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Sleeve Weather at the Fair
Those dusty old days ( Read more... ) -
R.E.M. - Collapse Into Now
R.E.M. was always a democracy. And oddly, when the number was even, they seemed to make decisions easier. It’s impossible to deny that drummer Bill Berry was just as integral to the band’s chemistry as guitarist Buck, bassist Mills or singer Stipe. Rhythm sections aren’t always afforded that level of input in a four piece, but that was always ( Read more... ) -
The Precious Stoned
There are no bargains
living on life’s outer margins
Everything is priced to sell:
rings and skins and measured time
Everyone ready to sign
We’ll take over hell
and say it’s swell
when it’s sweltering
Shelter me
from the heat of the sun
and the cold shunning
stunning types
(you know the ones I mean)
We starve and binge
living on life’s tattered fringes
Everything ( Read more... ) -
A Dying Business
The stalwart Visart Video - a lynchpin of local culture - is officially closing its doors. This doesn’t come as much of a shock, with major video rental chains declaring bankruptcy in the wake of mail order rentals, online streaming and even DVD vending machines, but the expectancy doesn’t make it any less saddening. Visart was something of an ( Read more... ) -
Shoppin' for Love
There are certain places we go that are riddled with the psychic pressure of desperation. Places where human beings are reduced to their lowest corporeal worth, upright cattle headed up and moved along. Airports come to mind, stadiums, amphitheaters. But one place I consistently find this phenomenon is the grocery store.
In a world so self- ( Read more... ) -
Don't Concern Myself
Writing here feels like walking into an empty theatre and calling out, “Echo!”
But I’m gonna do it more, because it’s a great mental clearinghouse. It’s hard to articulate things for me; my brain often feels like some thick miasma, or a hearty primordial brew, struggling to evolve. I think a lot, but thoughts are basically worthless. Articulate a ( Read more... ) -
Self-Denial Lasts a Lifetime
Just another one of those things
that you wouldn’t understand
because I don’t either
(and I don’t want to)
This music’s not for you
It’s for a lone in a room
A meet-your-doom kinda score
Just an other one of those tunes
that you’ll never hum along
because it’s wrong
(and you liked it)
Another razor in the light
another black heart late night fright
to wake you ( Read more... ) -
Suicide is Gay, or Everybody Hurts...Sometimes
There’s a rash of high profile gay teen suicides in the media. And it is very sad. It’s sad for a multitude of reasons, reasons everyone knows, everyone admits. But the same people who so openly demand for equality, and for anti-bullying policies in schools, these people who are “openly gay”, who embrace the concept of a readymade “lifestyle”, ( Read more... ) -
Wherever you are, I hope you're singing...
I love Facebook, and certainly neglect this for that. Not that any of it’s all that important, but I’ll admit a bias. Still, it is annoying to be stifled by a “character limit”, and it’s quite a struggle being pithy and concise all the time. I’m a rambler. I like free association. It’s a hobby of mine.
So I had a strange dream. I woke up ( Read more... ) -
Eager Beavers BBQ
It occurred to me the other day that I’ve been writing here for roughly ten years. And while there are long swaths of time that are sparse for entries, it’s still an interesting record to have kept. Where so much has changed, exactly that much has stayed the same. Who I am seems to have been fated, and who I was remains a mystery. Yet even ( Read more... )