[contextly_auto_sidebar] WELL, one of the worst years in recorded history is over. Every morning, as my consciousness returns, I am reminded that Leonard Cohen, Bowie, George Martin, and my dad are dead and that a nasty, incurious bully is on the verge of becoming president. My employer, Salon, has posted a piece with a mix of happy and sad songs with which to end this year and enter the … [Read more...]
Archives for December 2016
On Stage with the Marx Bros
[contextly_auto_sidebar]ONE of the glories of American culture is the cinematic ensemble known as the Marx Brothers. But before Chico, Zeppo, Harpo, and Groucho became anarchic movie stars in film like "A Day at the Races" and "Duck Soup," they were an anarchic vaudeville troupe that traveled the nation. And they performed and socialized with my grandfather, a Tin Pan Alley songwriter, and his … [Read more...]
Octavia Butler’s Los Angeles
[contextly_auto_sidebar] THE posthumous rise of the science-fiction writer Octavia Butler, who died in 2006 and spent most of her life in and around Pasadena, CA, has been fascinating to watch. I've been interested in Butler since I moved out here and began to hear of her work, in the late '90s, and love one of her story collections. But I don't know her life of output in great detail. So … [Read more...]