OVER the last year or two, I've given myself a crash course on social criticism -- wonderfully grim and eloquent books by Bell, Ehrenreich, both Packers (Vance and George) and various "mass culture" theorists of the '50s. I hope to get into some of them over the next few months.One of the best of them is Christopher Hayes' Twilight of the Elites: American After the Meritocracy. I'm often stirred … [Read more...]
Archives for August 2013
Willie Nelson at the Hollywood Bowl
SOME years, concerts at the Hollywood Bowl become the highlight of the summer. I know I'll miss a lot of things about Los Angeles whenever we end up departing, but these night with the sun setting and the scent of eucalyptus from the canyon will be very near the top of the list. This year, we've only been twice so far. We saw the fireworks on the 4th of July, a show at which I learned that Josh … [Read more...]
The Runaways: Queens of Noise
THESE days I am digging Queens of Noise, the new book by Evelyn McDonnell, onetime Village Voice rock critic now settled in Los Angeles. The book, subtitled The Real Story of the Runaways, looks at the ‘70s LA punk/hard-rock band best remembered, probably, for a teenaged Joan Jett, the song "Cherry Bomb," and some pretty amazing feathered hair.I’ve admired McDonnell’s work for two decades now, and … [Read more...]