Construction in the cold, split guitar pinky, coyote at Aldi, and one year without Amy. Also: the Australian Open and ‘Unstoppable’ (2024).
death
Another Week: Number 106
Happy New Year horseshit, reincarnated children, ‘All Fours’ by Miranda July, and Season 2 of ‘Bad Sisters.’
Another Week: Number 98
Buy AirPods, people. Plus: ‘Cool Hand Luke’ (1967), ‘So Rugged and Mountainous,’ by Will Bagley, Election 2024: America’s cancer is back, ‘The Year of Magical Thinking,’ by Joan Didion.
Another Week: Number 60
Super Bowl LVIII, chicken pot pie, Valentine’s Day, Kansas City mass shooting, Alexei Navalny, Fani Willis hearing, ‘Past Lives’ (2023)
Another Week: Number 58
I am the ghost who haunts this house; Ross MacDonald — Brightwood Press, American Experience: Nazi Town, USA; Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974)
Another Week: Number 57
Amy has vanished. The ever-tightening restraints have snapped. And a Jackie DeShannon hit is now an Instacart commercial.
Another Week: Number 56
She was reminding me. She was reassuring me. I will never forget it.
Another Week: Number 55
A ‘newer normal’ every day as Amy says she’s dying. ‘Lake of the Shining Arrow: A History of Brown’s Lake,’ by Carol DeMarco, ‘Hunt for the Wilderpeople’ (2016)
Another Week: Number 12
Woman finds husband’s mummified remains, ‘The Consultant,’ ‘Sin Eater: The Crimes of Anthony Pellicano,’ the best tortilla chips are Donkey Chips, COVID lockdown + 3 years, Jackson Browne and David Lindley.
Another Week: Number 8
A death in my family, Super Bowl LVII, ‘Marc Maron: From Bleak to Dark,’ Mike Pence fights a subpoena, ‘Nate Bargatze: Hello World,’ Bing + ChatGPT = HAL 9000?
Messages through the wall, heard on radio
You have probably heard the story of how, as a POW during the Vietnam War, Sen. John McCain tapped messages through his prison wall to his fellow American prisoner, Ernest Brace. The conversation started with McCain tapping out "Shave and a haircut," and Brace...
Dry Bones song: Ezekiel cried, ‘Dem dry bones!’
Dry Bones, the video above by Dan DiFelice, is something that showed up in my Vimeo inbox the other day and caught my eye. It does not use the Dry Bones song.However, both this short film and the Dry Bones song share the same inspiration: the Old Testament's Book of...
‘Death Makes a Holiday’ catalogs culture of Halloween
Because so much of my time is spent in the attention-shattering online world, I hope to restore a little balance, when possible, by getting engrossed in a good old-fashioned book. As a lover of history, mythology, traditions and...
Michael Jackson, ‘Billie Jean’: How to create an icon
It has been one day since the world learned that Michael Jackson is dead. First there was a brief report on MSNBC that Jackson had been rushed to the hospital, then I glanced at Facebook and saw that Tim Cuprisin had posted the big TMZ.com scoop, and eventually the...
‘No Country for Old Men’ (2007 movie, Javier Bardem)
We have recently endured an insufferable procession of godawful movies. They show up here roughly a year after being added to our Netflix queue, so it's sometimes hard to remember who to blame for muck like Never Been Thawed or Love Actually or Dreamland — or The...
Terry Armour, 1961-2007
I'm sure everyone in the Steve Dahl Show family is stunned and saddened tonight as Amy and I were upon learning that Terry Armour has died from an apparent heart attack at the Chicago Tribune offices. Terry was an endless source of fun and humor at the remote...
Military casualties: Sacrificed lives
Last night on MSNBC'S Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was named Worst Person in the World. He was recognized by Olbermann for this quote about American military casualties: Nobody is happy about losing lives but remember these...
Michelangelo’s tomb, Basilica of Santa Croce, Florence
Florence, Italy — The tomb of Michelangelo Buonarroti in the Basilica of Santa Croce, designed by Giorgio Vasari. Above the tomb are three sculptures representing the personifications of Painting, Sculpture, and...
Julien Dubuque, Chief Peosta graves, Dubuque, Iowa
Dubuque, Iowa — The Julien Dubuque Monument stands above the Mississippi River at the Mines of Spain Recreation Area. The monument, built in 1897, marks the site where Dubuque was buried by the Meskwaki (or Mesquakie) with...
Punchbowl: National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific
Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii — The National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (also known as Punchbowl National Cemetery) is located in Punchbowl Crater, just north of downtown Honolulu. It serves as a memorial to men and women who...
Punchbowl National Cemetery: Honolulu Memorial
Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii — The dedication stone and grand stone staircase of the Honolulu Memorial at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. The names of 28,788 military personnel who missing in action or lost or...
Witch hunt victims memorial, Idstein, Germany
Idstein, Germany — Marble plaque listing the names of the victims of the witch hunts conducted by John, Count of Nassau-Idstein between February 3, 1676, and March 31, 1677. A total of 31 women and 8 men were executed for...
Virgin Mary with deer
Waterford, Wisconsin — A Virgin Mary statue and a resting deer figurine decorate a headstone in Saint Thomas Aquinas Cemetery.