Author Archives: oddmanout215

The ultimate end-of-year list

Posted on January 3, 2019 by oddmanout215

I wanted to know why my friend Swamp Rabbit was hard at work writing down his worst blackouts of 2018. “It’s New Year’s,” he said. “I need to take stock.” He noted that we humans like to compile lists of … Continue reading →

Posted in apocalypse, climate change, environmentalism, humor | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Patti Smith to young artists: Brush your teeth

Posted on January 1, 2019 by oddmanout215

I was under-whelmed by Patti Smith’s landmark debut album Horses (1975), mostly because her voice was a mess and because I thought punk rock, stylistically, was a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing musical. But Smith wasn’t a punk … Continue reading →

Posted in arts, humor, mainstream media, pop music | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Christmas with Hendrix and the Beats

Posted on December 25, 2018 by oddmanout215

From an odd little Christmas story, well told: I took a seat on one of the pews several rows back from the front. They began playing a tape Allen Ginsberg had sent from somewhere upstate for the occasion, reading his … Continue reading →

Posted in arts, life in the big city | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The flaw in the law regarding presidents

Posted on December 23, 2018 by oddmanout215

Swamp Rabbit had commandeered my laptop and was reading aloud from a column by David Blight, who got rave reviews for his recently published biography of abolitionist orator and writer Frederick Douglass: Douglass left a timeless maxim for republics in times of … Continue reading →

Posted in history, humor, mainstream media | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Terrible humans hire terrible humans

Posted on December 17, 2018 by oddmanout215

File this one under “It takes one to know one” : President Trump has named Mick Mulvaney, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, as acting White House chief of staff. In response to the announcement, Mulvaney tweeted: “This … Continue reading →

Posted in Great Recession, humor, mainstream media | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Soup’s on, Manafort!

Posted on November 30, 2018 by oddmanout215

What’s up with the smooth operator in the ostrich-skin jacket? He made a deal to tell the truth to the special prosecutor, ostensibly to get some years shaved off his prison time, but then he continued to lie for Donald … Continue reading →

Posted in humor, Politics | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Digging deep for ‘new’ Beatles gold

Posted on November 29, 2018 by oddmanout215

I blew my mind out in a car, driving home from a gig in Bethlehem, PA, listening to “Glass Onion” on the radio. First Ringo’s snare and then bang, the whole bad-ass rhythm section and John singing I told you … Continue reading →

Posted in arts, history, humor, mainstream media, pop music | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

Stan Lee’s fan base — kids of all ages

Posted on November 15, 2018 by oddmanout215

After reading of Stan Lee’s death, I took an imaginary walk through my old neighborhood, past Mitchell schoolyard and Most Blessed Sacrament church,  to Chester Avenue and Whelan’s variety store, which stocked the Marvel comic books I read in my … Continue reading →

Posted in arts, mainstream media, movies | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Will media admit to being duped? Nope

Posted on November 9, 2018 by oddmanout215

Notice that the caravan totally disappeared as an issue as soon as the votes were cast — not just Fox News, but mainstream media too. Guys, you really need to take a hard look in the mirror and ask why … Continue reading →

Posted in mainstream media, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Too many peeps means too few penguins

Posted on November 8, 2018 by oddmanout215

Swamp Rabbit and I were on a sales job at the zoo, discussing what should be done about humans who destroy rainforests in order to expand production of palm oil and soybeans and so on. And how about the greedy … Continue reading →

Posted in climate change, environmentalism, food, humor, mainstream media | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment