Blog Archives

First, you stop returning. Then, you forget your way. “Can you tell me where Hawthorne is?” That farago street stretching into autumn memories turned from once young to now not. Not now. “Where are you trying to go?” “Hawthorne.” You and me both. It’s nostalgia but not regret. A memory can be lovely without being love-lost [...]

Happy Birthday, Neil Young! To celebrate, here is a great movie of Neil Young performing his latest music. Produced by Daniel Lanois, Le Noise is a contradiction: a loud and noisy singer/songwriter solo record. However, this odd combination is not born out of ambivalence. Le Noise is as purposeful as it is open and mystical; [...]

Once upon a time, there were witches… In this classic re-mix, the silent film Haxan is wed in an unholy matrimony to the laconic snarl of William S. Burroughs narrative aplomb. Here’s what the Wiki has to say: Häxan (English title: The Witches or Witchcraft Through The Ages) is a 1922 Swedish/Danish silent film written and [...]

Hey everybody, it’s about time we check in with our pal Hector Hernandez again to see what the Art Czar is up to… In a recent post, the ‘Czar had an abbreviated conversation with pop artist Dave MacDowell: Art Czar: Tell me about “Duck and Cover” MacDowell: “Duck and Cover” was painted for a group [...]

This month marks the 41st anniversary of Jack Kerouac’s passing. The autumn always reminds me of this angelheaded hipster. It probably has something to do with that typical rite of passage of reading On the Road for the first time in college, in the fall. I remember thinking, page-to-page, “This is the best book I’ve [...]

If you haven’t seen the Banksy intro from the recent Simpsons episode, you’re in for a treat. But first, a word from Salon.com It’s a bold move to the let one’s own troops fire upon oneself. But what would entertainment be without the master taking on a bit of public whipping from the servant? Conan [...]

A little help… About a week ago I called upon my legion of Facebook friends to push this short film past the 600 views mark on YouTube. Within less than 24 hours we were there. Which got me to thinking, “What if I engaged my blog readers in a similar scheme?” If you haven’t seen [...]

We requested a copy of Keith Richard’s new autobiography from the publisher hoping to give you a sneak preview right here on Insomnia. So far, we haven’t seen one. However, we did stumble across these new excerpts from the book that have been made available by The Times to new readers: Keith Richards is one [...]

A poem for a Sunday morning: “Kill Pirates for Real” KILL PIRATES FOR REAL FOR REAL KILL PIRATES REAL PIRATES FOR KILL FOR PIRATES REAL KILL PIRATES KILL FOR REAL KILL FOR REAL PIRATES KILL PIRATES FOR REAL Stay Awake! Joe Nolan <3 Listen to two of my CD’s – Blue Turns Black and Plain [...]

Bonjour, mes amis. Ca va? Just a quickie, lovers. I recently wrote a book/exhibit review about a number of picture-books-in-the-making created by artists in Nashville. It was published by Chapter 16 as well as Nashville Scene, who reprinted it in today’s issue. It’s a funny little piece about a funny little show, but I am [...]