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Author: DSquared

  • Jurassic Park Dominion Review: Let’s Hear it for the Dinosaurs One More Time

    Dinosaurs. They roamed the earth two hundred million plus years ago, were wiped out in a mass extinction, and have fascinated us since the first fossils were discovered in the early 19th century. The term “dinosaur,” meaning “terrible lizard,” was coined by Richard Wright in 1841. Later, fossil records showed that birds are actually feathered…

  • Dark Winds: AMC’s Crime Drama Puts the Navajo Nation in the Spotlight

    “Backup. What backup? We have 50 tribal officers for over 27,000 square miles.” Dark Winds captures the isolation of the Navajo Nation in 1971 amidst the murder of two native residents. At the same time, a brazen bank robbery in Gallup, N.M. and the getaway helicopter has brought that investigation onto tribal lands and the…

  • A Staple of the 1970s, Remembering the Live Album

    I’ve never been a big fan of the live album, preferring instead to supplement the clean studio productions by attending live performances. But they sure had their heyday. As the concert industry took off in the 1970s, live albums became a defining moment for many artists. Bands for whom the live performance was their natural…

  • My Cross to Bear Book Review: Gregg Allman’s Candid Autobiography

    “Me and my brother, Duane…””Boy, I’m tellin’ ‘ya, it was us against the world, man.” “We didn’t have none of that crap.” “Sex was the finest thing I’d had since black-eyed peas.” If you’re looking for well-written literature, you won’t find it here. My Cross to Bear is a sit-down with Gregg Allman; simple, conversational,…

  • Joe Jackson in Concert: Still a Moving Musical Medley After 40+ Years

    Joe Jackson is another one of those artists that unbeknownst to many has continued making music over his 40+ year career. The English musician/songwriter that exploded onto the scene in 1979 with the hit single “Is She Really Going Out with Him” released his 20th album in 2019. That first album Look Sharp grouped him…

  • Operation Mincemeat: Netflix’s Absurd, Extraordinary, and True WWII Drama

    Schindler’s List. Imitation Game. The Darkest Hour. Hacksaw Ridge. Zookeeper’s Wife. Valkyrie. The Monuments Men. Add Operation Mincemeat to the long list of relatively unknown and unbelievably true stories from World War II. The 2022 film, directed by John Madden (Shakespeare in Love), based on the novel of the same name by Ben Macintyre, is…

  • Five New Songs to Welcome in the Summer

    Let’s have a listen to some new songs by new(ish) bands. I’m not too familiar with any of the bands but heard these singles off their new releases and thought they all might be worth exploring. “Summer” implies bright, sunny, and care-free, such as light reading “beach” books. These songs aren’t necessarily that breezy, but…

  • Jennifer Egan: Dark, Funny Satirical Takes on Social Media, Rock N’ Roll, and Life

    In Jennifer Egan’s world, time is not experienced in a linear fashion. “I experience it in layers that seem to coexist.” This manifestation of life is clearly reflected in her 2001 Pulitzer Prize winning novel A Visit from the Goon Squad and its 2022 companion The Candy House. They are novels or collections of short…

  • The Church: The Australian Band Still Shimmers After 40+ Years

    You have to give it up for The Church. Did you know that they have continued regularly recording, releasing their 25th (!) album in 2017? (I have only three.) And as I just personally witnessed, they are still out on the road touring. (I had only seen them once before at the Ventura Theater on…

  • Ten Albums from 1992 That Still Sound Good 30 Years Later

    We had some fun with this on 1982 albums, so let’s look at 1992. What a difference 10 years makes. For one, every album photo of the 1982 post was from my LP collection, this time all CDs. The 1982 list has a new wave theme, whereas in the early 1990s hard rock is more…

  • Windfall Movie Review: A Slow Burn Thriller Blows Up

    A tranquil courtyard and stripped-down tense music. Serene, beautiful California landscape complete with orchards and a swimming pool. Seven minutes of silence as a man cruises around the property, gains entry inside the house, helps himself to a glass of OJ, pees in the shower, and riffles through drawers for valuables. The wealthy homeowners unexpectedly…

  • The Man Who Fell to Earth: Showtime Updates the Bowie Classic with Humor and Clarity

    The Man Who Fell to Earth. Of course, David Bowie comes right to mind. The 1976 film he starred in as an alien arriving on Earth with a mission to save his planet. Nicolas Roeg directed the film based on the 1963 novel by Walter Tevis, who also wrote The Hustler, The Color of Money…