Guided by Voices are a band who have built an empire with little more than a tape machine and a pallet of beer. There are hundreds of songs, dozens of… Read the rest of the article: Guided by Voices interviewed on their 30-year-old EP that became a cult classic 

My father, for all of his gifts, has always been a master of nap media. The man can put on Iowa Public Television and conk out in under a minute.… Read the rest of the article: 40 Years Later, Jeremy Brett is Still the Best Sherlock Holmes

Heed the digital sea change, my friends, as we watch the DVD shelves of Best Buy recede into the ether. We're running out of chances to scrutinize a movie in… Read the rest of the article: "Charley Varrick"— like a Steve McQueen movie but with a grumpy high school principal starring in his own fantasy

Cleveland has always played a sleepy, yet vital role in churning out heroes of modern music: Alan Freed, The Pretenders, the Dead Boys, Devo, Trent Reznor and many more. At… Read the rest of the article: Ain't it Fun: new graphic novel reveals the untold story of Cleveland's punk music scene

Les Sewing Sisters are not a comedy band. Yes, they wear pin cushion tomatoes on their heads. Yes, they sing to industrial pop music made entirely from sewing machines. Yes,… Read the rest of the article: How Les Sewing Sisters are tailoring a new sound in music

First rule: don't start shit in LA traffic. Just don't. People are all trying to get somewhere, and it's likely they're already late or otherwise struggling in some distinct corner… Read the rest of the article: LA driver's karmic crusade: one brake light rescue at a time

I recently had a rainy afternoon to kill in Athens, Georgia, so I stumbled into Bizarro-Wuxtry, one of the last indie comic strongholds of its kind. Your very presence in… Read the rest of the article: Freaky finds: shopping for comics at Bizarro-Wuxtry

I was at a retreat earlier this summer at a rural compound that had just about everything you could ask for: a pool, a private movie theater, free ham sandwiches,… Read the rest of the article: Django Unchained at 10: an observation and celebration of the first hour 

A grown man in a spandex chicken costume scurries up a twelve-foot speaker tower in the corner of the stage. The crowd below him hoots louder with each foothold he… Read the rest of the article: Lucha VaVoom, a glam slam wrestling show in downtown LA celebrates 20 years

Going to a flea market with Mitch O'Connell is a bit like trying to get high with Willie Nelson: you can take pride in saying that you did it, so… Read the rest of the article: Flea Market Follies: Hunting for Kitsch with Mitch O'Connell

This summer, I got invited to emcee a wedding reception in Italy for an old friend from art school and his fiancee. I was honored to be part of their… Read the rest of the article: Wax Italia: Digging for 45s in Florence and Rome