America is a fucked up, frightening place these days. It’s as if each new day brings a worse atrocity, as if the administration just wants to keep one-upping itself. I need something to make me smile. We all need something to make us smile. Here are some songs to make you smile. Please know that this can’t possibly…
There have been some teacher strikes in the news of late. I don’t think people realize just why teachers are striking, regardless if it’s legal or illegal in their states. What the uninitiated don’t realize is that striking is the absolute last resort for teachers. There is not one teacher who wants to deprive any…
For the uninitiated, or for the willfully ignorant, Cypress Hill’s Black Sunday is a paean to smoking weed. This album is so much more than that. Released in 1993, the band’s sophomore effort is a lodestone which stands alongside NWA’s Straight Outta Compton as an inner city voice that the majority of America hadn’t…
Frank Sinatra. The name evokes such imagery - dimmed lights, smoky air, a glass of bourbon, the smell of cigarettes, a cool flow of inside jokes and laughter. However in 1955 there was little of these to be found with regard to Frank. He was long past his bobby-soxer days, for the teenage girls who once screamed at…
I have come to the conclusion that 1985's Fletch, starring Chevy Chase in the title role, is the most quotable movie of all time. There will be those of you who may disagree, but you are wrong. While many movies have memorable quotes, Fletch is the most quotable movie of all time. Some quotes are subtle and…
In 1988, Queensryche was a little known band. They had recorded and released two solid, yet unspectacular albums, The Warning and Rage for Order. Their third album, however, would go on to both define them and set them up for long-term failure. Operation: Mindcrime was an anomaly - a concept album from a heavy metal…
The film Logan was released on March 3, 2017. In case you haven’t seen it, Logan is the story of Old Man Logan, Wolverine, in the year 2029. No mutant has been born in 25 years, and the adamantium which was fused to his skeleton has taken a toll. It’s poisoning him from the inside out. Where once the Wolverine was…
There are a few things in this world that I have an (arguably) irrational hatred towards. I hate maple syrup. I hate Norman Rockwell paintings. I hate people who pronounce eggs as “ayygs,” and those who pronounce milk as “melk.” However one hatred looms larger over them all - I hate Phil Collins. It’s become a running…
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal (Robert Graysmith), Robert Downey Jr (Paul Avery), Mark Ruffalo (Inspector Toschi), Anthony Edwards (Inspector Armstrong), Elias Koteas (Sgt. Mulanax)
Many years ago I became a fan of Pink Floyd. My first real recollection of the band was hearing “Another Brick in the Wall, Part II” on the radio. I loved the song; what elementary school student wouldn’t? With regard to the sonic and aural enjoyment of the band, Pink Floyd provide layers upon layers of intricately…
Last week I drove home from the Jersey Shore. By the way, it’s not like that awful television show. The Jersey Shore is beautiful and the people are awesome, but that’s not germane to the article. On the drive back up I saw an incredible evening sky. It was around 8:15, and the sky on the horizon was about as…
Ok, so we’ve all experienced a sensation called Déjà vu. The translation, from the French, means “already seen.” You know what I’m talking about - when you pause for a minute because something feels so incredibly familiar sometimes. It’s as if you have already lived this one particular moment. Every detail is so…
I’ve finally reached my breaking point. We have all known for years that society is becoming stupider and the attention span of most people is the shortest its ever been. Warhol once said “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” That time has been trimmed down to about 15 seconds now. My…
When the common person discusses Reggae, one name automatically comes to mind: Bob Marley. This is normal, as he’s the most famous musician in the history of his genre. Other luminaries include Burning Spear, Toots and the Maytals, Jimmy Cliff, and Steel Pulse. However one man is overlooked because he was always in…
Today marks the 40th anniversary of the movie Star Wars. It’s hard to comprehend that the world George Lucas created has been around that long. As a member of Generation X, which is the second-greatest generation, Star Wars impacted my childhood in such a direct way that it still resonates today, well into adulthood. …
Chris Cornell’s passing yesterday brought me back to 1992, when I saw Soundgarden on the 1992 Lollapalooza tour. It took a few moments of reverie to realize that on August 4, 1992, I saw what I can only describe as the greatest concert I’ve ever seen. Mind you, this differs from the greatest show I’ve ever seen. …
Upon first glance, it would seem that ee cummings is one of the most eccentric poets in modern poetic history. This certainly is true, and his artistic exploration of, and his pushing the boundaries of, poetry is evidence of this. While seeming at first to be esoteric, ee cummings instead touches mainly on one central…
This is the third and final installment of my series about Space. First, I wrote about how incredibly big space is. The second article discussed how space never seems to end and how it keeps expanding. This article will explain to you, gentle reader, what Space was before it was Space. You must come to grips with…
In 1988, Metallica released the album ...And Justice for All. The album, on the heels of their groundbreaking Master of Puppets, explored new sonic territories. The songs were longer and more political, as well as being more personal. One strong example of this is the album’s concluding song, “Dyers Eve.” This…
WARNING: Prepare to have your mind absolutely obliterated with the infinite possibilities contained within this article!
