John McCain: RIP
Sean MurphyP368426 03: (File Photo) Lieutenant Commander John Mccain Is Welcomed By U.S. President Richard Nixon Upon Mccain's Release From Five And One-Half Years As A P.O.W. During The Vietnam War…
I Like To (Re)Watch or, The Movies on My Mind
Celebrating one of my favorite movies, Serpico, I wrote the following: I want—and need—to revisit this movie on an annual basis, because it satisfies many needs. One, it's a masterpiece, so there's…
Routines, Rituals, and Writers
Winston Churchill famously remarked: “My vices protect me but they would assassinate you.” And he managed to achieve a thing or two in his time, decadent proclivities be damned. But…
ALL HAIL THE QUEEN
Everyone is posting this (and why shouldn’t they?), and I’m happy to join the crowd—with love, respect, and appreciation. I’m sure, when I first saw this, age 10-ish, I’d heard…
Aretha: The Queen of Us All
ARETHA FRANKLIN, 1967, Atlantic Records publicity portrait. Debate will—and should—rage forever regarding royalty and who can claim it: who is The King? Elvis Presley is who white people crowned, Chuck…
Washing Dishes as Antidote for Apathy (Revisited)
Help wanted sign on the Mexican border. Tom Sietsema, the excellent food critic for The Washington Post, wrote a fantastic piece about dishwashers (in general) and his experience, as a dishwasher,…
Welcome to Machine: Why ‘Dead Man’ is Jim Jarmusch’s Masterpiece
Johnny Depp is going to be gone someday, and for those enjoying his work posthumously, an assessment of his enigmatic career—bookended by the cotton candy of 21 Jump Street, and…
How to Kill a Cliché: Celebrating Sam Shepard (One Year Later)
Lee: …That’s stupid. That’s one a’ those?—whadya’ call it? Whadya’ call that? Austin: What? Lee: Whadya’ call it when somethin’s been said a thousand times before. Whadya’ call that? Austin:…