By Lisa Anderson
The boys of Depeche Mode and I go way back. This relationship has had its ups and downs, but the romance has been rekindled. I was able to reconnect with them last month when they released Sounds Of The Universe, their first new album in four years.
Continue reading ‘Depeche Mode, Sounds Of The Universe‘
By M. Bevis
I’m not a big fan of television; you might even say that as I’ve gotten older, I’ve removed daily TV consumption from my life to the point where it is almost totally absent. I just can’t seem to sit through an entire show these days, mostly due to incessant advertising and the seizure-inducing graphics and attendant volume. But as a reformed couch potato, it isn’t easy kicking the habit. I still get my required fix of quality programming via the web or DVD. When my TV is actually switched on, you might catch me watching the news, or maybe the odd PBS special. But there is one show that always commands the remote, the only show that I am hopelessly, unapologetically addicted to: LOST.
Continue reading ‘LOST: Why I Never Left The Island & Why You Need To Go Back’
By Megashaun
The sense of smell is like a mental time machine, and one that triggers memories with seemingly little effort. It’s also the sense that doesn’t seem to last long in that things will lose their scent over time. Air fresheners, new car smell, and perfumes all fade over time as the scent particles drift off into the air. Although I cannot close my eyes and make myself smell what a new Return of the Jedi toy from 1983 smells like, I still remember the vaguely Play-Doh scent that some of their rubberized accessories had, and if I was somehow able to smell one today, I would no doubt remember the first time my nose sensed it.
Continue reading ‘Plastic And Circuit Boards: The Smells Of Videogames’
By Laura L.
I think it was Lynyrd Skynyrd who once sang about “that smell.” This smell, that smell, that other smell. There are good smells, like the smell of clothes after being dried using fabric softener. There are bad smells, like any gas station bathroom in the middle of nowhere. And then there is the smell that comes from my grandfather’s copy of Twenty-Four Hours A Day.
Continue reading ‘Twenty-Four Hours A Day’
MTV blew my mind in 1981. I would spend hours Velcro’d to the screen of my grandma’s wooden console TV waiting for my favorite videos to come on. Even then, my mom was uneasy about the sort of “messages” I was getting from this weird new music.
Adam Ant’s allusions to S&M were the naughtiest of the lot, but nothing compared to The Cramps. I actually heard them before I saw them. By 1985, I was fully ensnared by WTUL New Orleans, the student-run college radio station of Tulane University. It was there that “New Kind Of Kick” wormed its way into my eardrums.
Continue reading ‘Tear It Up’
By Eric Weber
Twenty-one years ago, on March 7, 1988, legendary comic performer Divine (a.k.a. Harris Glenn Milstead) passed away in his sleep from heart failure. It was on the eve of his debut performance on FOX television’s popular show, Married. . . with Children. Divine was at an exciting moment in his career as he was receiving terrific reviews for his dual role in the recently released Hairspray. At last he was getting the one thing he had always dreamt about: acceptance from his peers as a legitimate actor and performer. He was finally shedding the “drag queen” stigma and beginning to be appreciated and acknowledged as a true talent instead of a “transvestite” or freak. Sadly, and like so many other unique and talented performers, his life was cut short much too soon.
Continue reading ‘From Maniac to Mother: Remembering Divine’
By Danny R. Phillips
Many times when a book is foolishly adapted for the big screen, the story becomes changed, warped, rearranged, and in the process, the fans of the original work leave the theater saying to themselves, “What was that?!?” Luckily, for director Zach Snyder, the film version of the so-called “greatest graphic novel of all time” is not one of those times.
Continue reading ‘We’re All Watching The Watchmen‘
By Less Lee Moore
Geneviève wears Dior
Margaret wears Trésor
Mary Jo wears Lauren
But you don’t wear no perfume. . .
—Sparks, “Perfume”
By Danny R. Phillips
Let’s be frank. Soul music of late has well, lost its soul. Sure, there is some talent out there. The NeYos of the world can dance, but would be lost without the new wonder known as AutoTune; Chris Brown has “allegedly” beat his girlfriend Rihanna; Justin Timberlake can sing and dance some but his connection with N’Sync will forever take away his soul card; Amy Winehouse is a great talent that will lose/has lost it all to crack; and R. Kelly spends too much time in handcuffs and at home making movies.
Continue reading ‘Otis Redding, Respect Live 1967 DVD’
By Hanna
There is a feeling among Morrissey fans that he is alienating them; there is a general disquiet, like the lights turned on in the theatre. Blog posts focus on how Morrissey’s face of arrogance is really showing behind the mask—well, more than usual, I mean.
Continue reading ‘Morrissey, Years Of Refusal‘