What do Rammstein, The Dixie Chicks, Rick Springfield, The Beatles, U2, Uriah Heep, Toots & the Maytals, Talk Talk, Shiny Toy Guns, Primus, APC, the band that eventually turned into (shudder) Maroon 5, and a bunch of other bands, many of which you never heard of (445 in all) have in common?
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As I’ve noted before, I grew up working class in the South. My neighborhood, my school, my family and friends, it all oscillated between “redneck” and “white trash,” and yes, there’s a difference. I wrote not long ago about the challenges facing those of us trying to climb the socio-economic ladder when nothing in our upbringing had taught us which fork
Read moreThe truth is that I have never really cared for most of the American poetry canon. Yes, there are exceptions. If you count TS Eliot as an American (and since he was born in St. Louis, you kind of have to), then he was my favorite (although, since he abandoned the US and went to Europe, I also wound up
Read moreIt’s way too early in the year to be talking best of, especially since we’re anticipating 2013 releases from some of our favorite artists (like Jeffrey Dean Foster, for instance, and The Lost Patrol, to name another). But there is some new tuneage out already that we’re digging on. So for your ArtsWeek SVR, have a listen. Up first, Bear
Read moreA question arose in a comment thread on an earlier post. To wit: I love reading, and Kindle is cool, but books are expensive. (Okay, that’s really more of a statement than a question. You get my point.) It’s true. Now granted, the average e-book is a lot cheaper than even a paperback, but still, if you read a lot you
Read moreYou’ve probably heard the old challenge: You’re stranded on a desert island and you can only have X albums to listen to for the rest of your life. What would you choose? I’ve probably heard this one a hundred times and have thought about it informally for maybe 30 years. But I’ve never actually sat down and tried to tackle
Read moreOur sister site, the 5280 Lens Mafia photoblog, launched not long back, and we continue to produce some very nice work. I thought I’d take a few moments to share some recent shots from the team, which I think you’ll enjoy. Let’s get the show off to a seasonal start with this from Greg Thow (who has featured here at
Read moreNot long ago a good friend asked me if I’d take a look at this novel he was working on. He felt it was one of the best things he’d written, but was getting no bites from publishers. He was committed to making it work, and he wondered if I had ideas about what might be missing. So I read
Read moreIn my current S&R Honors tribute to William Gibson I say that I think he’s the most important author of the past 30 years, and I acknowledge that this is certainly something of a mouthful. I’ve been gratified by the comments, both here and over at io9, where the post was linked by Charlie Jane Anders. It’s great to make
Read moreNot long ago I mentioned the launch of S&R’s sister site, 5280 Lens Mafia. 5280LM features a number of current and former S&R folks (writers, guest contributors, commenters, loyal readers) and the truth is that the project is off to a start I could barely have imagined. So if you missed it, I’d like to invite you to investigate some
Read moreCan’t make up my mind. Black and white…
Read moreMy parents split when I was three years old and I was sent to live with my paternal grandparents. My father was around – he lived a couple blocks away as I was growing up – but I didn’t see him much. In essence, my grandfather, Samuel Linville Smith, was my father. I will ever be grateful for the courage
Read moreThe uncanny valley is a hypothesis in the field of robotic and 3D computer animation, which holds that when human replicas look and act almost, but not perfectly, like actual human beings, it causes a response of revulsion among human observers. The “valley” in question is a dip in a proposed graph of the positivity of human reaction as a
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lullaby pit 