My Annual New Year’s Eve Message
Sean MurphyAs always, it’s a hell of a lot easier to keep these things in perspective by considering the (increasing) number of our brothers and sisters who are struggling just to…
Dave Henderson: RIP
This hurts. Saw the immortal ALCS game in real time. Pops, a long-suffering Boston-born Sox fan, had seen this movie before (and would see it again in a fashion even…
Yusef Lateef: R.I.P., Gentle Giant (Revisited)
We have lost one of the great, indeed one of the greatest, ones. Yusef Lateef, aged 93 years young, was finally stopped by cancer on December 23. I say "finally"…
My Kind of Christmas Music (Revisited)
Tchaikovsky Corelli Bach A couple from John Fahey The Who Chuck Berry a three-fer from Jethro Tull! Sonny Boy The Godfather Donny Satchmo Ella! (An embarrassment of riches here, here,…
“Only Let Be No War”: The Films of Nikita Mikhalkov, Volume 1 (Revisited)
The release of this box set is a welcome development. This is not necessarily to suggest anyone is likely to shell out $80 for five films, but the fact that…
O Captain! My Captain!: The Unique Magic of Don Van Vliet (Revisited)
As Ian Anderson said, “We’re getting a bit short on heroes lately.” And Ian, while he wasn’t speaking of Don Van Vliet, nevertheless would --and has— endorsed the man better…
What We Talk About When We Talk About Sex (In Fiction)
WRITING ABOUT SEX is like engaging in sex: it’s hard. Or, it should be. It’s that time of year again, where we can count on three things: shopping-related stress during…
Peter O’Toole, R.I.P. (Revisited)
They're all gone. Burton, then Harris, then Reed, then Taylor. And now, O'Toole. Yes, it all begins and ends with his once-in-a-millennium turn as T.E. Lawrence, and attention must be…
Sui generis on the rocks: Christopher Hitchens (Revisited)
The best way to compliment a writer, as a reader, is to recommend their work to others. That I wholeheartedly do, and have done. The best way to compliment a…
Backs to the Future (Revisited)
TAKE A GUY. Let’s say he is about my age: old enough to own a place and pay almost all his bills sometimes; young enough to understand that he is…