Movies Greed and glitter: a journey through 1980s cinema, in 25 films. [Part V] 14 Feb 201714 Feb 2017 This is the fifth and final installment in my blog series, which began several months ago, analyzing the unique cinematic style of the 1980s. The '80s get a bad rap,…
Spotlight… Saga of the week: the epic TV miniseries of the 1980s. 15 Jan 201720 Jun 2017 Way back in November 2015 I wrote this article about one of the great television innovations of the 1970s, the epic miniseries. Beginning in 1974 with QB VII and Canada's The National…
Sports The “Curse” broken: my own dubious history with the Chicago Cubs. 3 Nov 20163 Nov 2016 Last night (November 2, 2016), the Chicago Cubs won the World Series in game 7 against the professional baseball team from Cleveland. As you probably know if you follow baseball--or…
Climate Change… One speech can change the world: James Hansen’s warning on climate change. 23 Jun 201623 Jun 2016 Twenty-eight years ago today, on June 23, 1988, a man sat at a table in front of a microphone in a very ordinary hearing room at the Capitol in Washington,…
Podcasts… Episode 3 of “The Valley of Forever” podcast, “The Tornado of 4:21,” has arrived! 24 Mar 201624 Mar 2016 My podcast The Valley of Forever has started to gain some popularity, and for anyone just tuning into the series there's a new episode--number three, titled "The Tornado of 4:21." Indeed,…
Heavy Metal… Metal for Friday: Sacred Reich “Surf Nicaragua” [live video]. 16 Oct 201516 Oct 2015 Sacred Reich was one of the earliest thrash bands I ever got into. Coming out of Arizona in 1985, the band was on the cutting edge of speed and thrash,…
Spotlight… It’s Tommy Westphall’s world: The famous snow-globe ending of “St. Elsewhere.” 3 Jun 20157 Jan 2017 https://youtu.be/SsUrfiycSts A few weeks ago I did an article about the series finale of my now-favorite television series, Mad Men. If you've seen the ending you know it closed with a…
Heavy Metal… Metal for Friday: Helloween “March of Time” [live video]. 27 Mar 201527 Mar 2015 Helloween are arguably the most important originators of European power metal, which is probably my favorite variety of metal. Their finest album is arguably 1988's Keeper of the Seven Keys, Part…
Heavy Metal… Top Twenty Albums of 1988 22 Mar 201522 Mar 2015 I've never reblogged Play It Loud before, but this article caught my eye this morning and I had to share it. This blog specializes in heavy metal album reviews from…
History Biggest Losers: Michael Dukakis and the election of 1988. 13 Mar 201515 Mar 2015 Welcome to entry number seven in my series about the biggest electoral losers of American history. For previous installments, I invite you to lament over the sad fate of Horace…
Movies… The conservative progressivism of “Working Girl”: An ’80s feminist fairy tale. 3 Mar 201514 May 2015 A couple of weeks ago when I did an article about Bernardo Bertolucci's Last Tango in Paris, it occurred to me how strange it was that movies were generally much more…
Audio Sounds of my past, Part II: Enjoy my mix tape from 1988! 8 Dec 20148 Dec 2014 Not long ago I did a post where I brought you one of the old mix tapes, dating from the 80s, that I found in my closet recently. Although I…
Heavy Metal… Metal for Friday: Helloween, “Eagle Fly Free” [live video]. 31 Oct 201430 Oct 2014 Today is October 31. It's a Friday. A weekly feature called "Metal for Friday" is a staple on this blog. What, did you think I wasn't going to pick a Helloween…
History “Scenario fulfillment”: the tragedy of Iran Air Flight 655. 3 Jul 20143 Jul 2014 Twenty-six years ago today, on July 3, 1988, a tragic incident occurred in the skies over the Strait of Hormuz, which separates Iran from various Arab states on the other…
Heavy Metal… Metal for Friday: Iron Maiden “The Evil That Men Do.” [video] 13 Jun 201413 Jun 2014 This song happened to come on my iPod while I was in the library yesterday, and was playing when I found a very interesting letter written by Thomas Jefferson relating…
