Category: Pop Culture
A Little Night Music to Take You Back: “Inchworm”
How about a video? Here’s “Inchworm”, an old Sesame Street classic. Just because. My Mom used to sing this song to me when I was young and, sometimes, I’d sing the counterpoint melody — the part with the math. I still have days and nights, even as a grizzled adult, when I want my Mom [...]
When Does “The Christmas Season” Start?
The Washington Post’s Story Lab blog asks an interesting question today: When does the Christmas season actually start? Is your tree already up? Have you already got an inflatable Mrs. Claus in your front yard? And is everyone in the house good with that? For a holiday story we’re working on as December approaches, we’d [...]
John Williams’ Music Translates Well to Classical? Who Knew?
I get that web sites want to be hip and culturally edgy. I even get that the easiest way to do that is to hire a bunch of hipster writers yearning to hit it big with some ironically-titled book. But at some point, one of those young hipsters will post something like this, which’ll make [...]
If He Doesn’t Dance to MC Hammer This Season, I Will Be Sorely Disappointed
I give Tom DeLay all the credit in the world. It takes an enormous amount of confidence (and a real sense of self-deprecation) to get on national television, light-years outside your comfort zone, and subject yourself to the enormous buckets full of crap you know are going to get thrown your way. But, you know, [...]
The Riddler Might Have Been a Better Choice, Come to Think of It
So some joker has been putting up handbills around Los Angeles that portray President Obama as a famous insane movie villain. The posters have worked some left-wing newspaper you’ve never heard of into a real lather. The word “noose” was flung around and the general tenor of the short article seems to be just a [...]
RIP Michael Crichton
Wow….I had no idea he was even sick. Top-selling author Michael Crichton has reportedly died of cancer in Los Angeles. A posting on Crichton’s official website says that the author “died unexpectedly” after a “courageous and private battle against cancer” on Nov. 4. I really enjoyed Crichton’s books - Jurassic Park and Rising Sun were [...]
Cue the Hallucinogens, It’s a Gonzo Movie.
Someone put my blogger friend Robert Stacy McCain on alert. Hollywood has made a Hunter S. Thompson bigraphical movie that’s coming out in limited release on July 2. I’ve never been much of a Thompson fan, but I know McCain is, well, gonzo about him. The films seems to be getting good reviews, but it’s [...]
“The Happening” is a Really Unfortunate Title
M. Night Shyamalan’s new movie isn’t getting many good reviews from the film critics. I don’t plan on seeing it, not necessarily because of the reviews, but because of Shyamalan’s unfortunate choice of a title. It’s really tough to get into the spooky vibe of a horror movie when all you can hear is Diana [...]
That’s What You Said