After hours and hours of relative nothing, I have to admit that it’s pretty exciting to round a corner and see this in front of you. I forgot to even notice that I crossed the Mississippi (which I always get … Continue reading →

What struck me first about Wheeling was what I didn’t see. No Wal-Mart, no pawn or check cashing shops. Barely any strip malls. No obvious attempts at last-ditch downtown redevelopment. Almost like a cloak of invisibility descended over the city … Continue reading →

1. The statue of Godzilla in the Ginza district of Tokyo. 2. The terrazzo floor of the Clark St. subway station in Brooklyn. 3. The Yu-Mex music movement. When Yugoslavia broke with the Soviet Union during the “Informbiro” period, the … Continue reading →

Whenever I mentioned to anyone that I was going to give NYC a try, without fail the immediate reaction was “but it’s so cold there!” Erm. DUH! Do you move to Phoenix and then complain about the heat? Do you … Continue reading →

Periodically one of the news magazines feels it necessary to roll out another “what’s wrong with these damn lazy kids?” feature and this week, Time targets “twixters” – young people who “will not, or cannot, settle down.” The Time article … Continue reading →

Prior to today, the coldest temperature I’ve ever had to deal with was 19 degrees in a Manassa, Colorado winter where my truck froze solid and I couldn’t open the doors. It was 14 out today in Montclair, but once … Continue reading →

Highways West (a.k.a. my new favorite blog) checks out the “Mystery Of The Desert” at The Thing (which I visited back in November). Also be sure to see their guide to Weird San Diego. Homemade macaroni and cheese is one … Continue reading →

Found this in the BOMP archives… The text of Morrissey’s book about The New York Dolls is online.