Due To Popular Demand…More Catwoman!
Sean MurphyWait, I was the only one clamoring for more? Okay. "Batman, let's throw caution to the wind!"
The Death of an Indestructible Dog: What Quinzy Taught Me
Portrait of the artist as a young pup. Wait, did I say artist? I meant barbarian. No, that's neither fair nor accurate. It's difficult with Quinzy-- he was many…
End of Summer (Camp) with a Bat, a Cat and a Clown
It is an inexorable, if lamentable rite of passage to revisit cultural mementos from one's childhood and discover that, to an adult's eyes, they are lacking. But then, "putting away…
The Real Life Fable of Charles Mingus and Orval Faubus (Revisited)
On Sept. 4, 1957, Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus called out the National Guard to prevent nine black students from entering Central High School in Little Rock. Charles Mingus had many…
Strange Love
ON THIS DAY: On Aug. 30, 1963, the hot-line communications link between Washington, D.C., and Moscow went into operation. Kubrick (1964) Arthur Lee (1967)
Gary Clark, Jr.: You’re Gonna Know His Name By The End of the Year
So....I read the borderline rapturous review of his new EP in the recent Rolling Stone. Exactly... And yet...the review was sufficiently ecstatic that I made a mental note to check him…
Hurricane Music
Ten songs to weather the storm. First and foremost, a nod to Alex Chilton (and Alan Vega!), remembering 2003 and the soundtrack from the last hurricane. Some Floyd for the…
August 26, 2002: Nine Ways of Looking at Nine Years
I had the opportunity to deliver the eulogy at my mother’s funeral (which, incredibly, occurred only a few months after this photo was taken, at my cousin’s wedding in June 2002).…
Fifteen Songs For My Mother, on Her Birthday
Happy birthday, mama. Thelonious Monk (with John Coltrane), "Ruby, My Dear": Paul Simon, "Mother and Child Reunion": Booker Little, "Victory and Sorrow" (plus bonus tracks): Janis Ian, "Light A Light":…
Elvis Is (Still) Dead, Long Live The King!
Poor Elvis. The one-time king is now more often the (big) butt of jokes (see?). But his musical and cultural imprint remains huge and will forever be impossible to escape…