occasionally creative
July 18, 2014 2 Comments
My latest streaming TV binge: Chuck, the 2007-2012 show starring Jim-from-The-Office lookalike Zachary Levi as an underachieving computer technician in a big box electronics store who gets the CIA master database loaded into his brain.
That’s not a spoiler; it’s the series concept. Plus the show ended two and a half years ago. Spoilers are below, however.
July 2, 2014 3 Comments
Rummaging through my basement and garage recently, I uncovered two relics of the 1990s. One predicts the 23rd century while the other documents the turn of the 18th and 19th.
Illustration by the 20th century.
June 16, 2014 Leave a Comment
Part 6 of 12 Albums That Stuck With Me
When reviewing Fiona Apple’s third album, Extraordinary Machine, I said that When the Pawn had “made me feel like all my ex-girlfriends ever were yelling at me all at once. Moreover, it made me feel like I deserved it.”
I stand by that assessment from … cripes, nine years ago?
Okay, break for feeling old. Now, onto reviewing this album from a 22-year-old following her multi-platinum debut.
May 12, 2014 Leave a Comment
Part 5 of 12 Albums That Stuck With Me
Warning: turn down your speakers the first time you listen to this album. It begins with a loud cymbal crash, followed by four bars of nothing but drum. Piano and guitar join in from there, soon enhanced by strings from the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra.
Piano and strings are hardly unheard of on rock albums, but Punches makes particularly adept use of them. It also manages to incorporate the lead singer’s frequent strong exhalations effectively and is the only winner ever of the jaQ Andrews Best Use of Sleigh Bells to Unify an Album Award. (The cash prize has already been donated to charity.)
