Shoegaze. I was late to the party by several years, but it's become perhaps my favorite genre. (Jangle pop is a close close second.) I listen to "Loveless" and "Nowhere", and I hear infinite soundscapes of beauty and longing and melancholy and bliss. I try to get my friends to listen, and they just stare at the…

I went to school at NC State through the mid-to-late 80s. One of my friends discovered this small restaurant a few miles outside of Raleigh called Greens. (At least, that's what he called it.) It was a Southern-food eatery located inside an old gas station. And we're not talking some gentrified hipster-style reclaimed…

The first thing that came to mind was Brian Ritchie's epic xylophone solo in the middle of the Violent Femmes' "Gone Daddy Gone":

Matthew Sweet. Since I moved to California in 1995, I've seen him every time he's played in whatever city I was living in at the time. I'm guessing 10 times now? Maybe 11? Whatever the actual count, August 15th will be my latest concert attendance when he hits LA on his new tour.

Oh. My. GOD. I had NO IDEA this was even a thing. I cannot WAIT for this. New Pillows music too?!?!

Yeah, I have my own "best of Deee-Lite" playlist that has 10 or 11 tracks in it. So, to me, they're hit makers!

Yikes. When I read the Q&A question, several titles flew through my mind. And damned if THREE of them weren't in this list. (Len, Primitive Radio Gods, and Harvey Danger, in case you're wondering.) Since I'm a huge Deee-Lite fan, I don't see them in terms of "one-hit wonder", but, technically… yeah, I suppose that's…

Matthew Sweet's "Tomorrow Forever" and "Tomorrow's Daughter". One of my favorite musical artists is finally back with a new album and companion album of demos. And, since I contributed to his Kickstarter campaign, I also get a bronze cat statue created by Sweet himself. Awesome!

"Pet Sounds". Without a doubt.

The problem I had with Netflix's five star system was that there was no clear way to specify that a film was just okay. The five stars represented the ratings of "really didn't like", "didn't like", "liked", "really liked", and "loved". But what about something that you liked some parts, but didn't like others?

"Heartbeeps" was a cover story in Starlog back in the early 80s. I remember being blown away by the metallic robot makeup that Andy Kaufman and Bernadette Peters wore… apparently it was a technological breakthrough (makeup-wise) at the time. I was very very interested in seeing the movie, based on the writeup.…

Mine is right there in the header image: Freddie Mercury. In 1980, my first year of high school, I was indoctrinated into the "cult of Queen" by my then-brand-new-friend Tom. The problem was, I experienced this epiphany barely a week after their "The Game" tour came through my part of NC. And, as true fans know, they…

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: "Con Air" is one of the greatest comic-book-STYLE movies ever made. Each character has a superhero-or-villain name and quirky background/superpower: Cyrus The Virus, Diamond Dog, Baby-O, Johnny 23, Viking… even "Cameron Poe" is a perfectly constructed hero name. The music,…

Movie-wise: "The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai: Across The Eighth Dimension". I read about in magazines, it looked like it was right up my 18 year old alley… and then it never showed anywhere near my small NC city. I was lucky enough to see it the next year at college, but still… It's one of my favorite films of all…

I came tumbling into this article to scream "BRIAN MAY'S SOLO IN 'WE WILL ROCK YOU'!!!", but damned if Gwen didn't lead off the article with it. Awesome.

I can't explain how powerfully unsettled I was after that Dafoe scene referenced above. Don't get me wrong, I love Lynch and love the movie, but that scene really really stuck with me. Dafoe was just… just hideous. The camerawork, the audio… whew. It was something.

Damn you. DAMN YOU. You ask the question, and before I can stop my brain, it fires the electrical impulses that dredge "Telephone Man" by Meri Wlison from the reptilian recesses of my psyche.

My absolute favorite line is "Look what happened to Mr. Bigglesworth!" It's funnier in context, but I've internally turned it into a line that makes me laugh every single time.

That was part of our routine as well! But it had to be punctuated with that "D'OH!" face that Parker made, or else it didn't work.

My friend Ken and I used to do this when things got quiet in the office. Nobody else knew what the hell we were talking about. It was glorious.