Harbor master steps out and says “the elephant seals left town” Dolphins jump and jive, but the clownfish stuck around Nat Geo and Cousteau, there’s seagulls in the sky Mermaids, nymphs, silkies ask where, for and why Gill yells, “we’re outta here, ” Shelly says, “right on” We’re making waves and starting raves before they […]

After we get home from work in the evening, there’s a time frame of roughly an hour where Maura and I are both downstairs feeding the animals and taking care of other immediate concerns. It’s also an ideal window for spinning some records. The downstairs of our home has an semi-open floorplan. What is spun […]

Maura and I had to drive out to Springfield on Tuesday. The trip took about an hour and a half each way, which meant quite a few searchers for the Least Shitty Song on the satellite radio’s roster of preset go-to stations and their shallow playlists. Somewhere on the outskirts of Auburn, I switched to […]

Too much of popcult history involves counting the hits and ignoring the misses, unless the miss is catastrophic or bizarre enough to accrue its own mythology. Yet the vast majority of shared cultural experiences and artifacts does not fall into either of these camps. They’re not enduring landmarks, but rather incidental bits of scenery viewed […]

The period from 1993 through 1999 saw my musical tastes broaden tremendously, thanks to punk losing its puritanical stranglehold on me and a twenty-first birthday gift of CD-playing boom box. I kept on buying used vinyl up through 1995 or so, but the bulk of what hit my ears was delivered digitally. Having become the […]

On the twelfth day of Clash-mas, my true love gave to me… …twelve seconds to midnight… …eleven roads to nowhere… …ten years a’stewing… …nine to nine stabbin’ time… …eight pips a’showing… …seven warning bells a’ringing… …a midnight to six man… …five to ten, but I said double that again…. …four grim omens… …all three of […]

On the eleventh day of Clash-mas, my true love gave to me… …eleven roads to nowhere… …ten years a’stewing… …nine to nine stabbin’ time… …eight pips a’showing… …seven warning bells a’ringing… …a midnight to six man… …five to ten, but I said double that again…. …four grim omens… …all three of my rights… …two sevens […]

On the tenth day of Clash-mas, my true love gave to me… …ten years a’stewing… …nine to nine stabbin’ time… …eight pips a’showing… …seven warning bells a’ringing… …a midnight to six man… …five to ten, but I said double that again…. …four grim omens… …all three of my rights… …two sevens clashing… …and a message […]

On the ninth day of Clash-mas, my true love gave to me… …nine to nine stabbin’ time… …eight pips a’showing… …seven warning bells a’ringing… …a midnight to six man… …five to ten, but I said double that again…. …four grim omens… …all three of my rights… …two sevens clashing… …and a message of ambiguity.

On the eighth day of Clash-mas, my true love gave to me… …eight pips a’showing… …seven warning bells a’ringing… …a midnight to six man… …five to ten, but I said double that again…. …four grim omens… …all three of my rights… …two sevens clashing… …and a message of ambiguity.