The events of Sunday July 21st 2024 into Monday the 22nd then all the days that followed reminded me and most of us politicos of the political ‘birth’ of Barack Obama in early 2008. Whether you experienced that on January 3rd when he won the Iowa caucus, or on the February 3rd Super Bowl weekend […]
The New Kamalot
July 31st, 2024 · 4 Comments · Blissfully Ravaged in Democracy, Politics
Tags: Barack Obama·Beyonce·Ella Fitzgerald·Joe Biden·Kamala Harris·Louis Armstrong·Modern Family·Taylor Swift·will.i.am
Dead & Company at The Sphere in Las Vegas review
June 30th, 2024 · 7 Comments · Grateful Dead, Music, Real-life Adventure Tales
. Sphere & Laughing in Las Vegas photo by Jay Blakesberg for Dead & Company . This is the Acid Tests … in a two-billion-dollar spaceship! I’d been reading about The Sphere for years before it was ever built. It sounded too wild to be true! And of course I immediately thought how perfect […]
Tags: Acid Tests·Bob Weir·Dead & Company·Duke Ellington·George Lucas·Grand Canyon·Grateful Dead·Jay Lane·Jeff Chimenti·John Mayer·Las Vegas·Millennium Falcon·Oteil Burbridge·Sphere & Loathing in Las Vegas·Taylor Swift·The Sphere
Anne Murphy’s “Tripping With A Viper” about Neal Cassady
May 4th, 2024 · 16 Comments · Kerouac and The Beats, Merry Pranksters
. Beat & Prankster fans rejoice! A new firsthand memoir has just been released of life with one of the Mount Rushmores of both the Beat Generation & the Merry Pranksters. That doesn’t happen very often, and there aren’t many options left. Anne Murphy (who later reverted back to her birth name Anne Marie Maxwell) […]
Tags: Acid Tests·Allen Ginsberg·Anne Marie Maxwell·Anne Murphy·Arthur & Kit Knight·Carolyn Cassady·Diane Di Prima·Edie Kerouac·Gavin Arthur·George Walker·Helen Weaver·Hettie Jones·Hunter Thompson·Jack Kerouac·Joyce Johnson·Ken Kesey·La Honda·Lu Anne Henderson·Merry Pranksters·Mountain Girl·Neal Cassady·Spit In The Ocean·The Beat Generation·The Beat Museum·The Grateful Dead·The Trips Festival·Tom Wolfe
Eclipse Totality in Bronte Ontario
April 10th, 2024 · 13 Comments · Real-life Adventure Tales
. TOTALLY DRAMATIC . . It wasn’t just a big-screen spectacular — it was a nail-biting drama! An old brother of ’70s shenanigans flew from Winterpeg to my place in Southern Ontario because I lived on the Path of Totality for the 2024 solar eclipse. We had invites to a big acid test weekend with […]
Tags: Bill Graham·Bronte Astronomers·Bronte Ontario·Grateful Dead·Oakville·Path of Totality·Solar Eclipse·toronto maple leafs·Winnipeg
The Benefits of Biopics
March 30th, 2024 · 8 Comments · Movies
The Benefits of Biopics . With James Mangold’s Dylan biopic currently shooting in New York with the Bobster’s blessing; and four different Beatle biopics greenlit for Sam Mendes; and Michael Jackson’s cousin Jaafar playing the King of Pop in a coming Lionsgate production; and Coleman Domingo directing, co-writing and starring in a musical based […]
Tags: 'Sully' Sullivan·Austin Butler·Baz Luhrmann·Bob Dylan·Bob Marley·Bonnie & Clyde·Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan·Charlie Chaplin·Clint Eastwood·Daniel Day-Lewis·Danny Boyle·George Clooney·Gus Van Sant·Herb Brooks·Howard Kaylan·I'm Not There·James Mangold·Loving Vincent·Martin Scorsese·Miloš Forman·Morgan Freeman·My Dinner With Jimi·Nelson Mandela·Richard Jewel·Robert Downey Jr·Ron Howard·Sam Mendes·Shakespeare·Steven Spielberg·Ted Demme·Todd Haynes·Vincent Van Gogh·Woodward & Bernstein
The Greatest Night in Pop movie review
February 10th, 2024 · 20 Comments · Movies, Music
“The Greatest Night in Pop” is The Greatest Documentary About Collective Creation . The Greatest Night in Pop (Netflix, 2024) directed by Bao Nguyen, is a spectacular riveting colorful fun documentary about the behind-the-scenes making of We Are The World in 1985 with footage of everybody who was involved. This is not only one of […]
Tags: Al Jarreau·Bill Clinton·Billy Joel·Bob Dylan·Darryl Hall·Diana Ross·Harry Belafonte·Huey Lewis·Jane Fonda·Kenny Loggins·Lionel Richie·Michael Jackson·Paul Simon·Quincy Jones·Steve Perry
Trump’s Losing his Mind
January 31st, 2024 · No Comments · Politics
. I hope everyone’s enjoying the heck out of the theater of the absurd that’s playing out on the national stage in the U.S. Diaper Don is losing his mind . . . and the cameras are rolling. We’re all going to witness over the next nine months [and beyond] this guy spinning more and […]
Tags: 14th Amendment·Alvin Bragg·Barack Obama·E. Jean Carroll·Joe Biden·Montreal Cognitive Assessment test·Nikki Haley·Seth Meyers·The Lincoln Project·Willie Geist
Why I Love Joe Biden
December 31st, 2023 · 36 Comments · Blissfully Ravaged in Democracy, Politics
First of all, he’s an Irish leprechaun, and I’m very pro Irish leprechaun. Second — he’s also an empath . . . as opposed to a sociopath. As he likes to say in his Irish way — “Don’t compare me to the Almighty, compare me to the alternative.” He’s smart, hard working, Gets Things […]
Tags: Amanda Gorman·Barack Obama·Chuck Schumer·Hakeem Jeffries·Joe Biden·Nancy Pelosi·Stuart Stevens·Taylor Swift
Taylor Swift, the Grateful Dead and The Beat Generation
November 30th, 2023 · 29 Comments · Grateful Dead, Kerouac and The Beats, Music
. Why this Deadhead Beatnik Beatlemaniac loves Pop’s Princess I’ve been into Taylor Swift since a New York Times profile in 2008 talked about her confessional songwriting and use of social media — at the time, MySpace. (!) Her second album Fearless was set to come out (and would go on to win Album […]
Tags: Allen Ginsberg·Beyonce·Bob Dylan·Dave Grohl·Deadheads·Grateful Dead·Greta Gerwig·Jack Kerouac·Jerry Garcia·Joe Biden·John Lennon·Margot Robbie·Paul McCartney·Robert Hunter·Saturday Night Live·Swifties·Taylor Swift·The Beat Generation·The Beatles·TIFF
Jack on Film: Take 2 and Lowell Celebrates Kerouac (LCK) 2023 videos
October 31st, 2023 · 11 Comments · Brian on YouTube etc., Hitchhiker's Guide to Jack Kerouac, Interviews, Kerouac and The Beats, Movies
Jack on Film: Take 2 at Lowell Celebrates Kerouac . Here’s a YouTube playlist with great video of the entire Jack on Film show — . =========================================== Here’s a riffing interview with WCAP in Lowell about all things Kerouac — and the new “Jack on Film: Take 2” show — with nearly a hundred photos […]
Tags: Beat Angel·Big Sur·Billy Zane·Charles Kuralt·Edson Cemetery·Heart Beat·Heart Beat movie·Jack Kerouac·Kill Your Darlings·Lowell Celebrates Kerouac!·Magic Trip·Michael Polish·Naked Lunch·Neal Cassady·On The Road·Pull My Daisy·Quantum Leap·Robert Frank·Route 66·Saturday Night Live·The Last Time I Committed Suicide·The Subterraneans movie·Vincent Balestri