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Choose and Defend: Sweet or Savory?
Good and evil, black and white, Fox News and news. Our world is filled with opposites, and that’s a wonderful thing. We don’t have to be so polarized about every little thing. The 18th century poet William Cowper wrote that “variety is the very spice of life, that gives it all its flavor,” and the…
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Throw Beck Thursday: Dressing Like a Clown Doesn’t Make You a Gangster
The FBI says you’re looking at gang members. I say that’s insane clown talk. —- First things first: I don’t know the two guys in the photo at the top of this article. I found their photo on Flickr. They look like they’re having a good time, don’t they? They appear to be at Wizard…
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On Diffuser: 30 Years Ago – R.E.M Release ‘Fables of the Reconstruction’
R.E.M.’s pre-Warners albums remain among my favorite records of all time. There were some great songs during the Warner years, but those I.R.S. records are part of my DNA.
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Deep Cuts: Songs For the End
This is the end, my only friend. That’s what the end of those first relationships feels like. Who am I kidding? That’s how the end of any relationship feels: friendships, romances, death. Endings are terribly painful. Or maybe it’s just me. Maybe I’m just not built for endings. I’ve never understood how a person can…
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On Diffuser: 45 Years Ago — Bob Dylan Releases ‘Self Portrait’
Back in my record store days, this album always fascinated me. It wasn’t the music but rather the cover: How in the world did such a bad painting come to grace the sleeve of an album? I’m a bit older now, though not any wiser. The album has grown on me over the years, but…
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220. I’m Too Full To Swallow My Pride
Saturday morning. Jody grabbed her notebook, and I drove her to acting class. She looked so pretty; she always looked so pretty.
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From the Stacks: Bruce Springsteen – Misunderstood
Another “From the Stacks,” another bootleg. Here we have a pair of Springsteen shows separated by 20 years, compiled on a 1996 Italian boot named Misunderstood.
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On Diffuser: We’re Drowning in Nostalgia (and It’s Partly My Fault)
I own a lot of box sets — a lot — but an 80-disc Grateful Dead box? No thanks.
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On Esquire’s ‘The Mix’: I Have Nothing In Common With My Child
Do you have kids? Have you tried to share with them something you’re really into only to get the blank stare?
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Choose and Defend: Ice Cold or Flaming Hot?
Summer is almost here. Whether that’s good or bad is a personal decision: Some of us love sun and fun, others cower in the safety of our air-conditioned homes. As the late 20th century philosopher Robert Palmer once said, “Some feel the heat and decide that they can’t go on.” Glenn Frey and Don Henley,…
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