Recent ColumnsMonday, October 26 2009
Health Care in America has Gone to the DogsCompared to the modern-day American, their dogs have the best of everything: questionable intelligence (i.e., happiness), poor memories (i.e., forgiveness), and low expectations (i.e., contentment). (more Vox Pop) Friday, October 23 2009
The Name of This Land is Hell: Mexico in LiteratureWhen the author of a sitcom-styled novel about Mexican heritage cannot resist mentioning the modern-day carnage, then it's fair to assume that the murders have become a significant part of the national identity. (more Deconstruction Zone) Thursday, October 22 2009
The ‘Ol Crotchety One Kicks It Transatlantic StylePopMatters sends its weekly culture columnist abroad, with hopefully a one-way ticket. (more The Rockist)
Is there Virtue in Virtuosity?Two recent releases by leading saxophonists Chris Potter and James Carter raise the question of the utility—or the misuses—of virtuosity in jazz. (more Jazz Today) Wednesday, October 21 2009
Bluegrass Grows in BrooklynThe Five Deadly Venoms are leading the charge of a thriving bluegrass scene in Brooklyn. (more Global Beat Fusion) Tuesday, October 20 2009
Pete Kelly’s BluesJack Webb's glum radio series 'Pete Kelly's Blues' is a sigh of a tribute to the roaring '20s, a melancholic parade of blistering jazz and the pointlessness of its own nostalgia. (more Retro Remote) Monday, October 19 2009
Nobody Puts Twitter in a Curation CornerTwitter has fast become a land of curators. But where does curation go from here, and do we really want it to go there? (more Backslash) Friday, October 16 2009
Looking for the Lost: Memoirs of a Vanishing JapanWith its narrow streets and dark and hidden infoldings, there’s a distinctly feminine, mysterious, and inexplicably magnetic aspect to Japan that exists in few other places in the world. (more Read Only Memory) Thursday, October 15 2009
Sitting on the MountaintopDid Obama calm the rash of criticism regarding his inaction on gay rights with his recent speech to the Human Rights Campaign? (more Queer, Isn't It?) Wednesday, October 14 2009
Castle Walls of Blood and Bone: An Interview with ConvergeWith four landmark albums this decade alone, Converge has saved its best work for last. Vocalist Jacob Bannon talks with PopMatters about his music, his art, and his insanely talented band. (more Blood and Thunder) Tuesday, October 13 2009
Are Comics Like Reading with Training Wheels?Reading a comic requires multiple forms of literacy and levels of interpretation. Every movement from word to image and back again so as to create a coherent, narrative whole engages the reader’s brain in distinct ways. (more Worlds in Panels) Monday, October 12 2009
The MessengersK'naan's The Messengers series is a trilogy of episodes designed to highlight the genius of Nigeria's Fela Kuti, Jamaica's Bob Marley, and the United States' Bob Dylan. (more Busted Headphones) Friday, October 9 2009
Twitterpated: New Media, Old FrenziesThe latest craze in mini-blogging has been embraced by a variety of pro athletes to voice their opinions on everything from coaching advice to domestic violence. (more From the Cheap Seats)
Does Late Night TV Still Matter? Part 2Jimmy Fallon's Late Night will be a much more goofy, pop-culture centric, spontaneous affair than either his predecessors. (more The Rockist) Thursday, October 8 2009
New Kids on the Block: Hangin’ Tough, Refusing to Let GoIn 1989, I loathed the New Kids on the Block with a passion and intensity that only junior high-aged children can bring to their study of popular culture, yet when Hangin’ Tough Live hit DVD, I had to see it. (more Lowbrow Literati) Wednesday, October 7 2009
Rosanne Cash on Johnny Cash’s ListJohnny Cash was a serious scholar of music, and this knowledge was reflected in his own work, which included covers of everyone and everything from Jimmie Rodgers to Nine Inch Nails, oldtime hymns to reggae. (more Torch & Twang) Tuesday, October 6 2009
Tools for the Job: Asserting Femininity in Super MetroidSuper Metroid is unique in that it is the only game in the series that addresses something distinctly female about Samus besides her looks: motherhood. (more Moving Pixels) Monday, October 5 2009
Sharing: The New ImpositionTwitter is less about disseminating information than it is about subjects trying to make themselves feel more real, ontologically speaking, in a increasingly mediated world. (more Marginal Utility) Friday, October 2 2009
On the Sixth Day God Created Man…Chester: Part ThreeManchester's working class population showed the world that trade unions can resist authority. Such solidarity and class consciousness is heard in the arrogant sneers of the Stone Roses and Oasis. (more Alternative Rock Cultures) Thursday, October 1 2009
They Came From DetroitFrom Marshall Crenshaw looking spiffy in a powder gray suit with matching fedora to ... Carnival Cruise ship reggae? (more The Rockist) |
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