Nov 30Moby Dick, Martin Scorsese, and Making a Literary LifeNovember 14, 1851 Quick, literary folks: why is this date important? Hint: Call Me Ishmael. Yes, on this day 172 years ago, Herman Melville wrote not only the great American novel, but one of the enduring classics of world literature. I won’t bore you with yet another tribute to this…Writing10 min readWriting10 min read
Oct 26The Who’s ‘Quadrophenia’ at 50Most 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, ever? Possibly. Quick question: have you ever heard this? (This song; this album.) Do yourself a favor: drop everything and…Music7 min readMusic7 min read
Jul 25The Struggle of Memory against Forgetting: Why Milan Kundera Mattersi. Kundera almost killed me, still in my creative cradle, a writer needing nourishment. He arrived in my life too early. As a reader, it wasn’t soon enough, as what relatively inexperienced but enthusiastic amateur — fresh from the front lines of grad school and adjusting to a world without…Culture5 min readCulture5 min read
Jul 3Jim Morrison: Still Hot, Still Sexy, Still DeadJim Morrison took his last bath on July 3, 1971 in Paris. R.I.P. Lizard King. (I wrote, in what most normal people would consider painful detail, about The Doors in late 2006 and early 2007 for PopMatters. The first occasion was to take a stab at the Jim Morrison mythology…Jim Morrison13 min readJim Morrison13 min read
Jul 1Alan Arkin & American ArtistryWhen it rains, it pours, so of course news breaks that the beloved, completely irreplaceable Alan Arkin has left us earthlings behind for better adventures. Before he became the always-lovable cantankerous old guy, he was (like so many, but not all, of us) young once, the main attraction as opposed…Film3 min readFilm3 min read
Jun 30WHAT WRITERS TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT PERSEVERANCEThe first rule of writing is to understand, and eventually embrace the fact that there are no rules. There are also no short-cuts. (Sorry, posers.) Writing, like life, is ultimately all about balance. And how well you can maintain it. …Writing7 min readWriting7 min read
Jun 8AI Will Not Replace Art“Etonne-moi!” — Serge Diaghilev, to Jean Cocteau Adam Gopnik, the prolific and brilliant writer whose work has appeared in The New Yorker for several decades, has a timely piece in The New York Times that anyone interested in storytelling (why we do it, how we do it, what happens when…Technology6 min readTechnology6 min read
May 301993 + 30 = Saturn (or, a Sun Ra Sampler)Thirty years ago, today, Herman Poole Blount, aka Sonny Blount, aka Le Sony’r Ra, aka SUN RA, left these spheres to (take your pick): return to Saturn, whence he came, or to travel the spaceways, or blaze new sonic trails in other galaxies or –the correct choice– all of the…Sun Ra6 min readSun Ra6 min read
May 26A Love Letter to the Inimitable Martin AmisStyle is not neutral; it gives moral directions. — Martin Amis Milan Kundera came to me too early. As a reader, it wasn’t soon enough, as what relatively inexperienced but enthusiastic amateur — fresh from the front lines of grad school and adjusting to no longer deconstructing texts with an…Writing6 min readWriting6 min read
May 12This Apostle’s Creed: East Broadway Run DownFall ’83 and, as if weekly church services weren’t insufferable enough, the Sacrament of Confirmation required mandatory tutelage, also once a week, on Sundays, which meant our soccer games (and football viewing, this being the glory days of the mighty NFC East and the tag-team of Madden/Summerall) were bookended by…Music7 min readMusic7 min read
