Roaring Down Thunder Road: Darlin’, You Know Just What I’m Here For

Roaring Down Thunder Road: Darlin’, You Know Just What I’m Here For

August 25, 2015: I took a road trip with "Born to Run" yesterday. It's the 40th anniversary of Bruce's groundbreaking album, and there's no better way to experience it than by blasting it in your car, with the windows open and the wind blowing back your hair. Cars and tunnels and backstreets and highways are just as central to the…

Continue Reading Roaring Down Thunder Road: Darlin’, You Know Just What I’m Here For

Preaching to the choir on Facebook: Been there, done that, finished.

Preaching to the choir on Facebook: Been there, done that, finished.

Recently on Facebook I shared a researched-based article asserting that bullying is on the rise in Trump Country (“Virginia Study Finds Increased School Bullying In Areas That Voted For Trump,” by Clare Lombardo for NPR). This is a topic I care strongly about, having weathered the teenage ritual of peer-pressure bullying. (Mom said, “it will make you stronger and more…

Continue Reading Preaching to the choir on Facebook: Been there, done that, finished.

Dylan’s Christmas Spirit is Blowin’ in the Wind

Dylan’s Christmas Spirit is Blowin’ in the Wind

’Tis the season to see “Jews for Jesus” popping up around Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, the vibrant center of Jewish culture here in the city. Why, just the other day I was strolling to the iconic Little’s Shoe Store, my beloved Bethlehem of Boots, when I saw two spunky dudes dressed in blue “Jews for Jesus” t-shirts (the o in…

Continue Reading Dylan’s Christmas Spirit is Blowin’ in the Wind

They Had Mohair Rings, But I Had Jo Jo Gunne

They Had Mohair Rings, But I Had Jo Jo Gunne

"No, Spiardi. I bought myself a ring that's too big." This is how Miss S.T. sarcastically answered when I asked if her boyfriend bought her the yarn-wrapped ring she was sporting on her finger. It had never occurred to me that the fuzzy bands worn by the A-list girls began their lives as one-size-fits-all pieces of cheap metal, purchased by…

Continue Reading They Had Mohair Rings, But I Had Jo Jo Gunne

The Day the Music (and Joe Meek) Died

The Day the Music (and Joe Meek) Died

Okay, this is a strange story, but yer blogger is a pretty spooky gal, and she'd feel remiss if she didn't pass on this ghoulish, but essential, piece of trivia regarding Buddy Holly's possibly avoidable death-by-aircraft on February 3, 1959. The tale begins with a man named Joe Meek, a British songwriter and record producer who pioneered the use of…

Continue Reading The Day the Music (and Joe Meek) Died