July 2017
You are browsing the archive for July 2017.
Album Review: ‘Total Hell’ by Joy Cleaner
4.5 stars out of 5 Click to listen or purchase Many will claim to have been there, but I genuinely was: the debut performance by Joy Cleaner at Newark, New Jersey’s Index Art Center on February 27, 2016. That in less than a year and a half, the trio has put together such an […]
Aquarium Playlist, 7/25/17
EPISODE #246: REQUESTS XII The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME] Rebirth Brass Band — “Feel Like Funkin’ It Up (Live Street Mix)” [for Vanessa] Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band — “Trouser Press” [for Sheila and Baxter] The Frampton Brothers — “In Your World” [for Julia] The Beatles — “I Want To Hold Your Hand” [for Caren […]
Movie Review: War for the Planet of the Apes
3.5 stars out of 5 Highly enjoyable summer flick. The best of the rebooted series. But I am simply not giving more than 3.5 stars to a talkin’ monkey movie, so there. Interestingly, for the second time in a row, the filmmakers stress the emotional side of things in what is ostensibly a sci-fi action […]
Predicting John Sterling’s Home-Run Call for Todd Frazier
Late Tuesday night, the New York Yankees effectively announced they were “all in” for the 2017 playoff chase by obtaining infielder Todd Frazier and pitchers David Robertson and Tommy Kahnle from the Chicago White Sox. It is hoped that Frazier, the New Jersey native and Rutgers graduate, will add some much needed pop and stability […]
Aquarium Playlist, 7/18/17
EPISODE #245: HIGH SCHOOL inspired by my 30-year high school reunion The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME] Jerry Lee Lewis — “High School Confidential” The MC5 — “High School” Cayucas — “High School Lover” Jonathan Richman — “Maybe a Walk Home From Natick High School” The Mountain Goats — “Fall of the Star High School […]
Hard To Swallow
Emergency colon surgery, complications from that surgery that ruined my legs, and a couple of life-threatening infections had quickly transformed extremely independent me into someone not very independent at all. I’d been in a hospital bed for five weeks, just the start of three and a half months in medical facilities. Early on, a tube […]
Aquarium Playlist, 7/11/17
EPISODE #244: PLEASE The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME] The Apples in Stereo — “Please” Clem Snide — “Please” The Beatles — “Please Please Me” Devo — “Please Baby Please” James Brown — “Please, Please, Please” The Karl Hendricks Trio — “Please Don’t” Brass Bed — “Please Don’t Go” The Drums — “Please Don’t Leave” […]
Movie Review: Spider-Man — Homecoming
3 stars out of 5 I think this is probably a mediocre movie, another diminishing return from the Marvel assembly line, and yet somehow I enjoyed it. The character was introduced in Captain America: Civil War? Why? Didn’t see it. And why is Iron Man in this? It reeks of lazy corporate cross-promotion and a […]
Hallucination #2: Improv
A series of recollected hallucinations from my early weeks of hospitalization, 2016. A nursing assistant — who I believe was an actual fellow at Hoboken University Medical Center — was placing me in some odd situations. The clearest one was an after-hours party, which seemed to be held at a motel, yet it was still […]
Aquarium Playlist, 7/4/17
EPISODE #243: 4TH OF JULY 2017 The Who — “Happy Jack” [THEME] The Beach Boys — “4th of July” Kevin Dunn — “Fourth of July” Youth Lagoon — “July” Vehicle Flips — “Independence Day” Bruce Springsteen — “Independence Day” Radiator Hospital — “Fireworks” Let’s Whisper — “Fireworks” The Roadside Graves — “Mosquitos (Let the Fireworks […]
Jack Silbert, curator