We’ve Seen This Movie Before: Trying to Make Sense of Philip Seymour Hoffman
Sean MurphyThis isn't quite in the day John Lennon died territory, but I'll never forget where I was and what I was doing. Sitting at home, Super Bowl shopping complete, biding…
Please Talk about Me When I’m Gone: A Primer
i. Encomium August 30, 2002. I thought: Everything that is good about me is because of my mother. I was in a church for the first time in forever.…
Weird Scenes Inside the Goldmine, Redux (Revisited)
Talk about better living through chemistry! Albert Hofmann, the chemist who invented/discovered LSD, has passed away at the dignified, enviable age of 102. On April 16, 1943, he made history.…
Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before*
Let me tell you a story. It involves a white male born in a steadily prospering town to a slowly prospering family. His father, the first in his Irish family…
My Annual New Year’s Eve Message
As 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…
2013: Time To Die
2013: In pace requiescat! Theme video for this annual series (especially instructive for those not familiar with the title or the photo, above): 3/7/13: R.I.P. to the amazing Alvin Lee.…
The Narrow Path: A Tone Poem for Christmas
You are alone. You are back in the city and you are alone as you emerge into the open and empty space, stepping out from the stale depths of the…
The Problem With the Homeless Problem*
Who was he? I think the same question each time I see him (every day: the same man in the same spot, holding the same sign that tells everyone who…
Newtown and The Healing Power of Music, Featuring Herbie Hancock
I feel obliged to say something, anything, on this sombre occasion. Fortunately, Sean Beaudoin has done some heavy, eloquent lifting in the service of sanity, healing, and remembrance. Sean is an…
Humanity: Kicking Cancer’s Ass
When the going gets tough, there is always hope. When hope is hard to come by, humanity can do the trick. Check this out: No matter what we are faced…