Week one The game: Patriots at Bengals The beer: Ipswich Steam Punk Lager The result: Win, 16–10 The record: 1–0 The headline: “Repetition… fearful living.” – Unwound, “Unauthorized Biography” The commentary: I mean, what took me so long? “Journal entry number twenty”—it turns out Unwound could have kicked this whole beer-and-football thing off XIV years […]
Replicating success: “Where do you see yourself in ten years?” The beer: Harpoon Celtic Red Ale The headline: “Can you picture what will be?” – Doors, “The End” The commentary: (Continued.) Captain Beefheart’s “Bills Corpse” is a missed opportunity, sure, but Trout Mask Replica and its collection of bush recordings get plenty of love in […]
Resurrecting, for some reason, an effort to chronicle every book I’ve read since The Lord of the Rings in the spring of 2017. This serves as an extension of my participation in what I labeled the Old Lady Book Club. Volume 1 (2017) | Volume 2 (2018) | Volume 3 (2019) | Volume 4 (2020) | Volume 5 (2021) | Volume 6 (2022) | “Selected readings from the Old Lady Book Club” Critical […]
The game: Jets at Patriots The beer: Great Marsh Classic Milk Stout The result: Loss, 17–3 The method: NFL+ The record: 4–13 The headline: “It couldn’t adapt so it couldn’t survive.” – Adverts, “Great British Mistake” The commentary: “Fire Belichick.” It’s been a WordPress tag since October 2021—that writer is pissed—and a sentiment for longer, […]
First of all it would read, not say. Come on. Years ago I was browsing stock imagery and stumbled across one of what appeared to be a family of tennis players. This photo is two kinds of gonzo—it’s so specific and staged and weird, but also nowhere to be found on the internet any longer. […]
As a college sophomore I interned in the advertising department at the Boston Globe. Several times a week I signed a minivan out of the motor pool and drove downtown to pick up or drop off various publishing-related materials—page proofs, contact sheets, Baldini’s pizza, etc. More often, though, another intern and I took turns using […]
Boy, did I ever change my mind. Here’s part one. Don’t gimme no affliction: 25 years of “Moonlight on Vermont” and other bush recordings “It’s very gratifying to say that Captain Beefheart’s [Trout Mask Replica] is a total success, a brilliant, stunning enlargement and clarification of his art. Which is not to say that it’s […]
The game: Patriots at Cowboys The beer: Wormtown Fresh Patch Pumpkin Ale The result: Loss, 38–3 The method: Live via NFL+ The record: 1–3 The headline: “He bought me a soda and he tried to molest me in the parking lot. Yep.” – Pixies, “Bone Machine” The commentary: Ladies and gentleman of the WordPress community, […]
I have never voted for a Republican. This is my responsibility as an American, a parent and, most of all, a human being. I was in high school and not old enough to vote when Vice President George Bush faced off against Governor Michael Dukakis in 1988. I “voted for” Dukakis in the glorified straw […]
Here’s a question: what’s this daily prompt business? Every—yes—day with this, and today’s question is the first to spark action. I guess Day One Incorporated didn’t attend the Fiftieth Anniversary Super-Biffy™ spectacular and it’s just as well, for three reasons: the nominees are somewhat out of date; sponsor Blogger no longer acknowledges its participation; and […]
More Cream Please 