MORE proof that my taste hasn't changed much since i was 20 is tomorrow's LAT piece on miles davis's "kind of blue" record, which marks its 50th this august. (miles himself would celebrate his 83rd birthday on may 25 had he not died in 1991. i still remember that dark day and going to dc's cafe lautrec to see a trio knock out some miles classics that eve.)HERE is my piece. i spoke to jazz critic … [Read more...]
Archives for 2009
The Wonderful Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin
ONE of the greatest thrills of my professional life was the chance to interview the novelist ursula le guin last summer at her home in portland. HERE is my piece, which runs sunday in the LAT.le guin is one of the few writers from my childhood -- 5th or 6th grade i think, for the "earthsea" books -- who gives me the same pleasure, if in a different key, as an adult.in person, i found her -- at … [Read more...]
Reservoir Restaurant in Silver Lake
FIRST of all, let me say how pissed i am that LA Mill cafe and The Park in Echo Park are no longer BYOB. because they are applying for permits right now, you can neither order a drink nor bring your own beer or wine in. the worst of both worlds!!it's for this reason that my wife and i ended up at RESERVOIR, a new place, natch, near the silver lake reservoir, across the street from club spaceland … [Read more...]
The Return of Bret Easton Ellis
NEW yorker scribe dana goodyear turned out an engaging "talk of the town" piece on brat pack novelist bret easton ellis and the new film made of his story collection "the informers."i've had several encounters with the "less than zero" author over the years, and HERE is one of the latimes pieces i'm proudest of. the piece looks at his early breakout, the backlash against "american psycho," the … [Read more...]
The Visions of Robert Silverberg
THE term "literary science-fiction writer" is nearly as awkward as renaming comic books "graphic novels." but for some figures it's important to understanding, as it is in the case of robert silverberg, author of "nightwings," "the book of skulls," the valentine series of fantasy novels and the darker-than-dark philip-roth-gone-telepath novel from the early '70s, "dying inside."i had the great … [Read more...]
National Record Store Day
TODAY is, they tell me, national record store day... it's hard not to be both excited and sadly nostalgic. i've been haunting record stores in every city and town i've ever lived in -- severna park maryland; middletown, ct; brighton, england; baltimore; chapel hill; new london/mystic, ct; LA -- and almost every place i've visited. okay, i'm a junkie.i loved newberry comics in boston, waterloo in … [Read more...]
Birth of a Wine Shop
ANYONE interested in wine, or how a small business gets off the ground, should check out this series of youtube videos about the birth of colorado wine company -- conceived as the dream of a restless young couple in brooklyn who left everything they had in new york to drive to eagle rock, LA, to build it from the ground up.HERE is the first of the four little segments of the show "radical … [Read more...]
Seamus Heaney on Recession and Heroism
MONDAY marked seamus heaney's 70th birthday. i know this blog is in danger of drowning in a sea of green -- between morrissey and john lennon, both of irish descent, oscar wilde's poll position, and st. patrick's day, i am flying the celtic flag high.but let me discuss the nobel-winning irishman for a second. i am sympathetic to the argument that heaney ceased being a great poet when he became, in … [Read more...]
The Legacy of Morrissey
THIS year's coachella festival is filled with all kinds of major historical figures -- not just paul mccartney but leonard cohen, the jam's paul weller and shoegaze pioneers my bloody valentine (who i had the ear-blasting pleasure to see play last fall in santa monica). one of the most influential is morrissey, the former smiths leader whose solo career finally started getting interesting a few … [Read more...]
The End, and Beginning, for Esa-Pekka Salonen
SATURDAY night i took in one of the farewell concerts by esa-pekka salonen leading the los angeles philharmonic. of all the reigning arts heads from when i arrived here a dozen years ago, i'd bet that salonen is the only one still in place. some institutions -- and this includes hollywood studios as well -- have turned over leadership several times in that period.this was about as strong a … [Read more...]