Rush’s decision to license “Working Man” to a company that has declared war on American workers is one of the biggest betrayals of trust in Rock history. Yesterday I offered up a brief post wondering what the folks at Walmart were thinking when they chose to use Rush’s iconic “Working Man” as the soundtrack for their ad on investing more
Read moreAmerican businesses are anti-intellectual. American universities are anti-relevance. The gods help the overeducated schmuck stuck in the middle. Hi. I’m Sam, and I’m a PhD. Hi Sam! For those of you who don’t know me, I have a doctorate. Communication, University of Colorado, 1999. Some days it’s the thing I have done in life that I’m most proud of. Other
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Walmart advertising execs need a lesson in geography. And maybe irony. Have you seen the new Walmart commercial? Pay attention at around the 50 second mark.
Read moreI was never great at love poems, but these two are probably my best. Gravity: Summer Solstice, 1992 – for Mary Go tell it to the sea, how he should let go his moonstruck, his shameless high tides – climbing each day, each night kissing at her cloudless indifference.
Read moreLeBron James is certain that he’s going to be on basketball’s hypothetical Mt. Rushmore someday. Who’s there now – Jordan, Bird, Magic, and who else? King James wants to see his face carved in granite. Hard to blame him for being confident. “I’m going to be one of the top four that’s ever played this game, for sure,” LeBron James
Read moreA few days ago I offered up volume one of stuff that should have been in my best CDs of 2013 note, but wasn’t. So now we arriveth at volume the second, whereupon I apologize to Adam Marsland. Adam has been one of my absolute favorites for a long time. I’m a sucker for the sub-genre we call Power Pop,
Read moreMichael Sam has made it easier for current gay players in the NFL. Will they do the same for him? By now you’ve probably heard that Missouri defensive lineman Michael Sam has publicly announced that he’s gay. A projected third-round pick in the upcoming NFL draft, this decision will (unless all 32 teams simply decide that they’re going to be
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It’s one thing to have “sports” with subjective judging when there’s no choice. But it’s unforgivable to introduce “artistic impression” and “style points” into sports that don’t need it. Imagine a world where the folks that brought you the Olympic Winter Games also created the Summer Games competitions. Brent Musberger: And there’s the gun! Usain Bolt is out of the
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Alexander Putin may not be preparing to invade Europe, but he understands the value of spectacle in establishing a nation’s place in the world. The Winter Olympics opening ceremonies in Sochi may have been the grandest show in history. It may also have been the grandest propaganda spectacle in history. It’s easy to get caught up in an artistic endeavor
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Happens every damned year. It gets to be December and you formulate an idea in your head about the best music of the twelvemonth (I always wanted to use that word in a post). Up through 2012 this resulted in a fairly detailed and often multi-part review of the year’s best CDs. As I noted a few weeks ago, though,
Read moreThe brain updates memories to make them more relevant and useful. It isn’t trying to accurately remember what happened. So, what do you remember that’s wrong? Science has long known that human memory is far less reliable than most people imagine. For fun, Google [memory not reliable] and when you get a few spare minutes work your way through the
Read moreIt’s easy to see how the mid-1980s Roots revival could have shaped Nashville into something completely different than the wasteland it is today. Not long ago I was lamenting the embarrassing state of Country & Western music, and if you track down through the comments of that post you’ll see a couple folks, including our boy Otherwise, recommending that I
Read moreToday the football team from my new home plays the team from my old home for the big trophy. In honor of the occasion, I offer one of my favorite Denver photos and one of my favorite Seattle photos. First, Spar, taken at Regis University in the 5280 last April.
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