danielshankcruz

“The Wake-Up Bomb” at the 1995 MTV Music Awards

Here’s a link to R.E.M.’s performance of “The Wake-up Bomb” at the 1995 MTV Music Awards (oh those halcyon days when MTV mattered/was relevant to music)*: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLhZN6dwnEY I remember watching it on television at the time and being a) disappointed, because I had never heard the song before since it hadn’t been released yet–I wasContinue reading ““The Wake-Up Bomb” at the 1995 MTV Music Awards”

Some Thoughts on the Role of Pop Culture in Teaching Us How to Live

One of my favorite film scenes is when Rob (John Cusack) asks in High Fidelity “What came first, the music or the misery? People worry about kids playing with guns, or watching violent videos, that some sort of culture of violence will take them over. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands, literally thousands ofContinue reading “Some Thoughts on the Role of Pop Culture in Teaching Us How to Live”

The Django Unchained Trailer

Here’s the trailer for Quentin Tarantino’s forthcoming film, Django Unchained: http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/django-unchained/ I am fantastically excited about this movie! I love most of Tarantino’s work. Deathproof was only so-so, but Pulp Fiction and the Kill Bills are two of my favorite films (remember that Kill Bill was meant to be a single release). I am alsoContinue reading “The Django Unchained Trailer”

“Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me”

Here’s the video for U2’s “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me”: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_WDG8iLT1o There’s not much to say about it other than that it’s a fantastic video: It’s animated! Bono reads The Screwtape Letters! Batman plays the cello! It was always a treat when it came on television, back when MTV still played videos.

Samuel R. Delany’s Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders

I just finished reading Samuel R. Delany’s new novel Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders. It is his longest fictional work (beating the classic Dhalgren by three pages and a much larger word count), and includes many themes which will be familiar to Delany fans (characters with nailbiting fetishes and/or massive penises, graphicContinue reading “Samuel R. Delany’s Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders”

Mario (Barwuah) Balotelli Does Something Right

According to this article, Italian/Manchester City bad boy Mario Balotelli will be wearing both his Ghanaian and Italian last names on his shirt for Euro 2012. http://www.sport24.co.za/Soccer/Euro2012/Balotelli-to-sport-two-names-20120605 Balotelli’s reason for doing this is to combat the racism which it is feared black players will face in Poland and the Ukraine during the tournament. He saysContinue reading “Mario (Barwuah) Balotelli Does Something Right”

Book Acquired Recently: Theodora Keogh’s Meg

Keogh, Theodora. Meg. 1950. New York: Signet, 1951. I bought this book after reading Keogh’s novel Gemini, which I enjoyed. I love old pulp fiction paperbacks, and thus am especially excited to add this edition to my library. The cover painting isn’t as lurid as pulp fiction illustrations often are, but the descriptions ofContinue reading “Book Acquired Recently: Theodora Keogh’s Meg”

A Blog Post About a Blog Post About Lax Bros

Here’s a fantastic blog post from Grantland.com (one of the best sports websites out there) about a rather ridiculous Boston Globe article about “lax bros,” who are apparently just jocks who play lacrosse, i.e., lacrosse players (and people wonder why newspapers are dying!). http://www.grantland.com/blog/the-triangle/post/_/id/28743/trend-alert-lax-bros I giggled the entire time I was reading it. It’s surreal evenContinue reading “A Blog Post About a Blog Post About Lax Bros”

Et tu, Andy?

I still haven’t gotten over Kristen Wiig’s decision to leave Saturday Night Live, and now Andy Samberg has announced that he is also leaving, and Jason Sudeikis might be, too: http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/andy-samberg-leaving-saturday-night-live-16478784#.T8xRK79ob7c. This is a tough blow. Samberg’s digital shorts and “Weekend Update” characters (especially his impression of Nic Cage!) are fabulous; next to Wiig andContinue reading “Et tu, Andy?”

Euro 2012 Predictions

Here are my predictions for the first round of Euro 2012, with teams listed in the order I think they will finish. Group A Russia Greece Czech Republic Poland I am generally not much of a believer in “home field advantage” in big tournaments when the host isn’t already a decent team to begin with.Continue reading “Euro 2012 Predictions”