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Reiner
Before I was an MTV kid, I was a Nickelodeon kid. And like Cartoon Network turns into Adult Swim like a Pumpkin, Nick would become Nick at Nite. I loved Lucy, but I loved Archie Bunker. I knew he was always wrong. But I also new Meathead wasn’t always right. Years before Maron would argue…
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Eat, Pray, Pay
Trader Joe’s: Look, I am not oblivious to the criticism. Are there any updates? Have they gotten better? Googling “Are Trader Joe’s still shitbags?” didn’t yield a lot in the way of results. Even worse, I’ve been carrying around my faux-LL Bean bag everywhere and apparently that’s like, a thing in London? Am I an…
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Procured Art (Last Year)
Currently in the process of rearranging the house, art included, and forgot that I never mentioned some screen prints purchased at last year’s East Lansing Art Festival. As Vice Chair of the Downtown Development Authority, I had the honor—alongside the Chair of the East Lansing Arts Commission—of purchasing four pieces from that year’s People’s Choice…
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RetroDuck Presents: ’80s Night
RetroDuck presented an ’80s block party in downtown East Lansing last night. About 400-500 people danced to their favorite cover band, Pinball Pete’s brought some machines out into the streets and we handed out a couple hundred free shirts. Already thinking about next year’s event.
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Today’s Mail
A postcard and bumper sticker from Dr. Brian J. Bowe. Update: Also got this book from my old friend Jason. Looking forward to (finally!) reading.
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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…