Ned Beatty Interview

In May 2001 I interviewed Ned Beatty - "Visiting Film-Pimp" at the 28th Athens (OH) International Film Festival. Ned passed away a few days ago. This interview, originally published in the Athens News, was read by many hundreds of or perhaps a few thousand people. Buried on one of my crusty, dusty websites for decades, … Continue reading Ned Beatty Interview

Kids COVID Coin Curriculum?

Or: How I learned about EVERYTHING from a coin. Who likes to collect money? I do! But I’m talking about weird money. If you travel abroad, it’s not strange to see different sorts of money, but 35+ years ago when I first stumbled across a coin bearing non-Latin characters, it seemed a magical treasure. A … Continue reading Kids COVID Coin Curriculum?

Me Writing About Me Writing About Me Writing

Or: I used to write a weekly column. Big piece about coins and COVID in the works, kids, but it's been stuck at the 88% done mark for a few weeks. Maybe this'll help to break the blog content logjam? (It did!) Well, I actually have drafts of several mundane blog posts gathering digital dust, … Continue reading Me Writing About Me Writing About Me Writing

James Mercer and the Shopping Mall

An abandoned mall.

Perhaps influenced by Jonathan Richman, James Mercer frequently used the mall as lyrical metaphor. Well, at least for a few productive years he did. Before that, the mall was more mall than metaphor. ...At some point, Mercer and the mall had a falling out. The Early Mall Period: The Mall as Friend Know Your Onion … Continue reading James Mercer and the Shopping Mall

Review of Zombarella’s House of Whorrors

This is a film review. I promise. But when hack-writer prima donnas edit ourselves, we get to scribble a few unnecessary intro paragraphs for literary effect. If you want to skip the setup and get to the fake beef, click this to go to the meat of the review, slacker. But don't blame me when … Continue reading Review of Zombarella’s House of Whorrors

WWII, Australia, Paintings, Families, Rocks

I found this story under a rock a while ago. (figuratively speaking) ...Which is fitting, because it's a tale of things hidden under a rock. (figuratively speaking) It starts on a farm My Granddaddy John grew up on a farm in Virginia.  It was a big farm.  It is possible that his family owned slaves … Continue reading WWII, Australia, Paintings, Families, Rocks

#DumpDrumpf

Here's the thing. The Drumpf movement is just making fun of somebody's name that changed when they immigrated to the United States. I have many friends with "weird" names, or whose Americanized/Anglicized names aren't the names their ancestors had a few generations ago. Should we make fun of their names? Are they worth less because … Continue reading #DumpDrumpf

Inadvertent Lessons from Safety Town

Under a Blanket of Sleep My earliest memories fluttered archetypal dreamscapes of unknowable shapes and otherworldly sounds. I remember not understanding the recurring dream, confusion which no doubt rooted the subtle cerement of fear shrouding this fascinating fancy. That I lacked adequate language to describe it frustrated me more than my inability to understand it. No, … Continue reading Inadvertent Lessons from Safety Town