Day 71: The Unmade Film – The Connie Francis Story

originally published March 11, 2012 So where the hell is the Connie Francis biopic? I’m going to skew this toward my younger readers (meaning under 50 – most of my audience is shockingly geriatric) who might not know who Connie Francis is. According to Joel Whitburn (the only true music chart historian you’ll ever need) […]

Day 70: Taking The Grand Tour – Uppercrust Or Bust

originally published March 10, 2012 I try to avoid too much repetition on this site. A couple days ago I took a meandering trip around northern New Zealand since, let’s face it, I’ll probably never do that in real life. So why am I travelling again today? Well, this ain’t your usual road trip. This […]

Day 69: Get Out Your Magic Sticks – The Hermetic Order Of The Golden Dawn

originally published March 9, 2012 So you’re looking for a new religion to follow, but the old standbys seem so last Thursday, and you can’t afford a sci-fi religion that requires monetary input to achieve higher awareness (I’m looking at you, Scientology). You want some magic and mysticism, but without a dreary back-story of sacrifice […]

Day 68: Pukepoto, Smellietown & A Trip Through Northern New Zealand

originally published March 8, 2012 Somewhere in the northern corner of New Zealand, things are a little screwy. I was set to dismiss this topic right away: geography stubs are generally as thrilling and inspirational as stubs about professional soccer players (and believe me, any human who has ever been paid so much as a […]

Day 67: The Imp Of The Perverse – From Poe To Freud To Cheap Drugs

originally published March 7, 2012 So you’re looking for an excuse for why your life is the way it is. You’ve made sketchy choices, unconscionable decisions, slept with partners of questionable ethics and species. That’s okay, you’re not alone. As with any E-Z diagnosis (especially one on the internet, especially-especially one from this site), you […]

Day 66: The Big Six On Sixty-Six (Which Falls On The Sixth)

originally published March 6, 2012 In honor of the big six-six (Ms. Wiki must be an avid reader of this site – and really, why wouldn’t she be?), today’s hammer has thwacked the anvil of the Big Six. The Big Six refers to a number of things. Hopefully one or two of these will have […]

Day 65: Decapitation & Destruction – Art Has A Bad Day

originally published March 5, 2012 Today we’ll be looking at what happens when art gets an unwanted makeover. The Wiki-spear of destiny impaled this gem of an article for me today: Decapitation of a Statue of Margaret Thatcher. Paul Kelleher wandered into the Guildhall Art Gallery in central London one sunny Wednesday in July of […]

Day 64: “Hail Capua!” – An Excerpt From My New Musical About 9th Century Italy

originally published March 4, 2012 The scene: the Bridge of Teodemondo, over the Volturno River. The year: 859. The cast: Lando I, the Count of Capua; Lando II, his eldest son, general of the Capuan army; Peter, the youngest son of Lando I. They are waiting in a tower overlooking the bridge, where a battle […]

Day 63: So You’ve Decided To Become A Hip-Hop Fan – A Helpful Brochure

originally published March 3, 2012 Congratulations! You have just taken the first step on a long and exciting road to street credibility (or “street cred”, as the kids say). Let me “rap” at you for a minute about what you can expect. Hip hop is not like it was in the olden times (the 1980s). […]

Day 62: M-Day, Or When The X-Men Universe Got To Be Too Much Maintenance

originally published March 2, 2012 I feel I need to preface today’s article with a disclaimer. I was never a big X-Men reader. I’ve seen a few of the movies, and I’ve read a handful of the comics, but I was always more of an Archie fan when I was a kid. The X-Men are […]