Brianland

poster art by Grant Goodwin . I was asked to be part of the Hunter Thompson GonzoFest 2026 in New York City to talk about he connected to the Beat Generation.  We ended up doing a kinda roundtable jam on the subject with an all-star cast — Kurt Hemmer moderating, and then biographers David Wills […]

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Musicians’ Movie Masterpiece — ‘Round Midnight movie breakdown, background & review . Jazz sparks the synapses and lifts the spirits — and ‘Round Midnight lives up to its genre.  I can barely get through any 15 minutes of this film without it firing me off into unexplored stratospheres of beauty, tingling with goosebump awe. There’s […]

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2025 on-stage photo by Rick Melnick . From Editor Simon Warner’s introduction . . . We are very pleased to unveil a new feature at Rock and the Beat Generation, a series of interviews gathered under the heading ‘Generation Beat’ which will focus on a number of transatlantic trailblazers who have carried the Beat torch into […]

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. The Jerry Garcia-directed film “The Grateful Dead Movie” will be back in theaters for one night (Thurs Aug 14th) — and for *the first time* it’s been remastered in 4K for IMAX and remixed for their high-end surround-sound speakers.  (!) Revisiting the film, here’s some deets you may not know … or knew and […]

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The Day I Thanked Arthur Miller   One of the nice things about living in Manhattan — you often bump into and sometimes get to talk to really smart people on the sidewalk.  When they’re famous, mostly you just nod acknowledgment and smile — like seeing Robin Williams walking and playing with his son on […]

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Here’s part of the script I’ll be riffing from when I introduce the movie “Magic Trip: Ken Kesey’s Search for a Kool Place” at Lowell Celebrates Kerouac on Sunday October 13th.   Edit Update  —  Here’s video of the event . . . . Here’s the post-screening Q&A . . . ============================================ This is the original […]

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. 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) […]

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. 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 […]

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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 […]

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Fireworks in Oakville or The Day Florida Moved to Canada . . . What a riot we had last weekend in Oakville! A buncha teenagers came to my little harbourfront neighbourhood cuz it has a corner Variety store that’ll sell anything to anybody including fireworks to kids.  We had a little to-do here a couple […]

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