This early Saturday Night Live video (season 3) is astonishing too, and bizarre, and awesome — for a couple reasons. 1. John Belushi’s Samurai character. He did it in a number of contexts, I think some of the cultural context is lost now, or maybe it was never there and that was the point, an …
Wheaton College is a nondenominational evangelical Christian institution located in the Western suburbs of Chicago that maintains a special relationship with the Reverend Billy Graham (currently 97 years old). Wheaton operates the Billy Graham Center for Evangelism, The Billy Graham Museum and Archives, and the Billy Graham Scholarship Program. According to a website called First …
The Revenant!!! Yes, there’s a lot of anguish and pain on screen, and I had questions about how they might have enriched the story more, but as filmmaking, it’s fantastic. Gripping, poetic, beautiful and utterly transporting… You will see things you haven’t seen before. Winter is coming, upper Missouri River 1823 (Montana, the Dakotas) and …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=orQSYlBiGEE
John Trudell, poet, activist for American Indian rights, dies at age 69 RIP John Trudell. I’ll never forget hearing him speak 20 years ago in a basement hall at the University of Washington, at a time when the case of Leonard Peltier was getting renewed attention (which did not result in his pardon), and Trudell …
One more time. Films that purport to show Planned Parenthood selling baby parts are deceptively edited fraud. They spin the truth into lies. If you believe these videos, as Republicans in Congress apparently did, you’re a dunce. Planned Parenthood is not selling baby parts. They are allowed by law to let mothers donate fetal tissue, …
“16 shots, 14 months. 16 shots, 14 months. 16 shots, 14 months.” I attended a protest rally on Black Friday that was easily attended by more than 5,000 people. The protest closed down Chicago’s “Mag Mile”, which is the high-end downtown shopping mecca. We congregated at the majestic Chicago Tribune building and proceeded north. Why …
Born in 1963, celebrated actor John Stamos would have attended this high school prom sometime in the late 70s or early 80s, shortly before his acting career began on General Hospital in 1982. E! Online UK tweeted out this photo today, claiming it to be Stamos’ actual prom photo. Stamos grew up in Cypress, a …
Is it just the 15 or so Moth slam events I’ve been to, or does the best storyteller of the night generally not win? I know it’s inherently subjective, and that’s part of the fun, but on Sunday at the Grand Slam in Williamsburg, the last storyteller was the clear crowd favorite AND host favorite, …
My grandson loves cats, but he struggles to understand that you can’t tell a cat what to do. I have found catnip to be the same way. Last summer my neighbor came by for some catnip for his cat, but the patch I had planted in the parkway, for people’s easy access, was hanging on …
In the wake of the recent bombings and killings in Paris, I offer this. But first, I must step back. Shortly after 9/11, I opined in a pre-Twitter universe to a creation similar to Twitter, something called “xnpc”, that the United States had stoked hostility by imposing sanctions and a killing machine upon Iraq. People …
Occasionally, as I think back on various experiences of trying to CREATE in Havre or Missoula, Montana during the 1980s (and subsequently, as well, in Northern Virginia or Seattle)–whether that involved establishing a “beach head” and persona for radio, learning to write/combine criticism and history (and humor), attempting to make music of widely varying sorts, …
I shared this on Facebook on 10/30 and over the course of the Halloween weekend, this clever costume based on the Cubist art of Pablo Picasso drew in 1,200+ likes. This was a record, by at least a thousand. With that kind of success, I figured I should share it here as well:
It’s Friday night a week before Halloween and the happening place is Darrell’s Tavern in Shoreline just north of Seattle. Playing were two of Seattle’s finest ska bands, Natalie Wouldn’t and the Georgetown Orbits. Natalie Wouldn’t played second and opened with a ska version of the Spider Man theme. The tiny club was filled with …
Below is a list of worthy anti-colonial (#anticolo) movies—perhaps the best ever made. A cursory Google search has not uncovered a single list of the best anticolo flicks of all time. The aggregated minds of East Portland Blog have come together to generate a list and potentially be the first website to broach this subject. …
Look like a woman Shriek like a witch Castrate like a harpy Bathe in blood like the serpent queen you are, girl – Emily Pothast is one of the geniuses behind Midday Veil.
John Berg died last night. he was the art director of Columbia records through most of the 1960’s and 1970’s. as a result he designed most of the important record covers of the modern era. a small list would include most of the record covers for bob dylan, chicago, neil young , elton john, the …
Television host Steve Allen plays the piano on this and it forms a moment of unusual beauty. Here’s Jack Kerouac, our latter day Whitman, singing the body electric in old school San Francisco. He uses the word “fellaheen” a half century before middle eastern class and sectarian struggles would dominate the headlines. Something in this …
When Steve Wynn finished producing Chris Cacavas debut solo album in early 1989, I took the master tapes over to the offices of CMJ; College Music Journal. I played this song for the editor and he smiled and looked at me and said “holy shit, this sounds like the Buffalo Springfield jamming with Steppenwolf”. Two …
Back in the days before Marvel’s more “realistic” super heroes overthrew DC’s dominance in the comics marketplace, DC would sometimes feature what they referred to as “imaginary stories,” which was a rather endearing way of saying the plot pursued an alternative story arc that didn’t fit in the overall fictional continuity of the characters involved. …
This is downright hilarious: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/09/24/442822266/a-visit-to-the-worlds-first-boozy-taco-bell – Chuck Strom
Pope Francis has landed at Andrews Air Force Base for his first visit to the United States. There’s a lot of speculation about what he might say, especially when he addresses Congress Thursday morning in light of first visiting Cuba. I am hopeful that he will discuss American capitalism’s flaws, a theme he has hit …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFobb7n7AzE
I was very moved by the film “The End of the Tour,” which offers a profound glimpse of DAVID FOSTER WALLACE, one of the more talented and compelling writers of our time, as he struggles with the process of being followed and interviewed for a Rolling Stone profile — his aversion to it and his …
The (truly) inimitable “Weasel” (aka Jonathan Gilbert), who was the 2 to 6pm “drive time” star of Annapolis, MD’s “progressive”/”alternative” WHFS 99.1 FM, during my years managing The Record & Tape Exchange in Fairfax, VA (1988-92). No other voice like Weasel’s has ever found a regular home on the airwaves, to say the least! (Not …
So Monday we finished a week long cruise from Seward Alaska down to Vancouver Canada on Norwegian Cruise Lines. It was more fun and enjoyable than I expected. But about the only Norwegian thing about it was the Captain and that they had herring and lox every morning in the breakfast buffet. Of the close …
This is the same family from A Christmas Story, you know, the kid who wants a Red Ryder BB gun. Here they’re taking a summer vacation. It’s written by Hoosier storyteller Jean Shepherd. This is one of Shep’s best films — after A Christmas Story, of course. 7.7 on IMDB. I’ve also been dipping into …
Author and Bad Religion member Greg Graffin has shared “Faith Alone”, one of his own songs that thematically inspired his new book, Population Wars. The full series including “My Poor Friend Me”, “The Answer”, “Changing Tide” are available on an limited edition exclusive 7-inch available for pre-order with Population Wars at kingsroadmerch.com/badreligion. With his new …
Singing from the Floor: A History of British Folk Clubs is the first ever “oral history” of the British folk scene with expressive quotes from Martin Carthy, Shirley Collins, the Watersons, Ashley Hutchings, Wizz Jones, Dave Swarbrick, June Tabor, Maddy Prior, Joe Boyd, Richard Thompson, Clive Palmer – utterly inspiring and essential. – Pat Thomas …