IT’s Good to Be KING: Stephen King at 70
Sean MurphyFACT: STEPHEN KING, the most successful author of our time, arguably toils more diligently than any other writer. For this alone he deserves recognition and respect. To the haters: Yes,…
Why Taxi Driver Still Endures
Besides being a masterpiece, Taxi Driver endures in part because the conditions that inspired it endure. Not many critics would name it as the best American movie, and it probably…
Please Talk about Me When I’m Gone: First Reading, Revisited
Four years ago today. Thanks again to the Jasmine Café (RIP). Kudos to Reston legend Robert E. Simon (RIP) for showing up. Love to all my friends and family who came…
10 for NYC by 10, on 9/11
New York City would be unimaginable without jazz, and vice versa. Here then is a tribute for --and by-- several musicians who help define and celebrate the cultural mecca of…
On Loving & Losing Man’s Best Friends
i. Schnauzers look at you. I mean they really look at you. Not through you, only people do that. If dogs, in general, are correctly credited for living entirely in…
The Death of an Indestructible Dog: What Quinzy Taught Me (Revisited)
Portrait of the artist as a young pup. Wait, did I say artist? I meant barbarian. No, that's neither fair nor accurate. It's difficult with Quinzy-- he was many things,…
RIP Walter Becker, Your Work Here is Done
RIP Walter Becker. Not many musicians were involved in a run as productive and consistently sublime as Steely Dan's. My life, in short, would make much less sense without his…
Donald Trump: The Man in America’s Mirror
i. Orwell, Again (Obviously) Even before the Reality TV circus American politics and, by extension, American life, degenerated into late last year, George Orwell was the go-to guy for…