My latest article in The Dudespaper discusses the Eagles and Creedence — divergent poles of musical Dudeism, or merely birds of a different feather? I should begin this by admitting that I like the Eagles. Lots of their tunes rock, and the Eagles will forever have geek street cred as the authors of “Journey of [...]
One of Bob Dylan’s most covered songs is 1964′s “It Ain’t Me, Babe”. One of my favorite things about Dylan is that he wholeheartedly encouraged other artists to take his music and reinterpret it, and this song has been dressed up in every style you can think of and stays fresh every time. (The fact [...]
Episode 1: Millions of robots die. Then the whiny diminutive human commits robot abandonment and gets a haircut. Episode 2: Millions of robots die. The whiny human fights Saruman and loses a limb, meaning he gets a shiny new robot arm, making him slightly less lame. In act of flagrant ingratitude, the ninja hobbit fights [...]
I don’t take Internet personality quizzes. I think they’re an inferior method for wasting time at work compared to Sudoku. But a friend asked me to take a Myers-Briggs test and report back. So I guess I’m an INFJ. That is to say, Introverted 22%, Intuitive 62%, Feeling 12%, Judging 44%. Apparently that means I [...]
Structure, lyrics, theme, performance, instrumentation, and all the trimmings, these songs are perfect. I’m really into examining the structures that support art; picking them up, examining them, tinkering with them. And some songs have impressed me over the years. Like well-cut jewels, no matter which way you turn them, they radiate something new and fascinating. [...]
I’m a big cynic about politics. I believe a candidate’s choices are motivated first by their personal desire to be in power, second by their desire for their cronies to be in power, and third, if at all, to serve the needs of the electorate. After Barack Obama announced his choice of Joe Biden for [...]
It’s been a soul kind of day. I’ve been cranking out a Commitments-worthy playlist, but I’ve been favoring Wilson Pickett pretty heavily. I think I must have played “Midnight Hour” about a thousand times today. Wilson Picket combined all that is great about American music; the blue note that evolved independently in Ireland and Africa, [...]
