkle in favor of a honest portrayal of simpler man. … Continue reading I dreamed i was in a hollywood movie and that I was the star of the movie, this really blew my mind
Whatever you pray to, that’s where you belong
Maybe I should take some of my spare time this summer to introduce a little spirituality into our chihuahua’s life… Posted simultaneously to “Drilling Holes in the Wall.” Continue reading Whatever you pray to, that’s where you belong
Don’t need to wait for an invitation, you gotta live like you’re on vacation
Eight years ago, I exited a job that involved selling device that I hadn’t even heard of immediately prior to being occupationally obligated to declare myself an expert in their use. More problematically, given my admitted shortcomings in all things scientific, I occasionally had to help clients design full-scale electrical infrastructure solutions. Instead of work that was right on the border of my capabilities and well outside my interests, I got a job in higher education. It was primarily concentrated on serving as the adviser to a college radio station, so it felt a little like a retreat and an … Continue reading Don’t need to wait for an invitation, you gotta live like you’re on vacation
Stranded in the dew, whistling the same old tune
One for Friday: Gear Daddies, “Dream Vacation”
I was always a little envious of the bands that Minnesota could claim as their own. At the college radio station, we always tried to take great pride in Wisconsin bands, figuring that supporting our home state was one of the moral obligations of celebrating the under-celebrated at the left end of the dial. Problem was, we didn’t have that many bands to get excited about. Sure, Milwaukee had someone as iconic as Violent Femmes, but their self-titled debut was six-years-old when I started college, ancient history to us then. Madison’s Fire Town released their sophomore album during my freshman … Continue reading One for Friday: Gear Daddies, “Dream Vacation”
But don’t we all know, babe, if we’re pressed to, that that’s the way we live
Finding this made a long, tough day better. I found it in one of my favorite places. (Posted simultaneously to “Jelly-Town!”) Continue reading But don’t we all know, babe, if we’re pressed to, that that’s the way we live
