There’s something exhilarating about watching great actors perform.  It’s like watching Michael Jordan sink a basket with tenths of a second left on the clock, or watching Jeff Beck wring notes from his guitar.  Surrounded by mediocrity, our eyes bug out when we’re exposed to brilliance. Everybody wants us to settle for mediocrity.  It’s good […]

From: Michael ShrieveSubject: Re: Rattlesnake Shake Well Fuck, God Bless you for caring enough about the music to really seek it out. Peter was a friend of mine back in the 70’s. Sometimes, when I was on tour with Santana, which was always, and Peter was in the Bay Area, I’d loan him my house […]

$5300.  That’s what Santa Monica Subaru wanted to fix my Saab. Yes, it’s a Saab, but it’s really a Subaru, and that’s important, as you’ll find out. You see I started the car in gear.  I had it on a hill.  In reverse.  And I forgot it was in gear, and after letting out the […]

So I’m hiking in the mountains and it’s long past midnight, since I got hung up downloading the entire Doobie Brothers catalog after hearing a song on Slacker, and I’m listening to Radiolab thinking about virality, how it’s no longer about highfalutin’ gatekeepers telling us what to listen to but a bunch of sneezers, regular […]