Spotlight on Scandinavia: 3 Musical Gems
When it hits you, it hits you hard: more music is being made now than ever before. Arguably, more good music is being made now than ever before. Some people will […]
An Open Letter to NFL Brass After Monday’s Fiasco, Re: Shame On You
Dear NFL Owners and Roger Goodell, In the absence of a labor agreement between the Referee’s Union (NFLRA) and NFL owners (knuckleheads), your sport has decided to employ a class […]
Grizzly Bear’s “Shields”
Grizzly Bear built a following teasing eerie pop out of complicated structures and eccentric chords. There were forays into unabashed pop—“Knife” and “Two Weeks” among them, tidily packaged and self-contained—but […]
A World in Pictures: Waldo Hirshberger
His name is Waldo Hirshberger, and his smile in those pictures haunts me. He is my great-grandfather, but he may as well have been an Assyrian cobbler for all the […]
How to Spot a Thesaurus Thief
Writing is a solitary task. We usually do it out of the limelight, in musky bedrooms, on flimsy typewriters—or not—for little or no pay. It’s tough stuff, and it tends […]
“Prisoner of Love”: The Turns a Song Takes
Politics has promises. Baseball has Cracker Jacks. Jazz has standards. The idea of the standard is indispensable to jazz—they are, almost literally, the building blocks of the genre. We love standards because […]
The Great Ah-Ha! “Eureka” by Jim O’Rourke
In the world’s largest independent record store, you’ll find his music in the experimental section. Amoeba Music in Hollywood, CA may not trust Jim O’Rourke’s ability to translate into a […]
Four Observations about the Start of College Football
1.) The National Championship looks to be Alabama’s to lose. They dispatched Michigan quickly and efficiently. Their defense was stout, and their offense was about as well-rounded as you can […]
Police in South Africa, Mexico Embroiled in Scandals
270 South Africans striking outside a platinum mine in Marikana have been arrested and charged with murder in a striking legal indirection, the BBC reports. Violence erupted in Marikana on […]
Wine Milkshakes Debut In City Of Angels
If America is a land of excess, L.A. is a city of controlled excess. It’s a place where excess is briefly muzzled, spritzed with enough cologne to euthanize a dingo, […]
Travels In Germany, Part 4
Frank lived in Franconia, but Philipp lived in Frankfurt. Philipp was the youngest of three brothers, all of whom looked utterly alike. Moritz, the middle brother, unleashed exquisite physical torment […]
Travels In Germany, Part 3
Chris and I grew close in middle school. His father is from Minnesota, his mother from Poland, although she left for Germany when she was still young. When I visited […]
