Pop songs are just like pop singers. If they want to become really, really big, they have to be prepared to take a lot of abuse. A song which becomes popular has to deal with critics who find it shallow, derivative, and overly simple (which some critics feel are basic requirements for even beingContinue reading “Who Needs Lyrics?”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Cell Blog
The Interwebs, when it is not shooting me news stories it knows will upset me enough to open them, has been tossing seasonal trivia my way: what you don’t know about Thanksgiving turkeys, what you don’t know about Christmas trees, what you don’t know about A Christmas Carol. They are apparently unaware that IContinue reading “Cell Blog”
Stand and Deliver
I try, Heaven knows, to run a lighthearted blog, which tries to avoid current issues and the dark side of life. (Okay, we just had a blog where the hero considers a corpse. Yes, we did discuss profanity a few columns ago. If you’re not going to work with me on this, you’ll getContinue reading “Stand and Deliver”
Carol of the Yells
I admit that, despite my omnipresence on the Interwebs, that I am not in the mainstream of pop culture. I am kept so busy producing brilliant work that I have o time to attend to the alerts on radio, TV, and social media. So I do not know yet what this year’s big controversyContinue reading “Carol of the Yells”
Hey, Good-Lookin’
One of the saddest, funniest book donations I received, and due to the nature of the donor, I received it more than once, as she donated things in small, easy installments, was a collection of books on the subject of, um, how to win friends and influence people. Nah, let’s put it right outContinue reading “Hey, Good-Lookin’”
Murgatroyd
Oh, never mind why our conversation turned lightly to Gadzookie, the nephew, cousin, or son of Godzilla in cartoons of my younger days. (And no, we will not be considering what this means to the world that Godzilla must, therefore. have had siblings, uncles, or a wife. Other people have already discussed these things. Continue reading “Murgatroyd”
Figure It Out Yourself
Sigmund Spaeth, best known for what people regard as a misguided attempt to teach children instrumental classics by setting lyrics to them, wrote a LOT about music. One of his wisest observations was about how audiences react to performance of a medley. It is true, as he states, that whenever a new song startsContinue reading “Figure It Out Yourself”
Number Please
A man named Charles Williams, Jr. had the honor of having the first phone number in the United States. (It was 1, of course. Mr. Williams produced telephone equipment for Alexander Graham Bell, so he played guinea pig. (He also, by the way, had the second phone number—2–for his shop.) You can read theContinue reading “Number Please”
Looking Before
Last time, we observed the existence of Thanksgiving postcards, and noted that most people do not send such greetings nowadays, partly because there’s so much going on at the end of the year (one reason the Farmer’s Almanac keeps promoting a “rational” relocation of Thanksgiving to the first Monday in October) and partly becauseContinue reading “Looking Before”
November
I did not get around to my annual column on the non-Halloween cards one could repurpose to LOOK like Halloween cards, since real vintage Halloween cards are so pricey and I have none in my inventory anyhow. I was very busy reading this new witchcraft bestseller: 101 Transformation Books To Read Before You Croak.Continue reading “November”
Blogsy Babbles 