I love Brian Windhorst, but he needs to get his act together on this one. The NBA is mulling pulling the All-Star Game from Charlotte over the state’s reprehensible HB2 “bathroom law.” Good – this is as it should be. But the ESPN story cited here, penned by NBA reporter Brian Windhorst (whom I really really like), has a little problem.
Read moreToday we launch a new campaign aimed at taking back the future. The original text for this meme was a lot longer. But when you boil it down to its essence, the message is pretty straightforward. We have become so incredibly negative that it’s eroding our ability to even consider the positive. We’re so terrified of where we are that we have
Read moreWhen they first hit in 1997 with “MMMBop,” I remember Hanson being dismissed by my music intelligentsia friends as some kind of put-up job, a prefab kiddie novelty act. Thing is, it wasn’t true. At all. The brothers Hanson – Taylor, Isaac and Zac – were legit talented, their shiny, radio-friendly sound underpinned by a rich sense of Chicago R&B rhythm
Read moreI don’t care if you stuff your pockets until it looks like you’re smuggling carburetors. If you’re too macho to carry a bag, that’s your issue. I can imagine how the conversation would go. My father is still alive and it’s Thanksgiving. We’re having dinner at his place. I walk in, say hello to everyone, and he draws a bead on my latest purchase.
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Rich Flierl may be at the mercy of circumstances, but new CD makes clear his rage to grow and innovate. Let’s hope A Swan’s Song isn’t. Dotsun Moon was rolling in the wake of 2011’s outstanding 4am, but a couple years later singer Mary Ognibene departed the band, leaving songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Rich Flierl wondering what to do next. An extended search for a worthy
Read moreI have some advice for you: if you’re going to get sick, don’t feel the need to be innovative about it. Nothing good comes of winning at Stump the Doctor. No, come down with something run of the mill, something ho-hum, something boringly common. Or be rich. One or the other. Back in May I wrote about my evolving issues
Read moreIf Donald Trump really is running for president, he’s doing it all wrong. New poll this morning: In new poll, support for Trump has plunged, giving Clinton a double-digit lead Support for Donald Trump has plunged as he has alienated fellow Republicans and large majorities of voters overall in the course of a month of self-inflicted controversies, propelling Democrat Hillary
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By threatening club finances and limiting player movement, Brexit may inflict serious damage on the world’s best league… On the sports side of things, we have this headline this morning: Premier League refuses to speculate on effects of UK’s ‘Brexit’ from EU The world’s most prestigious football league might be unwilling to speculate, but I’m not. England’s vote to leave
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Hey boys – what should you be when you grow up? I know a lot of young men out there are trying to decide what to do with their lives. Fireman? Policeman? CEO? Doctor? Lawyer? Low-level marketing manager? Great ideas, all, but here in America it’s important to take your cues from our alpha arbiter of social possibility, network television. So,
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Artists don’t decide what their calling is. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. When I set out to become a photographer way back in 2012 I had an idea what I was going to be. I live in Colorado, you see, so I was going to shoot majestic western landscapes. You know, like every other photographer in the state. I
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I think we all have something we nerd-out over. One of my weaknesses is a capella. I grew up Southern Baptist and in some ways my entire musical aesthetic is driven by the sounds of my childhood: the choir, of course, and also gospel quartets. Every Sunday I’d get up and flip to WXII for the weekly quartet show before church. Modern a capella
Read moreOld men are signal. Young men are noise. When I was a young writer I swung for the fence with every syllable. I felt like any word that didn’t crush you with profound implications for eternity was a wasted opportunity. I resented articles. I didn’t understand white space, breathing room, the need for silence between beats, and I had little time
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lullaby pit 