Day 91: Alba Lovin’ You Longa Time

originally published March 31, 2012 The scenic little vista pictured above is a little town in central Italy called Castel Gandolfo, tucked up against Lake Albano. At one time it was an important cog in pre-Roman-Empire society. Located just twelve miles southeast of Rome, the ancient city of Alba Longa was the founder and head […]

Day 90: Today Will Be Our Day To Write About Independence Day

originally published March 30, 2012 In 1994 director Roland Emmerich and producer Dean Devlin were in Europe promoting Stargate, the movie that would eventually launch MacGyver back onto television screens. A reporter asked Emmerich why he directed an alien movie if he didn’t really believe in aliens. Emmerich replied that he was actually intrigued by […]

Day 89: My Rum Runneth Over – The Unsung Heroics of Bill McCoy

originally published March 29, 2012 Thanks to two friends who have abandoned the notion of a dining room table in exchange for a home-made tiki bar, I have learned a lot about rum recently. For example, I learned that, when consumed in significant quantities and mixed with a veritable reef of colorful flavors, rum can […]

Day 88: The Sound Of Drek – We Built This City

originally published March 28, 2012 Every so often, I feel like punishing myself. Maybe I’ve had it too easy. I’ve written 87 articles now, totaling over 95,000 words. But have I really pushed myself? As an artist, have I really suffered? Today’s topic is “We Built This City” by Starship. Today I suffer, because this […]

Day 87: Guidance Counselor Diaries: Traffic Psychology

originally published March 27, 2012 Hello there. And you are…? Ah yes, Oswaldo Bodfish. Thank you for coming to see me today. I know, I know, a trip to your high school guidance counselor isn’t exactly as much fun as “playing the pinballs” or “rockin’ out to Queensryche”, like I know you kids love to […]

Day 86: The Legend Of The Haunted Painting

originally published March 26, 2012 Bill Stoneham was just an artist. Just an artist trying to make a living in the early 1970s in Los Angeles, painting mostly surrealist stuff he’d hoped people might want to hang on their walls. He didn’t invite evil spirits into his work, but they did him a fair bit […]

Day 85: A Post St. Patrick’s Day Drunken Crime Spree

originally published March 25, 2012 It’s Sunday morning. St. Patrick’s Day was just over a week ago. You got drunk, sure, maybe to the point where you vomited, maybe even upon someone’s lap. But you didn’t really take advantage of the spirit of the holiday. You didn’t get arrested. You didn’t really commit an affray. […]

Day 84: Wikipedia Pulls The Magic Castle Out Of Her Hat

originally published March 24, 2012 Once again I find myself thrust into travel mode by my lovely Wikipedian ticket agent, and once again she has directed me to sunny Los Angeles. Maybe it’s the three inches of snow nature dumped upon us yesterday, but I’m downright giggly at the thought of heading here again. On […]

Day 83: The Rise And Fall And Rise Of The Moog

originally published March 23, 2012 Today, in a roundabout way, we will be discussing the man who invented the 1980s. The 80s were the decade of synthesizers. The handful of pop songs which allowed clanging guitars to step out front were eclipsed by a deluge of synthesized modernity, providing an identifiable date-stamp on the sound […]

Day 82: Karma Meets Simon Dee

originally published March 22, 2012 “My name would then be Handsome Jack And I’d sell boats of opium Whiskey that came from Twickenham Authentic queers and phony virgins.” These are the lyrics to a minor hit from 1966 by Scott Walker, written by Jacques Brel. They don’t seem like much, but ultimately they played a […]