When I was a kid, I had a vision of Rambo in my head. It was the Rambo from “Rambo III,” sweaty, shirtless, telling people who were fighting the Taliban “I’m your worst nightmare.” It was a Rambo who had a cartoon and action figures, neither of which my mom would let me watch/purchase. She… Read More 100 Films I haven’t seen: ‘First Blood’
The episode starts with Joel introducing Trace, Josh, Mary Jo, and Frank and giving a bit of backstory about them, before launching into the riffing. I don’t know quite how to sum up this movie. Weird monsters show up in a small town, along with a strange, mustachioed man (who is totally NOT an alien)… Read More MSTing Links: Cinematic Titanic Episode 9, ‘The Alien Factor’
Back in 2017, I started doing write-ups about the long defunct Cinematic Titanic, a riffing project that the reunited Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff, Josh Weinstein, and Mary Jo Pehl. It started as a studio project, but quickly became a touring show, and transitioned to DVDs of shows recorded in front of a live… Read More MSTing Links: Transmission incoming
I met a lot of people through my time as a reporter. Some became acquaintances. Some became Facebook friends. A few became in-person friends. One – Steve Martin (not THAT Steve Martin) – became a best friend. It all started at The Lift. In February of 2005 The Lift started hosting iPod Mondays. People put… Read More I met my best friend in a Spider-Man bathroom
Oh hey, remember when I had a blog? Then I started grad school, then a new job, then another stint of grad school, and suddenly it’s been years since I’ve posted anything. I’m hoping to change that, and I have a longer post planned for the near future. But I figured I would ease back… Read More Joel Hodgson IS Truman Capote AS Robert Crumb IN Hodgson & White’s Cheese-Capades!
Oh, wow, I have a blog, don’t I? It’s been a long time since I’ve posted something. I promise I’ll get better about that. Well, “promise” is a strong word. I’ll try to be post more than once every other year. Deal? As you may know, I’m a fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000. I’ve… Read More Kringla, Iowa, & horny gnomes; a video interview with Rebecca Hanson & Tim Ryder (MST3K)
As a music writer, I’m well aware there were some limitations in my coverage. I know that I didn’t write that many articles about punk bands. Some of that comes down to taste. A lot of punk sort of fell into a blind spot for me. It was my little brother who was knowledgeable about… Read More “This is what Joe Strummer trained you for;” Steve King, civility, white nationalism, and punk rock
With its eighth release, Cinematic Titanic switched from recording in studios to using live recordings for its home video releases. There were some trade-offs. On the negative side, it meant no more Shadowrama effect, with the riffers’ silhouettes visible on screen. Instead, Joel, Trace, Josh, Frank and Mary Jo’s faces are all visible on the… Read More MSTing Links: Cinematic Titanic episode 8, ‘East Meets Watts’
“Head” came not to praise The Monkees, but to bury them. When I was a kid, I wanted to be in The Monkees more than anything. I remember that Nickelodeon had some contest where you could be “A Monkee for a day,” basically hanging out with the three Monkees who were talking at that point… Read More 100 films I haven’t seen: ‘Head’
I remember seeing an ad for a new Keanu Reeves movie and thinking it was the dumbest thing I had ever seen. Needless, over the top gunplay, a ridiculous sounding plot and the whole thing looked and sounded derivative of one of his past works. The film? 1999’s “The Matrix.” Everyone loved it and I was… Read More 100 films I haven’t seen: ‘John Wick’
