The Worst Best Album Series
And the Worst Best Album is…
It doesn’t take a hind-sighted weatherman to tell you which roof has been blown to bits by the latest white tornado, a man named Ray. Standing on the Lorraine balcony, waiting to go to supper, dead before he knew it or maybe, given certain premonitions, he knew it all along.
…
Music Memories with My Family
Yes, you heard that right
I am not ashamed to say that my family and I were great and faithful patrons of K-Mart in those days before that mega-giant went bankrupt due to the Wal-Mart-ization of America. I suppose K-Mart’s idea of discount prices were a Double-A baseball team’s relationship to the majors. The old…
A new, DOUBLE Riff challenge
On our first stereo
It’s almost mid-October, and so what better time than now to issue a brand new challenge for all Riffers! Ready, here we go.
My wife asked me the other night to remember when my family purchased its first stereo system, and while I knew the answer immediately, it set me…
Gary Puckett and the Union Gap
They didn’t write their own songs at least, but when you examine the hit recordings of Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, this late 1960’s pop/soft rock band, a few things jump out at you, or at least they should.
First, when I say “creepy,” I’m not talking about the…
And perhaps I never could
Chris Zappa posted this story today:
Of course he challenged some thinking, and since I’m feeling good — reading and teaching Mrs. Dalloway today — I decided to go ahead and weigh in and maybe amuse a few of you, and maybe piss a few of you off. As Chris…
Paintings and change
It is seasonal — the dread, the despair — that violate me.
No, I’ve never been religious — never tried to “find Jesus in my
heart”— and I have a big heart, too big. I feel even the plaque — take
the baby aspirin every other day even when the bleeding paints all
my…
Live Concert Series, Pt. 22
Seeing Elton John in Tuscaloosa
My old stomping grounds run heavily through my mind this morning. It could be my usual Monday morning read of the rewinding of Alabama’s Saturday football game, but really, the playgrounds of my mind are always pretty full, even if I’m the only one there.
Paired with Tuscaloosa memories of…
My wife, “The Wonder Years”, and “Ted Lasso”
Like most people on the sane side of this planet-rock, I have enjoyed watching “Ted Lasso.”
“Enjoyed” is one of those fuzzy words, though, and please don’t mistake it for the throes of rapturous love, not that I would bemoan your taste or humanity if you have been caught there…
Old Films Suggesting Worse Fears
Showing CAPE FEAR to My Southern Gothic Class
In trying to come up with new material for my Introduction to Literature: The Southern Gothic, freshman class, I took the advice of a now-forgotten website and added the 1962 original film version of Cape Fear to my syllabus. It had been thirty years since I had last viewed the…
Remembering a lost friend
It’s been a while, and I hope I’m not forgotten here. I used to write a “Lost friend” series for “Weeds…” but I also lost track of time and many other valuable associations. …
