Poem: Kurt Vonnegut’s Cigarettes (from Blotterature)
Sean MurphyI'm honored to have this poem (written in solidarity to one of my literary heroes), "Kurt Vonnegut's Cigarettes," appear in the excellent literary magazine Blotterature. Check it out, below, or…
50 BULLET POINTS CONCERNING AMERICA’S GUN PSYCHOSIS
Note: It makes me physically ill that this piece, written in 2016, is still not only relevant, but --inconceivably-- a bit outdated. Don't overlook the pathetic fact that the (very)…
Appreciating Ursula K. Le Guin and Cultivating the Right Kind of Rebellion
Sometimes, if you're lucky, you find the right books at the right time; more rarely and therefore more miraculous, the right books find you. After first experiencing (not reading, experiencing)…
Sorry, Charlie (on the Charlie Hebdo Attacks, Three Years Later)
i. OF COURSE RELIGION IS the problem. For anyone who, understandably, would say it’s a political issue and not a religious issue, I aver that so many of our political…
Just Say (N)Oprah or, Make Great American Again
All this breathless, borderline hysterical enthusiasm about Oprah running for president is, sadly, doing a great deal to help me understand how Trump became president. It's different demographics to be…
David Bowie: The Man Who Owned the World (Two Years Later)
ONLY THE BEATLES. That’s the sole comparison that comes to mind when compelled to name a musical act with similar impact and importance. The Beatles, as we all know, changed…
Ray Thomas: Legend of a Mind, RIP
Sad news to report the passing of original member Ray Thomas. In tribute, I'm reposting my entry on The Moody Blues (from my PopMatters column The Amazing Pudding), originally published…
Nat Hentoff: Great American Hero (Revisited)
Spiderman, I suppose, came first. Six or seven, comic book in hand, convinced there was no one cooler, no one more righteous, no one else I’d rather be. After a…
God is (Still) Not Dead: Jimi Hendrix at 75
It was 75 years ago, today. Attention, of course, must (and will) be paid, but the real question remains: what more can possibly be said, at this point, about Jimi…
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…