“I’m An Idea Man…”
Sean MurphyPredictably, that bastion of sober, probing and reasonable analysis, The Washington Post (more on my relationship with that rag here, here and here) has surveyed our political moment and is ready…
Got Arsenic?
Seriously? This is why it's increasingly difficult to take our cultural priorities seriously, because the people who are elected --and paid-- to make them a priority don't take anything seriously.…
The Past Is Calling: Reconsidering The Who’s ‘Quadrophenia’
Most popular Who album? No. Most important Who album? No. Most influential Who album? No. Best Who album? Definitely. More: Best album of the ‘70s? Probably. More? Best rock album,…
Thanksgiving 2011: Some Things I’m Grateful For
The dogs in our lives. The ones who are no longer here, like Leroy and Terra and the dearly -departed Quinzy. Quinzy treated the world like his bitch and while I couldn’t…
The Whiteness of the Whale: Remembering The White Album (Revisited)
Therefore, in his other moods, symbolize whatever grand or gracious thing he will by whiteness, no man can deny that in its profoundest idealized significance it calls up a peculiar…
When Words Fail*
It will be okay. This is what parents are obliged to tell frightened children and what some children must one day resort to telling their parents. It will be okay,…
Black Magic: 15 Essential Black Sabbath Songs
Yes, they created the template for heavy metal and thrash, but even now it’s instructive to acknowledge just how unique Black Sabbath was; how different from anything else anyone was…
The Thing That Wouldn’t Leave
If Newt Gingrich does the unthinkable (and, for the record, I still think there is less than a 1% chance it happens) and sticks around --much less snags the Republican…
Why Not Pink Floyd?
The Pink Floyd Discovery Studio Album Box Set I. See Saw I have recently listened to every single song from every single Pink Floyd album, do you don’t have to.…
Born In The U.S.A. or, Every Day Is Veterans Day (Revisited)
I. Personal Remember when Born in the U.S.A. was ubiquitous? The album and the song. Bruce was already big, but he wasn’t over the top. Born in the U.S.A. put…