Category: Journal
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Spotify Wrapped and 15 Years of Listening
Down a bit from last year, mostly due to vinyl consumption. Apparently in my jazz era. Still a punk at heart, though. Also, as of today, Last.fm has been tracking music I’ve listened to on my computer and phone for fifteen years. Looking at the top artists, I’d say not necissarily the right order, but…
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Jim Henson: Idea Man, Ron Howard
Had the pleasure to see the Muppets in a wonderful exhibit in Grand Rapids last year and this film served as an excellent reminder of that inspirational day. In his own words: “Life’s like a movie, write your own ending. Keep believing, keep pretending.” I will likely always be more of a George Carlin or…
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Me and Rigby watching a Ghostbusters and Gremlins double-feature in honor of both movies coming out June 8, 1984.
Truly the day cinema peaked.
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20 Years Ago I Was At Coachella
So were the then recently-reunited Pixies, whom I interviewed. And Air, also interviewed. And Tommy Lee, whom I had a drink with in the VIP lounge. Which is where I also Mike Watt. And Fred Schneider. And Wayne Coyne, who would debut the Space Bubble the next evening. And Kraftwerk, who I managed to get…
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Amoeba Music, San Fransisco
Didn’t actually pick up any tapes, but did fill my bag with jazz records: Weather Report’s self-titled debut, The Jazz Experiments of Charles Mingus, Tomorrow Is the Question! The New Music of Ornette Coleman! and Alice Coltrane’s Journey in Satchidananda.
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Greetings from Detroit
So nice, I went and turned 21 twice. Spent the birthday with Adri in Detroit, getting prayer beads from Dabls, strolling thru Heidelberg, having drinks with DJ Ladylike at Spot Lite, and stopping by my favorite tiki spot Mutiny before getting grooves on at Boogie Fever. Pretty close to a perfect day.
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Pop (T)art(s)
From Wikipedia: “Introduced in 1964 and initially called Fruit Scones, the name was soon changed to Pop-Tarts as a pun on the then popular Pop Art movement.” (File under “things learned watching Jeopardy!)
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The Sears Wishbook
I had a lot of these toys so this is not me complaining, but one of my funniest Christmas memories is my stepmom handing me one of these and telling me to circle everything I wanted for Christmas. I went to town, greedily circling every item imaginable. That holiday morning, I believe I received exactly…
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Days Between
Since seeing Dead and Co. in Colorado last month, the Grateful Dead have been in heavy rotation since. Perfect summer music. Since we are now in what Dead Head’s call “The Days Between” (the days between Garcia‘s birthday and the date of his passing), if you’ve never listened, I think their run from ’70 to…
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Roger Ebert Passed 10 Years Ago Today.
Before the Internet, or at least any Internet I knew of, Siskel & Ebert was my best resource for what was coming out. By the time I hit the age where I wasn’t supposed to be seeing certain things but wanted to, those two were a gateway drug. Very few things sounded more interesting to…
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Walking, Productivity and Creativity
I have walked and jogged and ran quite a bit since the pandemic began some 87 years ago, but this summer I decided to step it up (unfortunate pun intended). 100,000 steps per week, every week, for twenty weeks. Two million steps. Sounded like a reasonable goal. I didn’t think about my Fitbit dying, being…
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Attainable Aspirations Inspired by Great Humans of the Past
A friend has been going through what they are confident can be defined as a “midlife crisis.” I too have been thinking about a lot of the “big picture” stuff the last year or two, and have been trying to get better at living life. I do a lot of reading, offline and on, and…
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The Dinner Parting
I haven’t spoken much about this the last two years, but I am pleased to announce that The Dinner Parting, a movie I produced and co-wrote with my longtime collaborator J.W. Andrew, will make its debut at the Cinequest Film Festival. It will start virtually April 1st, and there will be an event in-person this…
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The Bustle Booth
Since it’s my birthday and I haven’t really said hi in quite some time, I figured I would answer the same questions The Bustle plans to inflict on celebrities for eternity. What’s your coffee order?No. What are the saved weather locations on your phone?East Lansing, various other Michigan cities I frequent, the cities I have…
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Took a Statistical “Which Character” Personality Quiz
Apparently I am most like Lady Sybil Crawley from Downton Abby. I’ve never seen it, admittedly. Is this accurate? From a bio on a Wiki I found: Sybil was described by Mrs. Hughes as “the sweetest spirit under this roof.” Sweet tempered, caring, and politically ambitious, Sybil was liked by everyone, despite her differences in…
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Status Update
Wrote this for Kottke.org, but thought I’d share here, too. Jason, It is Day 16 of Michigan’s “Stay Home, Stay Safe” initiative. As long as I am productive, I think I am fine. I take my temperature and vitamins every day. I mostly eat the same things: fruit and/or vegetable smoothies for lunch, chicken and…