On 'The Phantom Tollbooth,' or, The Democratizing Principle of Literature
I'm at an age where nearly all of my friends have children who are 2 or 1 or in the womb. I can't say how many times I've found myself aimlessly wandering the aisles of Toys R Us, walking out with a coloring book or a fire truck, and feeling very impatient for the day that I can just finally buy the kid "The Phantom Toolbooth."
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On Last Bastion Of "Music In A Physical Form" To Close Next Month
In the late 90s, I used to take the Peter Pan bus from DC to New York JUST to go to Fat Beats. And when I lived in the Village from 2007-2010 I never went once. There are positives and negatives to the way music purchasing has evolved, but I know I had a lot more fun browsing at Fat Beats than I do browsing on my computer.
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On Bruce Springsteen, "The Promise"
The two best tracks on 18 Tracks are two of the four tracks that aren't on Tracks. The Promise and The Fever.
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On Bruce Springsteen, "The Promise"
PS-Unfortunately, I'm definitely a 17 year old girl when it comes to Bruce.
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On Bruce Springsteen, "The Promise"
Haha. Fair enough. I've found the opposite though.
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On Bruce Springsteen, "The Promise"
Bruce has said that The Promise (the song) is a sequel to Thunder Road. Taken together, I think the two songs are the high point of his songwriting career. Thunder Road and the album it opens are all about teenage American romanticism. Jump on something with an engine and ride out of town without a plan and you'll find something better because everything is better than this no-account town.
The Promise (and much of the album that it didn't make it onto) is Bruce slapping that punk kid in the face like Cher in Moonstruck. Snap out of it. Because that's where the dreamers end up, sleeping in the backseat of a borrowed car. It's not a lesson against dreaming, it's just life. Life is sad and wonderful and it never goes according to plan.
Darkness is the first Springsteen album written by an adult.
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On Why Is This Joke Funny?
It's funny for several reasons, one being what Balk is saying above. Absurdist humor is funny because it is completely unexpected, and the length helps that. But this joke isn't JUST absurdist. It's also about the girl. Morty goes away and comes back in great shape, everything is going well, he's healthy, he's got this woman on his arm. He's crediting the bees but it's funny because he doesn't REALLY give a shit about the bees because he's got everything else. He'll be just fine without the bees.
That's not all of what's funny but it's part of what's funny.
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On Big Boi Goes Off The Dome In A Barber Shop
I've said it before and I'll say it again:
White people love freestyle rap.
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On Cat Expert: The Shocking Truth About 'OMG Cat'
When I had cats they would sometimes make this face (accompanied by clicking sounds) when they saw an insect that they wanted to attack. I may or may not have always said "git dat buggy!" to encourage them. Maybe this is something like that?
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On A Tribe Called Quest's 'The Low End Theory' Correctly Named Greatest Hip-Hop Album Cover Of All Time
"Bad" over "Radio" is terrible.
Daily Operation and Death Certificate should be higher.
The Beatnuts Intoxicated Demons EP should be on there in the top 20.
And obv. Straight Outta Compton is a big miss.
In general, it's hard to separate the cover art from how much I like the album. I want to say 93 Til Infinity should be on the list but maybe that's just because I love it.