This is an essay I wrote about my grandfather and posted on Facebook one year ago on the 100th anniversary of his birth. I’ve decided to publish it here, with a few updates and revisions, because I want it archived more properly; and because I’m proud of this piece of writing and proud of him. … Continue reading A tribute to my grandpa on what would have been his 101st birthday
You can tell that Meet Me in the Bathroom, the new documentary about New York’s explosive music scene of the early 2000s, is going to misfire from the very first sequence. A 1959 recording of actor Ed Begley reading “Give Me the Splendid Silent Sun,” Walt Whitman’s soaring tribute to New York from his masterwork … Continue reading New York’s postpunk revival deserves a better documentary than Meet Me in the Bathroom
I couldn’t have picked a better time to watch LA 92, the 2017 documentary about the 1992 Los Angeles riots. I first watched it in July of 2020, as the U.S. was in the middle of being shaken by a summer-long rebellion against racism and police violence after the murder of George Floyd. LA 92 … Continue reading LA 92 triggered all my memories of witnessing a historic uprising
Under the Paving Stones 