Links to my Rules Of The Game columns, June '07-March '08
Here are links to my Rules Of The Game columns in chronological order, the column running in the Las Vegas Weekly from June 2007 to March 2008, with December off.
There are 35 in all, though the numbers only go to 33: the reason for the discrepancy is that our original plan had been to do it all online, with a column on Thursday of approximately one thousand words but I could go any amount longer I wanted to since we were online, and there'd be a short followup the next Monday, the followup not getting a new number but being called "Followup #X," X being the same number as the column that was being followed-up. LVW would have the option of including a column or a followup in the print edition as well, and if need be I would adapt what I'd written to meet a word count. That plan went for two weeks, when LVW switched to having the column in the print edition all the time, hence I was doing a one-page column once a week. So over the first two weeks there were four columns but only two numbers.
Eventually, whether we were in-print would vary from week to week: I'd write 1,600 words, and if the print edition had room they'd print it and post it; if not, it would only be posted. And sometimes I'd go longer if I knew in advance it wasn't going to be in print. By the end, with the editor who'd brought me in now gone and a revamping of the online section in the works, the column was back to online only, but still once a week, length whatever I wanted, I fully expecting the column to be killed any second (which is why I allowed myself to run a critique of an obscure topic like antirockism; at that point there was nothing to lose).
Some of these changes had to do with which budget I was to be paid out of, online or print, who had the money available, etc.
Sometimes LVW neglected to put "The Rules Of The Game" and the column number in the title. On a few occasions, the date now accompanying a piece is somewhat or much later than the date the piece actually went up, I don't know why. In some of the pieces LVW lost my italics. Usual stuff. Also, there's an error of fact - my error - in #20: I referred to the Junior who guested on "Sexy Lady" as the British r&b veteran, whereas if I'd taken the time to actually compare voices (rather than just relying on something I read online) I'd have realized it was a different Junior. Sometimes LVW corrected my typos and grammar, sometimes they missed my mistakes, and in a very few instances they added mistakes or made bad choices of their own. Titles are always mine, but subtitles are theirs.
Whenever a column of mine went up, I posted a link on my livejournal, so we could discuss the piece. Sometimes I'd add further questions or comments. For those threads, and a few later ones that refer back to the columns, click on the rotgut or rules of the game tag and then scroll down; the links are listed last to first. LVW themselves allowed comments, but when they changed servers in mid 2008, the comments on my pieces were lost. Those comments had often taken a while to get posted in the first place, and sometimes didn't get in at all (owing to an overworked staff, not to censorship), so after the first several columns, few people posted their comments at LVW.
The first eleven pieces (through #9) constitute a series; not that those eleven were entirely mapped out in advance, but I was keeping themes running through them all, a later piece picking up threads from an earlier one.
The Rules Of The Game #1: Joining In
The Rules Of The Game Followup #1: The Visceral Extends Its Domain
The Rules Of The Game #2: Metal Clusters
The Rules Of The Game Followup #2: Paris Is Our Vietnam
The Rules Of The Game #3: Feelings Change
The Rules Of The Game #4: Britney Shows Brain
The Rules Of The Game #5: What's Wrong With Pretty Girls?
The Rules Of The Game #6: The Boney Joan Rule
The Rules Of The Game #7: Hero Story
The Rules Of The Game #8: Which Social Class Sounds Better?
The Rules Of The Game #9: The Teens Are Cool But They Burn Out
The Rules Of The Game #10: Embracing The Ashlee Whirlpool
The Rules Of The Game #11: Toothpaste And Coffee
The Rules Of The Game #12: Jocks And Burnouts
The Rules Of The Game #13: School's Out?
The Rules Of The Game #14: The Death Of The Cool
The Rules Of The Game #15: Grown-Ups Make Puppy Love
The Rules Of The Game #16: Vaccine Protects Against New Ideas
The Rules Of The Game #17: Punks And Cats
The Rules Of The Game #18: The Social Butterfly Effect
The Rules Of The Game #19: A Friend Of A Friend
The Rules Of The Game #20: Fleshy Women, Slimy Men, Smart Teens
The Rules Of The Game #21: When The Wrong Song Loves You Right
The Rules Of The Game #22: Night Doesn't Work, Day Doesn't Work*
The Rules Of The Game #23: Out From Under
The Rules Of The Game #24: The PBSification Of Rock
The Rules Of The Game #25: Country Music WTF?
The Rules Of The Game #26: Because Of You I Am Afraid
The Rules Of The Game #27: Is Diversity Diverse?
The Rules Of The Game #28: Dresses Are My Weakness, Seriously
The Rules Of The Game #29: I Start A Fight Because I Need To Feel Something
The Rules Of The Game #30: Life Ain't Hard But It's Too Long
The Rules Of The Game #31: Rockism And Antirockism Rise From The Dead
The Rules Of The Game #32: Where The Real Wild Things Are
The Rules Of The Game #33: The Hotel Detective, He Was Out Of Sight
EDIT: And here's "Microwaving A Tragedy," a decade's-end piece I did in December 2009 for the Las Vegas Weekly, and here's the longer, better " Microwaving A Tragedy (Extended Freestyle Mix)" that I posted on my livejournal a month later.
*Rules Of The Game #22 contained links to a piece by Sasha Frere-Jones and to a piece by Carl Wilson. Both those links got lost when the LVW changed servers, so here they are: Sasha Frere-Jones "A Paler Shade Of White" and Carl Wilson "The Trouble With Indie Rock."
There are 35 in all, though the numbers only go to 33: the reason for the discrepancy is that our original plan had been to do it all online, with a column on Thursday of approximately one thousand words but I could go any amount longer I wanted to since we were online, and there'd be a short followup the next Monday, the followup not getting a new number but being called "Followup #X," X being the same number as the column that was being followed-up. LVW would have the option of including a column or a followup in the print edition as well, and if need be I would adapt what I'd written to meet a word count. That plan went for two weeks, when LVW switched to having the column in the print edition all the time, hence I was doing a one-page column once a week. So over the first two weeks there were four columns but only two numbers.
Eventually, whether we were in-print would vary from week to week: I'd write 1,600 words, and if the print edition had room they'd print it and post it; if not, it would only be posted. And sometimes I'd go longer if I knew in advance it wasn't going to be in print. By the end, with the editor who'd brought me in now gone and a revamping of the online section in the works, the column was back to online only, but still once a week, length whatever I wanted, I fully expecting the column to be killed any second (which is why I allowed myself to run a critique of an obscure topic like antirockism; at that point there was nothing to lose).
Some of these changes had to do with which budget I was to be paid out of, online or print, who had the money available, etc.
Sometimes LVW neglected to put "The Rules Of The Game" and the column number in the title. On a few occasions, the date now accompanying a piece is somewhat or much later than the date the piece actually went up, I don't know why. In some of the pieces LVW lost my italics. Usual stuff. Also, there's an error of fact - my error - in #20: I referred to the Junior who guested on "Sexy Lady" as the British r&b veteran, whereas if I'd taken the time to actually compare voices (rather than just relying on something I read online) I'd have realized it was a different Junior. Sometimes LVW corrected my typos and grammar, sometimes they missed my mistakes, and in a very few instances they added mistakes or made bad choices of their own. Titles are always mine, but subtitles are theirs.
Whenever a column of mine went up, I posted a link on my livejournal, so we could discuss the piece. Sometimes I'd add further questions or comments. For those threads, and a few later ones that refer back to the columns, click on the rotgut or rules of the game tag and then scroll down; the links are listed last to first. LVW themselves allowed comments, but when they changed servers in mid 2008, the comments on my pieces were lost. Those comments had often taken a while to get posted in the first place, and sometimes didn't get in at all (owing to an overworked staff, not to censorship), so after the first several columns, few people posted their comments at LVW.
The first eleven pieces (through #9) constitute a series; not that those eleven were entirely mapped out in advance, but I was keeping themes running through them all, a later piece picking up threads from an earlier one.
The Rules Of The Game #1: Joining In
The Rules Of The Game Followup #1: The Visceral Extends Its Domain
The Rules Of The Game #2: Metal Clusters
The Rules Of The Game Followup #2: Paris Is Our Vietnam
The Rules Of The Game #3: Feelings Change
The Rules Of The Game #4: Britney Shows Brain
The Rules Of The Game #5: What's Wrong With Pretty Girls?
The Rules Of The Game #6: The Boney Joan Rule
The Rules Of The Game #7: Hero Story
The Rules Of The Game #8: Which Social Class Sounds Better?
The Rules Of The Game #9: The Teens Are Cool But They Burn Out
The Rules Of The Game #10: Embracing The Ashlee Whirlpool
The Rules Of The Game #11: Toothpaste And Coffee
The Rules Of The Game #12: Jocks And Burnouts
The Rules Of The Game #13: School's Out?
The Rules Of The Game #14: The Death Of The Cool
The Rules Of The Game #15: Grown-Ups Make Puppy Love
The Rules Of The Game #16: Vaccine Protects Against New Ideas
The Rules Of The Game #17: Punks And Cats
The Rules Of The Game #18: The Social Butterfly Effect
The Rules Of The Game #19: A Friend Of A Friend
The Rules Of The Game #20: Fleshy Women, Slimy Men, Smart Teens
The Rules Of The Game #21: When The Wrong Song Loves You Right
The Rules Of The Game #22: Night Doesn't Work, Day Doesn't Work*
The Rules Of The Game #23: Out From Under
The Rules Of The Game #24: The PBSification Of Rock
The Rules Of The Game #25: Country Music WTF?
The Rules Of The Game #26: Because Of You I Am Afraid
The Rules Of The Game #27: Is Diversity Diverse?
The Rules Of The Game #28: Dresses Are My Weakness, Seriously
The Rules Of The Game #29: I Start A Fight Because I Need To Feel Something
The Rules Of The Game #30: Life Ain't Hard But It's Too Long
The Rules Of The Game #31: Rockism And Antirockism Rise From The Dead
The Rules Of The Game #32: Where The Real Wild Things Are
The Rules Of The Game #33: The Hotel Detective, He Was Out Of Sight
EDIT: And here's "Microwaving A Tragedy," a decade's-end piece I did in December 2009 for the Las Vegas Weekly, and here's the longer, better " Microwaving A Tragedy (Extended Freestyle Mix)" that I posted on my livejournal a month later.
*Rules Of The Game #22 contained links to a piece by Sasha Frere-Jones and to a piece by Carl Wilson. Both those links got lost when the LVW changed servers, so here they are: Sasha Frere-Jones "A Paler Shade Of White" and Carl Wilson "The Trouble With Indie Rock."