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Friday On My Mind
Written by Vanda & Young and performed brilliantly by their band The Easybeats, there’s something about Bowie’s version from his Pinups album that has creeps into my mind at the end of many work weeks. I’ll change that scene one day. Monday morning feels so badEverybody seems to nag meComing Tuesday I feel… Read more
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The Call of the Wild
Jack London is a writer best known for his stories of sled dogs during the Klondike Gold Rush. He writes with a unique and forcerful voice; so what if it’s a dog’s? One of the great sins in the theology of modern literary criticism, right up there with sentimentality, is anthropomorphism. I kind of like… Read more
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Dublin and New Orleans
This world is crowded with beauty that is scattered across its surface in uneven proportions, from mountaintops to deserts, from coral reefs to savannahs to jungles dripping with color, light, and life. The most beautiful place to me is my home: New York City, and I’m drawn to cities all over the globe. Two of… Read more
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James Joyce and Poetry
Joyce called literature “the highest and most spiritual art.” For me, music has always held that spot but if anyone can make a case for words over music, it is James Joyce. In this excerpt from his debut novel the protagonist is agonizing over the confusing and painful experience of seeing the woman he loves… Read more
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Happy Birthday Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, born on this day 178 years ago, was the first Russian composer whose music became popular around the world. His three ballets – The Nutcracker, Swan Lake, and The Sleeping Beauty – are all classics, still performed today. Tchaikovsky’s homosexuality is still denied by the government of his famously homophobic homeland. At… Read more
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Woman with a phone
Buster Keaton I went to the post office yesterday and got in line behind a man trying to mail a box that was a little too large to fit through the opening in the security window. He wasn’t happy about the situation and quickly resorted to shouting “fuck you” and threatening to beat the shit… Read more
Words & Music 