Book Report — Independent People; Ten Steps to Nanette
Independent People by Halldór Laxness (translated from the Icelandic by J.A. Thompson) Fiction, 1934 and 1935 There are few things that fill the soul of man with greater disappointment than to wake up when everyone else is asleep, especially if it … Continue reading Book Report — Independent People; Ten Steps to Nanette
Medium Rotation — Echo the Diamond; Haunted Mountain
MARGARET GLASPY Echo the Diamond (ATO) — Echo the Diamond is Margaret Glaspy’s third album, but it feels like the proper follow-up to her sterling 2016 full-length debut, Emotions and Math. Between those two outings, Glaspy released Devotion, which held … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Echo the Diamond; Haunted Mountain
Laughing Matters — The Ben Stiller Show, “U2: The Early Years”
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. Lorne Michaels has long … Continue reading Laughing Matters — The Ben Stiller Show, “U2: The Early Years”
College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #12
12. Pink Floyd, The Wall (1979) The week that Pink Floyd’s The Wall debuted on the Billboard Top 200, the band’s earlier album The Dark Side of the Moon was in its two hundred and eighty-ninth week on the same … Continue reading College Countdown: CMJ Top 1000, 1979 – 1989 — #12
Outside Reading — You’ve Earned a Hell of a Lot More than You’re Getting Paid Now edition
Biden’s UAW Rally Exposes the Bankruptcy of Trump’s Populism by Eric Levitz This column is a welcome corrective to the ongoing delusion of media outlets that take the GOP’s feints toward supporting working-class citizens and parrot them as sincere. To … Continue reading Outside Reading — You’ve Earned a Hell of a Lot More than You’re Getting Paid Now edition
This Week’s Model — ME REX, “Infinity Worm”
“Infinity Worm,” the new single from ME REX, is reportedly inspired by any number of science fiction tales where imposing creatures descend to Earth after traversing the vastness of outer space. The chorus assurance of “But I promise, promise, promise/ … Continue reading This Week’s Model — ME REX, “Infinity Worm”
Golden Words — Taxi, “Tony’s Sister and Jim”
Since great television comedy always begins with the script, this series of posts considers the individual episodes that have claimed the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series over the years. The members of the Television Academy … Continue reading Golden Words — Taxi, “Tony’s Sister and Jim”
The Art of the Sell — The Two-Fisted Slopper
These posts celebrate the movie trailers, movie posters, commercials, print ads, and other promotional material that stand as their own works of art. Sometimes the product that needs to be sold is reasonable behavior in social setting. This is at … Continue reading The Art of the Sell — The Two-Fisted Slopper
Medium Rotation — Welshpool Frillies; The Loveliest Time
GUIDED BY VOICES Welshpool Frillies (GBV Inc.) — Many bands standing before the monolith of a big-number anniversary would understandably take the occasion to press a grand statement to record, some collection of songs steeped in nostalgic and pummeled by … Continue reading Medium Rotation — Welshpool Frillies; The Loveliest Time
Laughing Matters — Abbott and Costello, “Two Tens for a Five”
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. When I was a … Continue reading Laughing Matters — Abbott and Costello, “Two Tens for a Five”
Coffee for Two 